Space day
The Good: Well, congrats to the Mojave Aerospace Ventures team for winning the Ansari X Prize yesterday; obviously it cost a lot more than the $10 million prize to do, but proving that commercial passenger space travel is at least possible (if not exactly cheap) is an important step forward into opening up this resource for everyone. I really hope to see this sort of travel as more than just a novelty in my lifetime. Plus I'm delighted to see one of Microsoft's founders use his money for something that's just damn cool.
The Bad: In sadder news, yesterday also marked the passing of "Gordo" Cooper, one of NASA's "Mercury Seven." I had a special place in my heart for this guy because he was public in his conviction not only that UFOs exist but that the government is covering up evidence that would prove it. Whether or not you believe Gordo Cooper, you gotta give him props for inspiring a generation of X-Files fans.
The Ugly: Within an hour or two of SpaceShipOne's return to the Mojave desert, 7-Up had already announced its promotion to give away a free ticket to space, as one of the official sponsors of the Ansari X-Prize. Given that the whole theme here is "commercial" space travel, I guess I should have expected it, but it still would have been nice to give the SpaceShipOne team a day to revel in their technical achievement without mucking it up with marketing.