Newsweek on private space flight, NASA

Newsweek: over-estimates private industry, dismisses NASA

Newsweek has an article with the silly title “A Private Space Shuttle“. It goes on to talk about private space firms (many of which I find impressive) as if their projects are comparable.

This reveals a profound ignorance about the capabilities and complexity of the space shuttle. Newsweek makes the following errors:

Blames NASA for allegedly bad shuttle design

History shows that the shuttle was not designed badly by NASA. The design was messed up by competing government agencies each demanding the addition of new capabilities. Instead of create a sleek, re-usable space plane, NASA was required to create a re-usable space truck for cheap (!) and quick turnaround of flights carrying people and cargo into space.

NASA has operated this “Swiss Army Knife” spacecraft very well, considering the impossible demands made on it.

Suggests private companies can do things better because they are private

Private companies can do things well when they have good management and talented people and a motivation to do the job. Many times, this is not the case.

We have an increasingly expensive and frustrating private healthcare system. The private financial system has proven to be, let’s say, deeply flawed. And space travel is very, very hard and very dangerous. NASA doesn’t have fatalities because they’re not well managed; they have fatalities because what they do is extremely dangerous.

How much of that risk can or should be entrusted to companies who sole purpose is to maximize shareholder returns? Newsweek doesn’t even ask that question.

Practically dismisses NASA for advances beyond earth orbit

While suggesting that earth orbital missions should be largely ceded to private contractors (and idea which I like), Newsweek goes on to talk about the role of private companies in going to the moon. And it also mentions that NASA’s Ares moon rocket is not yet built—while neglecting to note that NASA has not received sufficient funding to build it.

I, for one, want NASA to take the lead in advancing us beyond earth orbit, sending people to Mars and further. This will not happen any time soon with private interests. Nor should it. At least not for many decades. NASA has the capability—but only if the country will commit the money and let NASA do the job.

I can only cite the Apollo program as proof. Private industry has nothing comparable.