EP,

Yes, I agree. The MERs are just another example of how NASA is blocking the development of commercial space firms. The MERs basically destroyed any hope of a Mars market for private Mars rovers while its MRO will kill any market for orbital images for years to come. Otherwise an alt.space firm might have been able to offer those as exclusives to subscribers and make a lot of money doing so.

I wonder if its not too late, with all the focus on commercialization at NASA, to force NASA out of the Mars mission business and instead require them to just buy Mars data from private firms (a series of Mars Prizes?). The money NASA is planning for the MSL and MSR could fund a number of private missions and really move Mars exploration forward. I wonder how many firms would compete for a $1 billion dollar prize to prove the existance of life on Mars, proven to the satisfaction of a team of respected Mars Scientists. Might be a way to really focus the public on Mars research and get NASA out of the way of the alt.space firms.