Space Ship One

Today was a grand day for humanity… I’m talking about the SpaceshipOne launch. No one around here seemed to care that much about this, but I was really moved when I was watching the footage on CNN. This is history unveiling in front of my eyes – this moment might as well be the turning point in the history of human race. God, I might not live long enough to see it, but martian colonists might one day look back at SpaceshipOne flight the same way we are looking at Columbus’ trip to “india” today.

I’m exagerating – I know. But it’s hard for me to contain my excitement. For years now I was saying that the governmentally sponsored space programs suck. They are totally dependent on the whims, and the political agenda of current officials, chronically underfunded in research areas that really matter. Putting to much money into research takes away from the economical and social programs – and if someone finally decides to spend some money on it, it is usually for pointless, unusable defense toys we will never need. The only way for space exploration to move forward is to shift it into the private sector.

Private sponsors have the money, the will, and are crazy enough to try anything. They are also not bound by political agendas, public opinion, or campaign brib^H^H^H^H contributions. Only the private investors and corporate conglomerations have enough freedom to take the risks involved with space exploration. And the possible financial losses involved, do not thretten to directly influence the economy of the whole nation. Finally, only the private sector can possibly bear these tremendous costs, for a minimal gain in the name of a vision and prospects for a better future. Finally only megacorporations have the money and resources to make big bucks on the costly and inefficient space travle.

I’ve been saying it for years now, and today I saw the first signs of this future. If there will be more projects like this, and this flight will start a new trend we might see some great developments in space exploration real soon. This is history in the making people… Next stop: the moon, then mars and beyond!