These are exciting times in the space sector. In addition to the stirring success of the Curiosity Mars rover, NASA’s human spaceflight organization has bet the farm on buying services from a variety of companies for cargo and crew to the international space station. New companies have emerged and traditional organizations have taken up the commercial bent. If the space tourism entrepreneurs are correct, next year there will be public suborbital flights from New Mexico and Florida. Even commercial plans for mining asteroids for profit have been proposed.

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G. Scott Hubbard has held key roles at NASA, including director of Ames Research Center, first Mars Program director, founder of NASA's Astrobiology Institute, and the agency’s sole member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. Hubbard, now retired,...