Congrats, SpaceShipOne

I was six years old back in 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the Moon.  A year earlier, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey painted a vivid picture of a future where public space travel on (Pan Am) shuttles -- complete with stewardesses -- was routine. 

Fast forward 35 years: now my son is six and there are still no robot butlers, flying cars in the garage or public access to space.  We have made great strides in exploring our solar system and the larger universe, but access to outer space has been the sole domain of a very select few with access controlled by the budgets and interests of various governments. 

So I couldn't be happier to see SpaceShipOne win a $10M dollar prize for demonstrating two successful flights of a private spacecraft capable of carrying passengers.  While there's a lot of talk about the development of space tourism, I'm hoping private initiative and competition will create many more opportunities and drive costs down.

Perhaps before my first grandchild turns six, maybe some space trips will become as mundane as intercontinental flights are today.