Rumours are running rampant that President Bush is due to announce a new direction for NASA, probably on Wednesday. From what I gather, this new direction includes a NASA-run moonbase as a waystation and training facility for an eventual trip to Mars.

This is the worst possible strategy for developing access to space for the common man, and the best possible strategy if the White House seeks to forever keep all but NASA-vetted ubermenchen from ever going into space. It would be yet another trillion-dollar flags'n'footprints mission that never leads to a permanent human presence in space.

If the White House wanted to open up space for commercial purposes, they would need to be bold; they would need to get NASA out of the way of the private businesses which would actually turn a profit with a space venture. They might even have to disband NASA altogether, move the research institutes to universities where they belong, sell off whatever NASA assets are saleable, and write off the shuttle fleet and International Budget Buster (erm... ISS). They would have to return the 15 billion dollars stolen every year from americans by NASA.

NASA's very presence is what drives launch costs sky high. Boeing and LockMart know they have a near-infinite teat upon which to suckle, and they have no interest in doing things more efficiently (as that would lower their NASA-derived profits). Instead, it is time to get NASA out of the market altogether, forcing Boeing and Lockmart and their ilk to actually compete in the private sector.