More rambling than usual

Let me make my stance clear. I like space. I would like to visit it one day. Maybe float around naked for a bit.

Beyond my personal interests, I firmly believe that Humankind's future is among the stars. Limitless planets, resources and possibilities await us, if only we would grasp them. Our first steps into space were tenuous, like a toddler cautiously but intently putting one foot in front of the other. We learned to walk, then decided we did not want to anymore.

I will now stop pushing this bad analogy into your unwilling brain. I'm nice like that.

For me, never. White Knight and SpaceShipOne caught my interest briefly, as did the other X-Prize contestants.

The idea of Virgin Galactic holds promise, if used correctly. Currently the only published plans are for delivering the rich eccentrics briefly into micro-gravity, then back to earth. If this were branched out into sub-orbital hops around the world it would become more than a mere amusement ride. The Concorde SST, the fastest commercial production aircraft yet, could travel the distance from New York to Paris in 3.5 hours. A Sub-orbital flight between New York and Tokyo cruising at Mach 22 would take less than half an hour. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?

It does to me.