Posted on 11/13/2016 9:35:15 AM PST by TigerClaws
These companies do have investors. They need affordable rockets. That’s where NASA comes in - cooperating better with private industry rather than stepping on their feet and pumping money into Russia’s space industry rather than America’s.
Actually (had to check) NASA Administrator and Deputy Administrators are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
But, Pence could be Trump’s go-to guy about NASA (a historical nod).
There is no dispute about that being the ultimate goal.
However, it's been the unmanned spacecraft and technology which are paving the way for manned exploration. In fact, these unmanned spacecraft have already gone far beyond what humans are capable of for hundreds if not thousands of years, if ever due to extreme severe environments and distances.
There is simply no choice in most cases since we're not going to send men to Jupiter, or beyond the solar system for a long time. Unmanned spacecraft, not manned spacecraft has and will pave the way for man to travel through interstellar space. And they can stay in space for decades conducting observations, unlike manned spacecraft can do.
And in many cases man won't have any choice but to send unmanned craft because many of these destinations the environments are simply too extreme or too distant for the technology we currently have.
And for the record, I have been calling for a manned exploration base on the lunar surface and Mars for decades. Relatively close destinations such as these are actually doable.
God, I wish Jerry Pournelle was a decade or two younger, or even just healthier. Maybe has some peeps who could substitute for him.
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