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Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator, asked a question two weeks ago.
"Is it possible for NASA to offset some of its costs by selling the naming rights of its spacecraft?", He asked at a meeting of a council that advises the NASA. "Or the naming rights of its rockets? I tell you, there is interest in that now.
Do not expect to see astronauts in Coca-Cola commercials, or on Mars rover of NASA, renamed Curiosity, presented by Aflac. But Bridenstine has asked a committee of NASA's advisory council to study the possibility of doing so, despite regulations or laws that seem to prohibit such activities. He also discussed the possibility of allowing NASA astronauts to sign approval contracts.
"The question is: is it possible?" Said Mr. Bridenstine in remarks that were broadcast on NASA TV and have been debated in press reports since then. "And the answer is, I do not know."
The new NASA director's proposal comes at a time when the Trump administration has ambitious goals in space, but has not asked Congress to spend a lot of money to pay for them. President Trump created a National Space Council last year, headed by Vice President Mike Pence, and wants to return to the moon. But the administration's budget proposals suggest that NASA funding will remain unchanged until 2023.
In an interview on Tuesday, Bridenstine pointed to the rockets carrying goods to the International Space Station. "We have branding opportunities," he said.
NASA's astronauts may be able to draw children from cereal boxes as sports stars or help raise awareness of NASA's missions, integrate the agency into popular culture and inspire children to pursue careers in sports. space.
But some critics worry that NASA's decision to make approval and branding agreements could create conflicts of interest and diminish the stature and public mission of the agency.
"Companies that are able to sponsor rockets or astronauts really question who really calls the shots," said Timothy Farnsworth, spokesperson for Project on Government Oversight, an independent government watchdog. "If astronauts are compensated by companies doing business before NASA, it could create the appearance of shared loyalty between a private company and the utility."
As a general rule, federal employees are not allowed to endorse commercial projects. Kellyanne Conway, advisor to President Trump, was accused of violating the government's rules of ethics last year when she told people to "buy Ivanka's business", by donating Ivanka Trump's clothes and jewelry.
The Onion, the humorous publication, touched on the subject 14 years ago: "Coke-sponsored rover finds evidence of Dasani on Mars."
NASA documents seem to prohibit such activities. A Web page from the agency's legal counsel office says, "The rule is simple: we can not use our public service for private purposes. This includes our own private gain, or that of someone else.
He added: "Federal employees can not approve the products, services or activities of non-federal organizations through their government positions, titles or other authorities. entities. "
During the interview, Mr. Bridenstine acknowledged that federal employees are generally not allowed to approve the products, but said the committee would study possible exceptions allowing NASA astronauts to do so. He noted that soon astronauts will be employed by commercial companies like SpaceX and Boeing that will not be hindered by the traditional restrictions that apply to federal employees.
The military is struggling to retain pilots who can earn more and work less on commercial airliners, he added. "We could end up spending millions of dollars to have each astronaut trained only to go to work for another person right from the start," he said.
Since NASA does not operate rockets for the space station, the agency may not get a reduction in revenue, but the rocket company could then make a lower bid for what it charged. at NASA, said Mr Bridenstine. Freight missions are operated under commercial contracts with NASA by SpaceX and Northrop Grumman.
The committee is likely to make recommendations at the next quarterly meeting of the NASA Advisory Board, he said.
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Companies have long tried to take advantage of space marketing opportunities. From 1968 to 1971, Pan Am issued more than 93,000 cards for its First Moon Flights Club. In 2000, the Pizza Hut logo appeared on a Russian rocket and the following year, a Radio Shack advertisement featured Russian astronauts aboard the International Space Station offering them a gift for Father's Day.
"It's ironic that Russia is ahead of us to take advantage of commercial activities on the International Space Station," said Bridenstine.
More recently, KFC said in a promotion that it was sending a fried chicken sandwich to a high altitude balloon. (It reached only the stratosphere, located below the 62-mile altitude and generally considered the limit of space.)
In recent years, NASA has made greater efforts to bring capitalism to the international space station, providing opportunities for companies to conduct research and hire commercial companies to transport goods and astronauts. The privatization of the station was discussed and debated.
Brand and advertising are among the next steps, said Bridenstine, who future commercial space stations could exploit. "It's yet another opportunity to prove a market."
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