US to privately send astronauts to space

[Str8Shooter]

http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/16/news/companies/nasa-boeing-space-x/index.html

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
Boeing and SpaceX have been awarded contracts to become NASA's space taxis, shuttling astronauts to and from the International Space Station, the agency announced Tuesday.

NASA ended its Space Shuttle program in 2011 after a review and amid a shift in priorities to exploring deep space, including sending humans to Mars.

Since the shuttle program was retired, NASA crewmembers have been hitching rides on Russian Soyuz spacecraft, at a cost of $70 million per seat, according to a NASA spokeswoman. The agency typically purchases six seats per year.

The contracts are worth a total of $6.8 billion. Boeing's share is $4.2 billion and SpaceX will receive $2.6 billion.

[Everlong]

Well it's a better option than having to hitch rides with Russia I guess, but it'd be a lot easier if the government would just give NASA the funding it deserves.

[Str8Shooter]

Well it's a better option than having to hitch rides with Russia I guess, but it'd be a lot easier if the government would just give NASA the funding it deserves.

Well with everything going on with Russia now, getting rides with them was not likely going to happen much longer so they had to think of something.

I'm not sure the American public would be that into government funding for the space program right now. You would probably know better than me though. Just with all the problems in the country going to space probably doesn't seem like the best use of money to a lot of people.

[Everlong]

I'm not sure the American public would be that into government funding for the space program right now.

The American public is never into government funding for ANYTHING, so it's nothing personal against the space program

I think the space program is an incredibly important scientific endeavor, and I think there's plenty of room to put more effort into it while still keeping plenty of focus on domestic issues like healthcare reform and gun violence. I'd be all for a large cut to our military budget, but the day that happens is the day I eat my own face.