FYI,

"Let Private Firms Run Space Taxis, Panel Told"
Reuters
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090729/sc_nm/us_space_transport_4

: The U.S. government should leave the business of launching cargo
: and people into Earth orbit to private commercial space
: transporters, members of a presidential panel said on Wednesday.

: A subcommittee of the Human Space Flight Review panel said turning
: over transport services to the International Space Station to
: private firms would allow the U.S. space agency NASA to focus on
: new challenges, such as extending human presence beyond low-Earth
: orbit.

: "My God, great NASA has been to the moon and we are sort of
: thinking that it is a big challenge for us to continue going to
: (low-Earth orbit)? Let's turn it over to newcomers," Bohdan "Bo"
: Bejmuk, a former Boeing Co executive, told panel members.

: "I think you will find out there are a lot of people who will rise
: and compete," Bejmuk told the meeting broadcast by NASA. "Some of
: them will fail, some of them will succeed, but you will have
: essentially created a new industry."

: NASA currently spends about half of its budget -- $18 billion in
: the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009 -- on human space
: programs.

: Its future plans include completing construction of the space
: station with seven final shuttle missions, retiring the shuttle
: fleet in 2010 and developing new spacecraft that can travel to the
: space station, the moon and other destinations.

: NASA has provided seed funds for privately-funded Space Exploration
: Technologies (SpaceX), and Orbital Sciences Corp, to develop
: commercial spaceships to haul cargo to the space station.

: SpaceX, founded by Internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, also has a
: contract option to upgrade its capsule with an escape system and
: other equipment needed for passenger service.

: The government's own new Orion spaceship is scheduled to debut in
: 2015.

: A review conducted for the panel by The Aerospace Corp. shows an
: additional two-year delay is likely based on current budget plans
: and the program's technical status.

: The human space flight review panel, headed by former Lockheed
: Martin chief Norm Augustine, is scheduled to issue its report by
: August 31.

Mark Reiff