Weightless vacation

Fasten your seat belts, because the real space race is here. Through the cold war our elders watched the United States compete against Russia for space superiority. We all know that nothing more than a show of power fueled this exploration. Now, times have changed. And for the better. This race is fueled by the private sector, mainly by Bigelow aerospace. Last October Spaceship One won the first X-prize for ten million bucks by putting the first non-NASA American into sub-orbit. As impressive as this was, in my opinion it wasn't really putting a man into space, although technically it was, since he was 71 miles above sea level. He did not actually go into orbit. The beauty of this is that no government money was used. This was financed by the possibility that you or I may want to spend some money to take a ride. The real excitement comes with the next prize being offered by Bigelow. 50 million buckaroos! The stakes are much higher. This is the real McCoy. This time 5 people must make two complete orbits around Earth. Without expending more than 20% of the hardware used. Then they must do it again within 60 days. There are other fine points that must be accomplished, such as the vehicle used must show the ability to dock with an inflatable space station. Oh yeah, best of all is that it must be accomplished by Americans and on American soil, with no government moneys whatsoever. Although they can use government test facilities. There are a few privately owned company's that are well 0n the way. Its not a matter of IF, it's a matter of WHEN! This will happen, and it will happen before 2010 (or else prize is not valid).
The bottom line here is, in my life time, I get to go to space. Yup, the demand is huge, and the private sector is responding. Of course it will be some time before it will be affordable for guys like me, but when it is, I'll be willing to take a couple of bucks out of the old 401k. If your interested in seeing the specifics to the next X-prize or want to find links to see where some of the company's involved are check out Space news web site
http://www.space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_bigelow_041108.html