As NASA looks to the commercial space industry to take on the expensive task of shuttling humans into space, Ames Research Center in Mountain View could play a central role in developing the agency’s partnerships with companies.

Under a 2012 fiscal year budget proposed by President Barack Obama last week, NASA Ames will become the home of a new “emerging commercial space” office, center director Simon “Pete” Worden said Tuesday.

The office “will be a clearinghouse where we can assist NASA, figuring out how we can better use these emerging commercial opportunities, as well as get feedback from the commercial community on how NASA can help them,” Worden said.

Obama’s proposed $18.7 billion budget, which still has to be approved by Congress, places a large emphasis on commercial space flight, allocating about $850 million to help private companies in the field.

“In order to have a sustainable space effort, whether it’s science or exploration, it’s critical that the private sector picks up a lot of that effort,” Worden said. “The private sector historically does things in the long run more efficiently and puts money back into the economy.”

Ames already has an office dedicated to working with private companies called “Space Portal,” Worden said, adding that the budget proposal is an “expansion of that effort.” Space Portal has five employees but Ames might add a few more under the new initiative, Worden said.

NASA is already working with private companies at the Kennedy Space Center, Worden said, but those efforts focus on space transportation systems for people. The office at Ames likely would explore other ways private companies can work in space.

As an example, Worden cited Google’s “Lunar X Prize,” which offers $30 million in prize money to the first privately funded teams that land a robot on the moon’s surface.

Worden’s comments came during a media roundtable with NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver, who said she is visiting NASA sites in California this week to discuss the proposed budget with employees.

In addition to funding for commercial spaceflight, the proposed budget dedicates $32.8 million to restore Moffett Field’s historic Hangar One, after the Navy strips it of its toxic siding this spring.

“We have this facility here that is extremely unique and would be very hard to replicate,” Garver said. “The Navy’s going to start their activity soon and we want to be there ready to follow up, to continue to utilize the facility in the future.”

Worden reiterated the center’s interest in using the hangar for airships. The hangar was built in 1932 to house the airship USS Macon, and Ames has had a long-standing interest in lighter-than-air technology.

“We think that’s one very interesting possibility that is consistent with its original purpose,” Worden said.

Obama’s 2012 budget gives NASA the same amount of money the agency received in 2010, but House Republicans say they want to see NASA’s funding cut further. Garver responded to critics’ concerns by noting NASA’s budget represents less than half of 1 percent of federal spending, and by pointing out that investment in the agency will help the U.S. economy in the long run.

“The leadership of this country needs to hear that message from us more,” Garver said. “They have a lot of things to sort through, but if you really want to win more than just the next day, or win the future, then the investment in NASA is what’s going to help you do that.”

E-mail Diana Samuels at dsamuels@dailynewsgroup.com.