Obama may move more space work to private sector

HONOLULU (AP) — The Obama administration may shift the construction of all space launch rockets to the private sector and propose designing “a true spaceship” that could ferry passengers to other planets, a NASA official said Tuesday.

S. Pete Worden, director of NASA’s Ames Research Center near San Jose, Calif., said shifting launch vehicle construction and operation to private businesses would free NASA’s work force to develop a space vehicle that could travel to the moon, Mars or Venus.