When a public official appoints a commission to study a problem, it's usually assumed to be a craven strategy to delay a decision or to dodge responsibility. But sometimes tossing an issue over to outsiders actually offers the best chance of moving forward. That seems to be the case with the commission appointed in June by President Barack Obama's administration to review NASA's human spaceflight programme. Without such a panel, which is due to report late this month, developing a workable consensus on NASA's future would probably be impossible. The only problem is that reaching consensus might still be impossible even with the panel.
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