Here on Prometheus we discussed prizes as space policy a while back (here and here).

Yesterday the House Science Committee held a hearing on the topic. Read the press release here and the witness testimony can be found here Particularly thoughtful testimony was provided by Molly Macauley of Resources for the Future. And a cautionary note was provided by Douglas Holtz-Eakin of the Congressional Budget Office. Even so, my guess is that we’ll see prizes as space policy in the not-too-distant future. If so, it’ll be a policy experiment worth watching.