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SILICON VALLEY (CBS SF) Forget Silicon Valley and Bay Area rents, there is no higher rent than thisan office space thats quite literally out of this world. The views are amazing, but the commute is a bit expensive, and the office quarters are cramped. Still, the work that can be done up here is only possible in this rarest of places, 220 miles up.

As the International Space Station is now old enough to drive, its also showing its age. Sixteen years in space, and another ten years of planned life has NASA looking for options to evolve the orbiting outpost, and thats where corporations come in.

The space agency is looking for ways to create greater access for companies to use the space station (ISS) for private enterprise.

All puns aside, Google workers wouldnt be hopping into Soyuz capsules in Mountain View to head up to work, but theoretically, Google could invest in some real estate above earth for a project.

In the Request for Information announced this week, NASA is asking companies for their ideas on what they would do on board the station to develop a commercial market, and help the agency continue exploration.

Already, Tesla and PayPal co-founder Elon Musks company is handling cargo missions to the station under SpaceX.

NASA hopes to make the space near earth a commercial project, and focus instead on deep space.

Now is an exciting time for space research and developing exploration capabilities, said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington. After 10 years of continuous habitation in low-Earth orbit, we know microgravity provides data unattainable on Earth. We are already seeing benefits in pharmaceuticals, medical robotics and materials sciences.

Originally posted here:

NASA Opens Space Station To Private Corporations, Asks Tech Firms For Ideas