[Will88]

They have kept a stranglehold on manned launch capabilities that has stagnated the entire industry for forty years.

Quite a sweeping statement with no elaboration; undefined personal opinions.

The initial space travel was not feasible for any entity but governments as potential direct profits were decades in the future. Some dreamers these days think they are going to set up mining operations on the moon, or have profitable space tourism in the near future, but few steps have been taken to actually bring any of it about.

If the US is to continue acquiring knowledge and advancing in manned or unmanned space exploration, it better still have a government program ongoing for the foreseeable future.

[Dead Corpse]

Some dreamers these days think they are going to set up mining operations on the moon, or have profitable space tourism in the near future, but few steps have been taken to actually bring any of it about.

Why try if the FedGov won't allow you to profit from it? We caved in to the Commies and made space exploration a losing proposition for private enterprise.

Back out of that treaty, and space exploration/exploitation would take off.

[hopespringseternal]

The initial space travel was not feasible for any entity but governments as potential direct profits were decades in the future.

If you said space exploration, I would absolutely agree. Exploration, by its very nature, is rarely a profitable venture.

Some dreamers these days think they are going to set up mining operations on the moon, or have profitable space tourism in the near future, but few steps have been taken to actually bring any of it about.

Actually, people were trying to get into the game from the late sixties on. Invariably their investors talked to NASA who could have just had a recorded message for the last 40 years as to the viability of commercial space ventures: "It will never work."

While NASA was telling congress the shuttle would fly twice a month and be powered by magic beans, they were telling private investors the truth -- about the shuttle's viability. Problem is, they also told investors that "If we can't do it, no one can."

Look at current events. How many companies are working on tourism, launchers, and associated hardware? One has made it into orbit and with a man-ratable system no less. For far less than NASA and its cadre of cost plus contractor would have ever admitted was possible.

I want NASA to stick around and do real exploration. But to do that it would merely be a funding vehicle, not the federal engineering jobs program it currently exists as.