have a very simple but what I think would be a very powerful way to offset a large part of the cost of space exploration. We get corporate America to chip in. Let NASA still do all the engineering and decision making but companies can buy sponsorship of different parts of the program. Think about how much companies pay to name stadiums (as much as $40 million) what would they pay to have their name on such a world wide and high profile event such as the first man on Mars? Sell the television and comericial rights. Astronauts could eat Power Bars and drink Gatorade (I doubt TANG would win the bidding war), computers would have INTEL inside and Microsoft software, tires by Goodyear …well you get the idea. I really do not see a downside for anyone other than the fact that the new launch vehicle may look like a NASCAR but hey the old black and white shuttle was boring anyway. What do you think?
It sounds like a great idea to me. If we have to have a space program, this sounds much better than funding it through taxes.
However, say while up in space, they actually develop something new and useful like NASA supporters always claim they do…will the corperate sponsers be likely to push for sole-use of the said useful thing since they funded the program that allowed for it to be created? If so, there could be a lot of sticky legal issues created around a corperate-sponsered space program.
Presumably such issues would be covered in the sponsorship contract.
It seems like a decent enough idea to me (although I’d be a little bit more conservative about it that you seem to be), but I have no doubt that it would cause an uproar if it was implemented.
It’s been done to some extent. Pizza Hut once put their logo on a Russian rocket:
http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/russia_market_010531-1.html
Lego have Mars-men on the current rover mission. First man on mars: Biff Starling and Sandy Moondust. Don’t know how much Lego paid for it.
(Okay, so they only got to have images of the men with on the rover. But they tried to get the real men on-board)
- Rune
Imagine, though, if we had run the cold war space program the same way.
Would you be happy to have had that one giant leap sponsored by Nike?
Would it be mildly ironic that the message we send with our historic milestones into the great unknown is one of consumption? We’re exploring to learn about our past and our future. We’re not exploring as a new campaign for Pepsi.
An already “bored with space” society has been saturated with commercials. More ads on the side of rockets only makes space travel more everyday when its not yet. When people take something for granted, like the milestones we set in space, the already lacking attention of the public will wilt.
So far we’ve sent into space some trash, a few plaques, and a few temporary visitors. We havn’t sent up all that much, really. Space is the largest blank slate we’ve ever found. Why make it a strip mall?
Really, there’s only one question. If the first video broadcast from Mars has commercials… will it feel the same?
$0.02
I would be happy. Why wouldn’t you be? Do you not feel patriotic about accomplishments of American companies?
And how about you kiss my arse?!
Which is to say, your post is idiotic and not worthy of GD! Moderators–erase all! Erase all!
Scr, in case you’re not joking…
No. I’m not proud of the acomplishments of American companies. The sweatshops, the environmental issues, and having the mental landscape turned into a constant buy-athon.
I could go on for a lot longer on this topic but I’ll leave it short (also to avoid looking like an ass when Scr pokes his head in to say he was joking 
)
I wasn’t joking, I just didn’t realize you were commenting on Nike’s negative reputation. I don’t automatically think of them as evil. (But that discussion doesn’t belong in this thread.)
The US itself has a similar reputation, so whatcha gonna do?
Do you think the Olympics would be better if they weren’t sponsored by American companies?
Well what I’m going to do is oppose the commercialization of space for one thing. Yes… The U. S. of A. does have a reputation as being overly voracious, but why plaster that of all things across the heavens when we could (like we DID at one time) send out to the stars goodwill in the name of mankind. After all, it is “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
If sponsored by a company it just would not be the same. When you see a commercial out of habit we pay attention to see what is being sold. When Man (I’m talking the species, here) walks on Mars do we want the first words to be brought to you by Pepsi? Would that seem… real? or… Plastic… Not what we are there to do.
Anyway, if you’d like to get into a GD on commercialization I’m all for it, but I’d rather not get off topic here.
COKE ADDS LIFE
-Joe, someone will get it
I wouldn’t put Microsoft software into a spaceship …