If we hadn’t had an America-hating Prez for 8 years, what we’re today seeing might have happened years ago.
“Our top space priority will be MUSLIM OUTREACH”
This program started when Obama was president.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commercial_Crew_Development
The NASA CCDev program followed Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS), a program for developing commercial launch capability to send cargo into low Earth orbit. In December 2009, NASA provided the following description of the CCDev program:
The objectives of the Commercial Crew & Cargo Program are to implement U.S. Space Exploration policy with investments to stimulate the commercial space industry; facilitate U.S. private industry demonstration of cargo and crew space transportation capabilities with the goal of achieving safe, reliable, cost effective access to low-Earth orbit; and create a market environment in which commercial space transportation services are available to Government and private sector customers.
The Commercial Crew & Cargo Program is applying Recovery Act funds to stimulate efforts within the private sector to develop and demonstrate human spaceflight capabilities. NASA plans to use funds appropriated for “Exploration” under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) through its C3PO to support efforts within the private sector to develop system concepts and capabilities that could ultimately lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services. These efforts are intended to foster entrepreneurial activity leading to job growth in engineering, analysis, design, and research and to promote economic recovery as capabilities for new markets are created.
ARRA provided $400 million for space exploration related activities. Of this amount, $50 million is to be used for the development of commercial crew space transportation concepts and enabling capabilities. This effort is known as CCDev. The purpose of this activity is to provide funding to assist viable commercial entities in the development of system concepts, key technologies, and capabilities that could ultimately be used in commercial crew human space transportation systems. This development work must show, within the timeframe of the agreement, significant progress on long lead capabilities, technologies and commercial crew risk mitigation tasks in order to accelerate the development of their commercial crew space transportation concept.
Muslim outreach? What’s that, when a Muslim astronaut gets marooned outside of his spacecraft and his last effort is to reach out before he or she drifts out into the void?
I'm not so sure about that.
In any event, spaceflight has to be taken out of the political sphere. Otherwise, you get what you see: NASA being used as a platform for all kinds of virtue-signaling and political agendas that have nothing to do with its original mission.
The private sector can take over now. This is the normal model. Government paid for the R&D for the first wide body jet (the C5-A), including for the TF39 high-bypass engine that powered it.
The technology then was transitioned to the private sector. The Boeing 747, Lockheed L-1011, and DC-10 followed, and the noisy TF39 was modified and improved to become the CF6 engine, from which modern high-bypass engine technology was derived. NASA has no large-scale mission at present. To continue to get its budget, it has to prostitute itself out to politicians.