TCS: Tech Central Station – Private Space: Blazing a Trail?

Glenn Harlan Reynolds on the X – Prize and how private enterprise seems to get further faster for less money ( breaking the old engineer’s rule : better , faster, cheaper, pick two of three ) than a large bureaucracy like NASA.
Works for me.
We ( in the day job, blog coming soon ) were asked on Jan 31 2003 whether we could accept a credit card payment for provision of some experimental material. ..that material being scandium aluminide, a possible relpacement for the heat tile material on a next generation of vehicle.
Note the date.
Nothing since.