Yeah...I Dunno....this space stuff...

[tulipsandroses]

83. So are we saying that only the government should be involved in space exploration?

I have my gripes with billionaires not paying their fair share of taxes. I don't mind business people making money on whatever venture they pursue. As long as it is legal and does not violate ethics and human rights. I don't mind paying for technological advances. I don't have a problem with whatever they discover being a sales commodity either.
Should scientists only work for the government and non billionaires? Benefits don't have to be free to be beneficial.

NASA has already entered into private business ventures. Why should this sector be relegated just to the government?
This article highlights one way that private business ventures has been a benefit.

Companies are increasingly looking to space as a place of business, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has been changing in several different ways, especially by partnering with corporations to develop new technologies.

Earlier this year NASA announced it would open the International Space Station to private astronauts, with short missions beginning as soon as 2020. Additionally, NASA said it would allow companies to bid for new activities on the space station, as the agency unveiled a directive to “enable commercial manufacturing and production” in space.

SNIP
DeWit pointed to the satellite segment of the industry as an example for how shifting ownership and operations from government-built-and-owned to commercial can drive innovation, such as communications or services like satellite television.

“The early satellites were all government-owned, and they were limited in their scope and very expensive. When satellites really took off is when the commercial sector came in,” DeWit said. “The commercial sector figured out these uses that the government never would have figured out, and they put their own satellites up there. The cost came down a lot, and the uses went up a lot.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/30/how-nasa-is-evolving-through-partnerships-with-private-space-companies.html

I think its an exciting time and like everything there will be pros and cons. Just like the early days of the internet. Who knew from the early days of bulletin boards and slow online dial up that this is where we would be today. I am not mad at them at all.
Again, they need to pay their fair share of taxes. Two things can be true at the same time.