Space on a shoestring budget

I recently read an interesting question: as NASA completes its final space shuttle missions, does that mean we'll be giving pink slips to the astronaut corps? After all, it'll be at least a decade or more before any replacement manned space vehicle is online; by that time, it would be better to hire a new generation of folks with the "Right Stuff." Sure, you want to keep a few experienced hands around for seasoning, but let's face it: our nation is broke. We can't afford to keep dozens of space explorers on staff when they have zero chance of exploring anytime soon.

Frankly, as I've said before, it's time to wean NASA off manned spaceflight. Commercial industry is catching on to the potential, and the applications go beyond suborbital flights for millionaires. Lots of interesting scientific experiments that could never afford a berth on a shuttle flight may soon get the chance to fly with Virgin Galactic or one of the other outfits looking to commercialize space access.

After all, if a couple of MIT students can take pictures in space on a $150 budget, it's high time to take NASA's billions away from what is now just an entrenched bureaucratic interest and redirect it to the true frontiersmen.