Jeff Bezos offers NASA $2 billion to get Blue Origin back in the moon race

[smp]

From CNN:
"... The world's richest man appealed to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in an open letter Monday, offering to cover billions of dollars in the US space agency's costs. In doing so, Bezos hopes Blue Origin can be reconsidered for a contract to build the vehicle that will land the next astronauts on the moon. ..."

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/27/tech/jef ... index.html

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[smp]

From Phys.otg:
"Bezos offers NASA a $2 billion discount for Blue Origin Moon lander"

https://phys.org/news/2021-07-bezos-nas ... -blue.html

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[smp]

From Ars Technica:
"Bezos says he is now willing to invest in a Moon lander—here’s why"

https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/07 ... heres-why/

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[helicon]

Pay-to-play

[Ylem]

Hmm...

I know it's illegal (or was) for an individual to donate/give to a federal agency.

There was a thread about that over on AF many years ago.
You can not even will them money upon your death.

You can however donate to private groups to lobby for NASA and/or private companies.

[Ylem]

From Phys.otg:
"Bezos offers NASA a $2 billion discount for Blue Origin Moon lander"

https://phys.org/news/2021-07-bezos-nas ... -blue.html

smp

"Just enter coupon code before midnight."

[Sigh]
I'm still digesting all this. We all want to see more space exploration, and generally more competition is good.
But for some reason something doesn't seem right.

[smp]

Pay-to-play

At least one of the articles indicated that the initial proposal competition requested the companies state an estimate of their personal investment into the process of creating their lander. I think the article also indicated that SpaceX indicated an investment north of $6 Billion (ever how believable that may be), but that Blue Origin declined. Perhaps Mr. Bezos has now changed his mind, but the attempt at getting back in after the competition is over seems a bit sour to me.

I am a strong advocate for competition, and I am not a fan of sole-source contracts, but these tactics are unseemly.

smp

[helicon]

Pay-to-play

At least one of the articles indicated that the initial proposal competition requested the companies state an estimate of their personal investment into the process of creating their lander. I think the article also indicated that SpaceX indicated an investment north of $6 Billion (ever how believable that may be), but that Blue Origin declined. Perhaps Mr. Bezos has now changed his mind, but the attempt at getting back in after the competition is over seems a bit sour to me.

I am a strong advocate for competition, and I am not a fan of sole-source contracts, but these tactics are unseemly.

smp

Well, from his background selling books from his garage back in the mid 1990's to being the store for anything and everything I am not surprised, he has squashed thousands of competitors and brick and mortar operations over the years.

[pakarinen]

Do you get a free Prime membership with that lander?