PRIVATE SPACEFLIGHT BECOMES A REALITY

[aTOMiC]

PRIVATE SPACE FLIGHT BECOMES A REALITY

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5121072/?GT1=3584

When I see a bold endeavor like this I am struck by how much things have changed and also how little has changed. Back in the early 70's when I was growing up, space flight had become something of a routine. The Apollo moon missions, Skylab and Apollo / Soyuz were commonplace. If you had asked me back then what would be happening in space travel in 2004 I would have cited a long list of predictable achievements. Moon colonies, Mercury-Pluto manned missions; giant space stations and deep space probes would have dominated the list. And private citizens reaching out to space should have been frequent and perfectly normal. Though I am disappointed with the perceived lack of progress in space travel I am excited and fascinated by this news.

[I'm Murrin]

Well, this really is a step forward. Really, we could have been far closer than we are now if we'd actually put the effort in, but since it wasn't happening this prize was a brilliant idea to encourage people to try. It's taken us a long time, but we're finally going to be using this in new ways, not just the same stuff we've been doing for 40 years now.

[A Gunslinger]

A great step indeed. if the private sector could make a bold entry into space, it would force the public sector to become more agressive too. No losers here.

[dANdeLION]

(It's the Eighties, So Where's Our) Rocket Packs
from the album "Vox Humana"
Words and Music by Terry Taylor
©1984 Twitchen Vibes Music (ASCAP)

It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?
Go anywhere, we strap them on our backs

I thought by now I'd walk the moon
And ride a car without no tires
And have a robot run the vacuum
And date a girl made out of wires
No thing's don't change that much, do they?
We are still out of touch, by now we should discover
Just how to love each other, like Klattus' robot man
Your looks have killed again

I thought by now we'd live in space
And eat a pill instead of dinner
And wear a gas mask on our face a President of female gender
Though progress marches on, (new day)
Our troubles will grow strong
And my expectancies, become my fantasies
You turn my blood to sand, the earth stands still again

My hopes are running low
things moving much too slow
No space men up above
And we're still so very far from love

I thought by now we'd build a dome
Around the world, control the weather
In every house, a picture phone; communicate a little better
But some things never change (replay!)
You are still acting strange
No way that I can see, this way we will be free
La la la la la la,la la la la la 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Lift off!

[aTOMiC]

Well, dAN. I can't argue with the sentiment of that song. It does point out the odd way advances in technology seem to rocket ahead in some instances and remain relatively unchanged in others. With the advent of private manned space flight, I hope to see a far more interested public showing its support for man's presence in space. Pessimists would argue that humans have polluted the earth and mankind is eager to export the worst its nature out into the cosmos. I obviously have a slightly more optimistic view.

[aTOMiC]

It is official!

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5261571/?GT1=3584

[I'm Murrin]

I saw it on the news last night. (err, your link wouldn't load for me). Test flight successful - now they just need to do it with the extra weight...

[Edit - link worked eventually - pretty interesting, liked the interactive bit about how it works]

[A Gunslinger]

I think that in the long term, yesterday's news will be considered a watershed moment in our economy.