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NASA Eyes Cash Prizes Of Its Own

Posted by timothy on from the some-clown-on-the-moon dept.

joeldg writes "Wired is reporting that NASA is considering offering cash prizes for space innovation. 'Lembeck said NASA would consider offering $10 million to $30 million in prizes to encourage private investors to develop space vehicles. Such prizes appear compatible with the vision for space exploration released last week by a White House commission that studied President Bush's plan to send Americans back to the moon and possibly to Mars.'"

10 of 289 comments (clear)

  1. cash prize, like.. the X-Prize? by sjwaste · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Obviously the $10M X-Prize got a few groups together to be the first. Most if not all of them have put in more money than the prize would bring in for winning, but there's something about our competitive nature as people... NASA should strongly consider this. If you want innovation, make it a contest. There's a ton of people out there who are that damn competitive that they'll sink their own money to win. I personally think it's great.

    1. Re:cash prize, like.. the X-Prize? by DAldredge · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, NASA will buy copies of your ship from you, that is how you make a profit and NASA gets a good ship for less of the taxpayers money.

  2. sweet!!! by the_2nd_coming · · Score: 5, Insightful

    yes, this is exactly how research on high tech pie in the sky stuff like next generation space vehicles should be done.

    then all NASA needs to do is sit back and let private companies do the engineering which means that they can send the rest of the ash over to propulsion research.

    this works well because it helps mitigate the investments made by companies that win and the recognition of the win helps future sales of the products based on the new tech.

    --



    I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
    1. Re:sweet!!! by sjwaste · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I agree with you completely. If you look at state run enterprises in general, their industry is usually one where a private company would not take on the risk. I think space is past that. If private contractors are building satellites, pieces of the space station, etc for NASA, the next logical step is for these private companies to build the means to move such objects into space. While it's not exactly profitable yet, the pride factor alone will compel many. Soon enough, private space travel WILL be profitable. Wouldn't it be sweet to take a trip above the Earth before we're dead?

  3. Hmm... by CompSurfer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The question is, are prizes of 10 to 30 million USD enough for corporations to spend that much or more developing space tech? Would it be cheaper than NASA developing the same things in-house? Or would the prize money be better spent on NASA projects?

  4. don't crininalize the model rocket enthusiasts. by Camel+Racer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Maybe step one would be not to criminalize model rocketry

    http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/ro ck etry_future_000823.html

    and

    http://www.sas.org/E-Bulletin/2003-02-28/feature s/ body.html

    --
    Anybody can work under ideal circumstances. -- Jeff K. (January 4, 2001)
    1. Re:don't crininalize the model rocket enthusiasts. by ratsnapple+tea · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Would it be too much trouble for Slashcode to automatically make links out of text starting with http://? Just a thought.

  5. In Other Words... by MaineCoon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... NASA wants some of this spotlight, and will gladly make hints of support and pose for the camera.

    NASA has a budget of USD$16 Billion for this year alone. $10M to $30M?

    Lets see prizes in the range of $100M on up. That would make the financial investment risks FAR easier to swallow, and we might actually see more serious commercial enterprises make the attempt.

    Seeing SpaceShipOne's successes makes me dream of a brighter future. I'd love to see serious interplanetary space travel within my lifetime.

    --
    Hunt your preferred prey at Aliens vs Predator MUD. Join the war at avpmud.com port 4000
  6. Finally, a reasonable use for NASA launch money by nasor · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Considering the roughly $900 million that NASA spent on the X-33 shuttle replacement before simply canceling the project, or the $400 million that they spend on each shuttle launch, I certainly think they should be able to spare a hundred million or two as a prize for someone can develop a private, x-prize style orbital vehicle.

  7. Re:Help mummy! by bobhagopian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The parent post is pretty insightful, IMHO. NASA's biggest problem in the last 20 years has had nothing to do with engineering, but with public relations. Add to it two major accidents and you're left with a pretty unhappy public questioning (unfortunately) the need for NASA. Imagine the kind of hell NASA would have to pay if it suffered another accident. NASA is already under tremendous scrutiny by Congress; what would happen if Congress was given yet another reason to cut the NASA budget? How much worse would public opinion get? Now consider the alternative: NASA offers a monetary prize for private companies seeking a route to space. The risks are the same -- people may die, and unlike the parent, I believe that NASA cares about these people. However, NASA avoids the added risk of organizational self-destruction. I've been pretty impressed with NASA in past years. Unlike many governmental organizations, they don't seem to demand credit for everything that is done; if someone gets to space on their own, NASA will be cheering them on. A monetary prize just allows them to promote the exploration of space (with all the risks that it carries) while avoiding the one extra risk of permanently turning the tide of public opinion against it.