SpaceShipOne wins the X-prize...

Have you ever wondered what space travel would be like if government wasn't involved? Surely, it wouldn't happen at all. Or if it did, it would be extremely dangerous. And if it wasn't, surely it would be at least as expensive as NASA's explorations. And if it was cheaper, well, it might blow up or pollute or something!

Surely private space flight would be rare, too, something only large corporations could contemplate. I bet they would just concentrate on launching satellite and similar commercial and profitable efforts, since there's obviously no real market for space tourism at the prices they would have to charge, and obviously nothing in the budget for science exploration like the government can do...

In the real world, commercial space travel without government involvement is... Cheap. Fast. Safe. Easy.

How cheap? How about $20 million for the complete development of a reusable spacecraft?

How fast? Two launches within a week using the same craft.

How safe? Three launches so far, with an experimental craft, and no one has been hurt, nor any crashes occurred.

How easy? People do it as a hobby.

Meet SpaceShipOne, winner of the Ansari X-Prize, and pioneers of the next private frontier. They deserve a great big round of applause.