The headlines in other publications have gotten really crazy: "Report:
Obama May Merge NASA, Pentagon Space Programs" on Fox News. There are
even more sensational examples... none of them with a basis in
reality.

It all started with this Bloomberg item saying the Obama
administration might turn the mission of launching NASA's Orion
capsule from the planned Ares I over to "military rockets" - the Atlas
or Delta EELVs - " because military rockets may be cheaper and ready
sooner than the space agency's planned launch vehicle." Other outlets
picked up on Bloomberg and took it to the point of alleging a "merger"
without ever noticing the premise was wrong and that no merger is even
being contemplated.

The Bloomberg story as spectacularly uninformed. The Atlas and Delta
EELVs are not purely military rockets: NASA can purchase them
commercially from United Launch Alliance (ULA) any time they want.
EELVs carry commercial satellites and NASA payloads like the GOES
series. What NASA would have to pay ULA to do is build a man-rated
version, which the Pentagon has no interest in. It's also not clear
where NASA and DoD ties need to be closer: they cooperate every day on
everything from range operations to the significant military support
to shuttle launches to missions like Orbital Express and vehicles like
the X-43.

Matt Bille
Freelance space writer/historian
http://mattbille.blogspot.com