Boeing in Space? Obama Adopts a Conservative Approach
The Debate Over the Privatization of the U.S. Space Program
On February 1st, 2010, President Obama announced that the space travel program will privatize, providing contracts to private companies to continue with space exploration and to shuttle astronauts to the International Space Station. In nearly every case where I hear privatization in politics, I consider it a bad word. I associate it with procurement scandals, coziness with lobbyists, and corruption of the democratic process. Although privatization may leap-frog technology and our ability for inexpensive manned space-flight, it also has the potential to become a travesty of our initial ideals in exploring space in the first place.
