I'm encouraged to see the progress that X-Prize contestants are making. On Thursday, the Canadian Arrow team will be doing a test of its completed 57,000 lbs. V-2 engine -- the largest rocket engine ever fired in Canada. And Armadillo has been fabricating their full-size vehicle, doing full-up tests of the chute extraction system and the landing, um, technique.

(The Armadillo landing technique -- so awesomely ugly yet simple that I can't help but cheer them on -- consists of landing the vehicle on its intentionally crushable nose-cone. Looks like hell, but having recently experienced the fantastic effectiveness of automotive crumple-zones in absorbing a 90-mph impact, I suspect that the Armadillo folks are onto something).

Perhaps the Shuttle will fly again soon, but at this point it looks like an open question: will the next people to fly in space do so on a Russian, Chinese, or private vehicle?

Cheers,

Nathan