It occurred under Ronald Reagan when he attempted to turn the Space Shuttle into a profitable venture for the USA.
Now, in all the wisdom of a right wing President, his cronies got their wish and have a privatized space program.
I want to know who exactly is going to run the investigation to find the "O Ring" disaster this time? Will there be conflict of interest? Will there be a citizen review panel? And how much is it going to cost and who exactly will be paying for it?
And if the private space industry doesn't like or want citizen oversight, then they need to take their rockets elsewhere and out of NASA's launch facilities. The USA will fly their own astronauts into space or seek passenger status otherwise.
I have to say this at this point. Recently, Virgin Galactica came up with a program for their executives to vacation as long as they like once they have filled their jobs with a qualified substitute. I find that odd when a company is set on high ambitions and wealth. I would think taking a long vacation may lead to boredom and seeking temporary employment in the industry to learn as much as one can learn to bring back to their regular day job.
This is a launch from their private launch pad and there is no way our astronauts need to be involved in this folly. The USA should never give up it's sovereign space program.
