The Student Loan Program works by participating banks in the Federal Family Education Loan Program guaranteeing a return that is 2.34 percentage points over the market rate on commercial paper to banks. It’s a sweet deal for banks.

Student loans are risky loans, but not for banks. When the student defaults, the government reimburses lenders for up to 98% of the principal and accrued interest.

New federal student loan originators totaled $69 billion in the 2005 – 2006 school year. First year projections for the US just to send a rocket to the moon in order to build a base are estimated to run over $104 billion. That expense is projected to increase with construction and re-supply shipments.

Enter alter reality

Privately built and financed, SpaceShipOne Wins $10 Million Ansari X Prize in Historic 2nd Trip to Space (The Ansari X Prize is a $10 million purse for the first privately built vehicle that could safely haul a pilot and the equivalent weight of two passengers to the edge of space — then repeat the feat within two weeks.)

SpaceShipOne technology is currently owned by a Paul Allen company called Mojave Aerospace Ventures (MAV). Allen is a Microsoft co-founder and for $20 million, bankrolled the design and building of SpaceShipOne.

Instead of wasting fuel to send up tons of metal into the stratosphere, they simply sent an airplane to the stratosphere, pulled a lever that tilted back the wings and lit the rocket fuse that propelled it into outer space; simple, energy efficient. That leaves NASA’s government bureaucracy bogged down with expensive antiques and primitive concepts funded by taxpayers paychecks.

Enter Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Galactic Enterprise – SpaceshipOne. Virgin Galactic is the world’s first off-the-planet private airline. Business plan: 50 passengers a month for space flight, paying $190,000 each. Core product: a two-hour flight beyond Earth’s atmosphere, wrapped in a three- day astronaut experience. Time frame: 2009.

Private enterprise will insure commercial space flights that will let ordinary individuals go into outer space with resorts projected showing up in about 25 years. Lunar resorts? You bet, they'll be no vacancy rate until the next ship.

NASA could be disbanded and scarce money be spent on a free US education for anyone that wants it.