Private Launch of Orion: here’s why NASA’s administrator made such a bold move Wednesday (Ars Technica)

Ars Technical: Here’s why NASA’s administrator made such a bold move Wednesday

Interesting move. In a way the Trump administration follows in Obama’s food steps, who haggled for the “Commercial Manned Flight Program” by continuing to fund the SLS, the “Senate Launch System.”

The latter pretty much looks like a massive boondoggle to create a massive rocket with replenished old, expendable technology to keep a massive number of jobs from massively lobbied companies.

It looks pretty clear that apart from the cost-plus massive and ongoing development expense (if you miss a deadline, you make more money) each flight will also be massively unaffordable.

Frustrating given the private business progress and lost opportunity for other science missions not getting funded.