[Movemout]

"It is true that it is the public's money that is being used, BUT, Nasa funding has gotten to such an all time low from the federal government that Nasa seeks a HUGE portion of their funding from private industry and donors.

The "misnomer" is yours and not NASA's. They experimented with industry contributions in the 1990s. It didn't work out too well. I know because I was there and a participant in a failed policy. $15B a year is not peanuts. The estimate on returning to the Moon and a mission to Mars was about $110B ten years ago. This is eminently doable with the current budget. The problem is that it takes a resolve that doesn't exist. You must be willing to jettison things that do not need to be done, e.g. centers that have no reason to exist, science that doesn't need to be accomplished, firing employees who aren't needed, etc. NASA is just another monster that must be fed.

[AbsoluteJustice]

I agree with the monster bit but you must admit looking at these shuttles I see some are still operating on the technology of Pong. It is a wonder that more accidents have not happened. So yes the current funding that would require for replacement shuttles are much larger than the current budgets.