Geek Habitat

I watched its X-Prize winning second flight on Monday but am only now getting around to noting it — congrats to the entire team behind SpaceShipOne! It’s enough to renew some people’s dreams of space, and instill it in younsters who’ve wondered what all the hub-bub about space is about.

I was born after the first Apollo moon landings but grew up during the heady days of the early Space Shuttle program. We really seemed to own space, but our views changed in 1986 with the loss of STS-51L (Space Shuttle Challenger) and her 7 person crew, including Teacher in Space Christa McAulliffe. If you wonder how much of an impression that left on me, you need only note this — I just typed that sentence from memory. The name of every person on that crew, the 73 seconds it took before the Shuttle was lost — all indelibly marked in my memory.

So, to see dreams renewed and something truly new and different coming out of the space program — indeed, to witness the birth of a wholly civilian-driven space program — well, it’s hard to articulate how happy that makes me. So, again, congratulations SpaceShipOne! You’ve done well! Now, let’s get those ticket prices for civilian rides to space a little more reasonable, and I’ll be right there in line!