inflatable spacecraft by bigelow

space dot com's talking about the new inflatable spacecraft design by bigelow aerospace. bigelow's been working with nasa--i guess they're working on some kind of space hotel.

space tourism is gonna be a reality soon, methinks.

it's this kind of attitude (not necessarily the capitalistic 'siezing newly blossoming opportunities in newly forming markets' kind of attitude, but capitalism )_does_ yield results.

space kinda got put on the back burner for a decade or so as the world realized what cyberspace was (and as cyberspace came into existence as we know it today). now, i think the ball's finally starting to roll again.

private companies like bigelow and lockheed martin and many others have broken a lot of ground (indeed, creating the commercial space industry) in areas that were formerly only the domain of governments.

does that say something about technology, the state of nasa, or the state of corporate economics? private rewards and challenges (most prominent example: the ansari x prize) have contributed to this phenomenon, as well.

me? i'm just glad we've still got our eyes on the stars (and lately mars, if you'll pardon my unavoidable rhyme).

--cid