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> If commercial companies are left to their own devices when it comes to things like airplanes, very very bad and damaging things happen like unchecked pollutants, urban noise, lack of safety, etc. It's very important for NASA and taxpayers to be a part of this process.

Those sound like issues for regulators, not NASA.

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On the contrary, several of these points are not as simple as regulation, but are issues requiring fundamental research.

NASA is about much more than space, and possesses cutting edge domain expertise in aerospace, which they are leveraging here. And the products of these investigations are more broadly available than if a similar result was captured by Boeing or Airbus, for example, where it would likely be a trade secret.

Companies should be charged for these externalities. Going to pollute? How many people a year will this kill? What is the economic cost of these deaths? Levy that sum on the companies. Very simple. Then lets see who funds the research into cleaner tech.

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