NASA 'plans to spend US dollars 1.6 bn on space taxis'

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/nasa-plans-to-spend-us-dollars-1-6-bn-on-space-taxis/articleshow/10051504.cms

WASHINGTON: NASA has plans to spend a whopping US dollars 1.6 billion over the next two years in a bid to bolster industry efforts to develop " space taxis", a media report said.

The US space agency will be looking for complete systems - launchers, spaceships, mission operations and ground support - to ferry astronauts to the InternationalSpace Station by the middle of the decade, 'The Daily Telegraph' online reported.

The money will supplement investments that private firms are making to develop commercial space transportation services, the report said.

US President Barack Obama has requested US dollars 850 million for NASA's so-called Commercial Crew initiative for the year beginning October 1. The Senate Appropriations Committee last week offered US dollars 500 million.

the republicans would be against it

:shrug:

The biggest variant of this design can carry a bigger payload than the Saturn V!

http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2011/09/the-current-future-of-human-spaceflight-the-space-launch-system.ars

Of course, it, and the space taxis are still vaporware, so don't expect too much...

Any "whopping" amount NASA spends is better than the real amounts the Pentagon is blowing through.

:shrug:

Hell, they 'misplaced' several times that amount at the Pentagon.

:thumbsup:

for workers. Those jobs will pay well and if the program is successful, could provide long term employment.

The workers will buy homes, cars and household appliances and the money they make will be pumped back into the economy to create more jobs.

This sounds like a good plan to me, although it is a bit on the small side.