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INDUSTRY

-What is private industry's role in space?
space shuttle
space station
-how is a preoccupation with industry involvement affecting NASA's role in exploration?
-Is there a danger of turning space operations over to the private sector too soon? The Shuttle in "operational", but it is certainly not "routine". All of the famous NASA redundancy and quality control is still critical; any relaxation of safety standards at the early point in the program could be disastrous. There is a potential conflict between the engineers with a richly deserved reputation for safety, and the commercial users who have an incentive to apply pressures. These may be perceived pressures--certainly no company would ask NASA to compromise the safety of a crew to meet its economic deadlines--but there is a temptation to waive "minor" discrepancies, to bypass schedules modifications or improvements, in order to meet a schedule.
-What has NASA done to promote industry's involvement in the space program? What has the government done to encourage private enterprise in space?