But I want to make a point about NASA.

NASA didn't get America into space and produce such wonderful triumphs: American private enterprise did. NASA was simply the management arm of the whole deal. Sure, it was paid for by taxes, but the hard tech was done by the likes of Grumman, Boeing, North American, Douglas, et al. Mission Control was populated with hundreds of engineers from these companies and they provided solutions and backup every step of the way.

American private enterprise triumphed over Soviet collectivism in every way. Yes, the Soviets did have a successful space program. But they couldn't do the moon or reusable shuttles. What is their legacy? Temporarily ferrying supplies into space for the capitalists in rocket-powered Ladas. And that only because Americans decided *not* to extend the shuttle missions.

Now we have private companies powered by venture capitalists leveraging the technology and walking in the steps of earlier capitalists. Just as it should be.

It looks like the future is in contracting for space delivery. And the offshoot will not only be the satisfaction of massive governmental contracts, but the population of space by private individuals.

Marvelous. Go, SpaceX! Probably Big Brother will regulate it to within an inch of it's life -- but maybe Spacex will prosper anyway. Such a superior path to space exploration.