So much better

Well articulated, good job

Then you’d be wrong

But we’re not talking about the nature of the system here, we’re talking about this specific instance.

And I don’t agree they’d necessarily do it internally, sometimes talent is the biggest blocker, not money. They can contract out a team of highly qualified engineers from NASA for a project here and there, when they need it. Hiring people is extremely expensive and having those people do nothing between projects is even more so.

The fact that it’s not profitable overall doesn’t mean there can never be any profit from anything.

How would you know? It hasn’t been sold yet.

Yeah but that was decades ago.

Without the boom, these planes can fly possibly more profitable routes, for example, drawing parallels is hard with such a time-distance

Huh? What kinda question is that?

If you flew above treetops, you’d consume considerably more fuel because of air friction.

By investing into research of this airplane, the bulk of the costs are going to be manhours.

How is paying engineers going to cause brain drain?

People fly first class, people fly businees class. Some have the money.

Also, for some, the time saved is worth much more than what the ticket costs, especially in business (expensive consultants?).

why is NASA doing this with tax dollars

The resulting aircraft/technology can be sold to commercial aviation and/or be used for military purposes

something obvious

NASA stands for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, so it’s kinda in scope