NASA’s Trial Balloons Go in Search of Revenue

When a Russian spaceship flew to the international space station last spring, a millionaire tourist wasn’t the only commercial payload.

The Russians--ever on the lookout for a quick buck--also delivered a crispy-crust salami pizza on behalf of Pizza Hut. And a pair of talking picture frames personally dedicated to the two dads aboard, courtesy of Radio Shack. And a March 2001 issue of Popular Mechanics, compliments of the magazine.

Now, NASA is about to jump on the space-for-sale bandwagon.

A draft document issued by NASA is circulating among space-exploration advocacy groups and industry insiders. Titled “Enhanced Strategy for the Development of Space Commerce,” the report proposes what would have been anathema to many within the agency before California businessman Dennis Tito became the world’s first paying space tourist, thanks to the Russians.

Among the ideas put forth in the document, which NASA says is a work-in-progress:

* Allow limited tourism on the space station, but with transportation from the Russians or future commercial spaceships (probably not the U.S. shuttle).

* Seek family-friendly corporate sponsors that could plaster their emblems and logos alongside NASA’s.

* Permit merchandising that promotes the so-called NASA brand.

* Forge stronger ties with the entertainment industry to boost the space program.

* Create a logo for the international space station similar to the approach of the International Olympic Committee.

* Hire a nongovernment organization to manage the U.S. side of the space station.

All this from a space agency that forbade its astronauts from hugging Tito on camera during his weeklong visit to the international space station, and which for years balked at even giving a name to the orbital complex. (It’s now called Alpha, thanks to its gutsy first commander.)

But NASA still talks tough when it comes to space tourists flying on the shuttle, much to the chagrin of advocates who want space frontiers opened to everyone.

“Space tourism is not a role for the federal government. This needs to be a private-sector endeavor. To take people in the shuttle and spend tens of millions of dollars to take rich guys who want to listen to opera . . . is not what NASA is about,” NASA administrator Daniel Goldin said at a Florida space conference over the summer, taking a jab at the opera-loving Tito.

Goldin put the space agency’s chief of staff and White House liaison, Courtney Stadd, in charge of the commercialization effort last May, soon after Tito’s launch aboard a Soyuz rocket from Kazakhstan. At the time, NASA was trying to explain a $4.5-billion cost overrun in its space station program. It still is.

Lukewarm Response

The response to NASA’s proposed policy changes is tepid at best.

“They’ve totally blown the management of the international space station, and so they’re kind of like looking for what I call million-dollar solutions to billion-dollar problems,” said Rick Tumlinson, president of the Space Frontier Foundation, which believes the settlement of space is human destiny.

Several of the space-exploration advocates said NASA’s draft proposal resembles a NASA public relations campaign strategy rather than an effort to turn spaceflight into a money-making business open to everyone.

More than one expert points out that NASA would choose the commercial experiments, projects and representatives, with nothing to prevent the space agency from handing out sweetheart deals.

“To give credit where it’s due, there is a strategic approach here which we liked,” said Pat Dasch, the National Space Society’s executive director whom NASA briefed on the subject in mid-September.

But she quickly turned critical.

“What they’re talking about is NASA actually engaging in commercial business,” Dasch said. For example, NASA might allow McDonald’s to put its logo on the space station galley in exchange for McDonald’s promoting space exploration to kids.

“But we don’t think NASA engaging in commercial deals is what this is supposed to be about,” she added. “NASA is not supposed to be bailing itself out. It’s supposed to create a climate” for commercial space business.

What’s more, Dasch said, she was told NASA would “absolutely not” open up space shuttle seats to paying guests, and also would insist that the Russians sell spacecraft seats only to so-called payload specialists. That’s NASA-talk for experts who do research while in orbit.

Dasch and other advocates object to such strict controls. She said that under heavy criticism the agency agreed “to take that on advisement.”

NASA had hoped to unveil its new space commercialization policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Washington in late September. But the space agency reportedly put off the announcement because of the negative comments from Dasch and others.

“The agency has not completed work on the policy,” NASA spokesman Bob Jacobs said. “Until it’s final, it’s not final.” He said the goal is to have it ready by the end of October.

Meanwhile, the Russians are pursuing another space tourist, despite problems with their latest venture. They had been negotiating with South African Internet tycoon Mark Shuttleworth for a flight next spring, but on Friday contract disputes appeared to torpedo the deal.

Even so, more tourists are likely to follow Tito, who paid the cash-strapped space operation $20 million for his orbital cruise. MirCorp, the same company that arranged Tito’s flight and tried in vain to save Mir, plans to launch Mini Station 1, a sort of Mini Mir for tourists. Its grand opening is targeted for 2004.

NASA Treads Carefully

In the meantime, NASA, with help from its space station partners--Russia, Canada, Europe and Japan--is drawing up crew criteria to avoid the public-relations fiasco that resulted from its bitter opposition to Tito’s space station visit. The controversy strained the relationship between the United States and Russian space agencies.

“I’m glad to see that they are developing guidelines,” said NASA astronaut Susan Helms, who welcomed Tito aboard the space station last April. “From everything I’ve heard, this South African sounds like he definitely fits the bill.”

As for Tito, Helms said he was a gracious guest and sensitive to the political issues surrounding his trip.

“He came up without any kind of attitude and we appreciated that because it could have been different,” she said. “We all worked together knowing we were all part of this historical event and trying to make the best of it.

“I do think it was a breakthrough,” she said. “I do think it was historical.”

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NASA: spaceflight.nasa.gov

National Space Society:

www.nss.org

Space Frontier Foundation:

www.space-frontier.org