Burt Does It Again
 

Spaceship One has won the X Prize. Did anyone here seriously doubt that Burt Rutan and company could carry this off?

I tried to watch it via the web today, but the server was completely overwhelmed. Never could connect. Sigh.

Excellent pictures at their website. :)

That's fabulous, no, really it is, but . . .

Now what??

Passengers.

To where? For who? For what?

Pardon my cynicism.. but one of my criticisms of the space shuttle program was always that we weren't really accomplishing anything futzing around in low earth orbit. I don't find any of this interesting unless it lets us go somewhere new.

Ah well, one day we'll have that space elevator.

Step by step. LEO tourism will increase prospects for permanent installations. NASA never got into it because just as they started non-astronaut passengers, the Challenger explosion happened, and they called it off. Permanent installations increase prospects for massive projects such as space elevators, and vice versa, in a supporting cycle.

Book me a flight on the first "Thirty Mile High Club" flight! :D

Have you ever climbed a mountain, just to see the view? Have you ever gone scuba diving, just to look at the fish and coral? Have you ever got up early in the morning, just to see the sunrise?
I'd love to go into space, even for just a couple of minutes, to see the world streched out below me and the stars shining above me.
Bring it on!