Matt Sullivan of Popular Mechanics tells BoingBoing,
Just before this weekend’s successful Space Shuttle launch, NASA administrator Michael Griffin sat down for a very candid conversation with Popular Mechanics.
In addition to sharing his opinions on the Mars vs. Moon manned space flight debate, the 2008 elections and NASA’s global warming research, he admitted that NASA has been working to collaborate with the Richard Bransons and Elon Musks on the world in a development that could make all the public and private funding for space travel finally add up to something truly meaningful:
“Absolutely. I see a day in the not very distant future, where instead of NASA buying a vehicle, we buy a ticket for our astronauts to ride to low-Earth orbit, or a bill of lading for a cargo delivery to space station by a private operator. I want us to get to that point.”
Link. Image: Michael Griffin of NASA, during the Popular Mechanics interview.
Previously on BB: