CASIS Is Charging Taxpayers For Access To NASA Space Station Research Paid For by Taxpayers

NASA is giving CASIS (The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space) $15 million a year and the keys to a large portion of a $100 billion International Space Station – one funded by taxpayers. But in order for a taxpayer or company to get everything that CASIS is offering they have to pay. Check out the CASIS membership site.

This is fundamentally absurd – how could NASA agree to this? Everything that this taxpayer-funded organization does with NASA funding on the ISS should be available to all of those people who are already paying for it – and have been paying for it for decades.

Whatever happened to the “transparency” and “openness” that NASA was supposed to be demonstrating? And what about the DIY ethos that the White House has been promoting? Putting a government-funded asset like the ISS behind a paywall is the antithesis of this.

You get more with Space Science Circle benefits (for $1,000) than the benefits for being a Founder (for $50,000). The Space Science Circle Benefits say you get the following:

– Enrollment in the Science in Space Network
– CASIS Annual Report
– 2012 Commemorative Inaugural Pin
– Special scientific updates from CASIS
– Donor recognition in CASIS’ annual report
– Advance copy of CASIS’ “State of the Science in Space” annual report
– Donor recognition at CASIS’ headquarters

The Founder benefits say you get “recognition and complimentary access to CASIS Science Symposia, access to research material, science updates and implementation partners, and premiere corporate logo recognition on CASIS’ website.”