NASA may offer prizes for private space flights

[Mark Reiff <markreiff@xxxxxxxxx>]

FYI,

"NASA may offer prizes for private space flights"
Houston Chronicle/Reuters
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2639196

: Within hours of the first private flight to outer
: space today, a NASA official said the agency might
: offer millions of dollars in prizes to encourage
: commercial missions to orbit the Earth or land on
: the moon. 

: Michael Lembeck of NASA's office of exploration
: systems said such prizes would go to private
: explorers for such landmarks as "the first soft
: landing on the moon, or for returning a piece of an
: asteroid to Earth." 

: "What we're looking for is innovation like what Burt
: Rutan brought to the table today," Lembeck said,
: referring to the legendary aerospace pioneer who
: designed the rocket plane SpaceShipOne that entered
: outer space 62 miles above the Mojave Desert in
: California. 

: Lembeck said NASA would consider offering
: $10 million to $30 million in prizes to encourage
: private investors to develop space vehicles. There
: was even discussion of offering "a couple hundred
: million dollars for the first private orbital
: flight," he said in a telephone interview. 

: Such prizes appear compatible with the vision for
: space exploration released last week by a White
: House commission that studied President Bush's plan
: to send Americans back to the moon and possibly to
: Mars. 

: Among other recommendations, the commission
: suggested that private industry play a larger role
: in future space exploration, and urged Congress to
: create "significant monetary prizes." 

Mark Reiff


	
		
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