Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Richards
I think they want to move the ISS-related cargo & crew delivery missions to the private sector (NASA's tossing money their way), and then develop new technical capabilities to enable future manned exploration to other solar system bodies (e.g., Moon, asteroids, eventually Mars).
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Basically, yes. It's interesting though how they are all but hanging their basket on the private industry, when they were dismissing them as useless a few years ago. SpaceX and the others asked NASA to contribute long ago, and NASA told them to get lost.
The actions and decisions of NASA are very intimately related to the current administrator. They've had some very good ones, and some VERY bad ones (coughcoughGOLDINcough).