"We currently spend 1/2 of 1 penny for every tax dollar on NASA. How exactly is that straining our budget?"

OK, let's try this again. You can only spend what you have.

The only reason they're cheaper is because of the less time spent on the mission. I highly doubt th product is cheaper. Your example is way off. If R&D both costs Company A & B a million dollars a month yet Company A is done in 5 years compared to company B's 10 years.....less money.

"It's always been there, but companies are asking for anywhere from $500k to over $3 million for a trip"

Doh! You got me ;)

You're doing the same nonsense Gart was doing. Who the hell said anything about cutting off NASA 100%? Obviously there will be some sort of transition that needs to occur. Have to start somewhere.

Here you go...the first square picked:

That is false. It used to happen to me all the time. You are one lucky guy!

If only breastfeeding was that easy!

No one said "totally private". So you're pretty much way off base there.

None of that made any sense. Because of SpaceX and their private money, we are putting less into NASA yet more is getting gone. Less = more. Figure it out.

Doesn't matter how much money they got from NASA.

"As of today, the Xbox 360 is officially one of the best set-top boxes in the world."

USD? Nope.

For some reason as soon as I read the title, my mind flashed back to the phone booth scene in Airplane.

"if anything i'd see it really come to a grinding halt."

Those who care instead of blanketing everyone.

"Last I checked, the private sector has no interest in space exploration."

"can do whatever they want to with no need for cost efficiency"

A unitasker? NO THANKS! I'll keep using my multitasking wedding ring to open bottles.