He also said he wanted astronauts to be not only more accessible to journalists but even to participate in marketing opportunities to boost their brands — and that of the space agency.

"I'd like to see kids growing up, instead of maybe wanting to be like a professional sports star, I'd like to see them grow up wanting to be a NASA astronaut, or a NASA scientist," he said. "I'd like to see, maybe one day, NASA astronauts on the cover of a cereal box, embedded into the American culture."

The effort is part of a broader effort to generate more private-sector involvement in low Earth orbit. NASA already relies on companies to fly cargo to the space station — and is already on path to relying on companies to deliver crew. The White House has also said it would like to end direct funding for the International Space Station, and turn over operations of the orbiting laboratory to a private entity. Meanwhile, there are other companies looking to develop their own commercial space stations. And the White House is working to ease regulations to promote private-sector growth.

"As NASA looks toward the future of private-sector space stations, it's vital to explore these kinds of innovative commercial concepts to ensure that the U.S. maintains an ongoing presence is low Earth orbit," said Mike Gold, the chairman of the new NASA committee.