Astronaut: Trump's plan for the space station a huge mistake

Donald Trump's administration is floating a proposal to return to the moon -- and to shut down the International Space Station to help pay for it. The first part of this idea is good. The second is horrible. If enacted, it could well spell the end of NASA's human spaceflight for the foreseeable future. There is a wild card here, too: I refer to the commercial spaceflight efforts of companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. For the first time, visionary leaders of commercial companies are striving to build space infrastructure and exploration programs funded by commercial activities. Yes, there is the possibility of NASA partnering with them, but that is not the pressing question in my view now; the continuation of ISS is. More

(Source: CNN - Feb 23)