Rutan Slams NASA -- again

And I'm glad he did. It's been too long since NASA has faced any serious criticism. Which is to say, criticism from someone who is doing the job better--faster and cheaper too.
And since Rutan was being awarded for his recent achievement it seems only fair he get in a few cheap shots at his competition. Like this gem from the SpaceDaily.com story:



Rutan voiced the frustration that the big aerospace companies are wasting taxpayers time and money repeatedly testing spaceflight technologies that have changed relatively little over the last 40 years.
"If you're just going to build capsules that are going to go on your expendable boosters then why don't you just start doing it on Thursday?" he asked.
Rutan said the public needs to not only be inspired by NASA, but reminded that it has the ability to take chances. "The public is not excited to send money to an agency ... that doesn't have the courage to go back to the Hubble telescope." That comment was rooted in NASA's decision, so far, to not service the Hubble Space Telescope, which without new batteries and gyroscopes will likely stop working by 2008.



"...doesn't have the courage..." Ouch!
Let's see, that makes the score, Rutan 2, NASA 0. Double Ouch!!