George, I noticed that one fed-supported agency that John Miller’s budget cutters proposed chopping was NASA. The upcoming sub-orbital trip of SpaceShipOne, planned for June 21, may be the project that proves private enterprise will succeed in space travel.

“Since Yuri Gagarin and Al Shepard’s epoch flights in 1961, all space missions have been flown only under large, expensive government efforts. By contrast, our program involves a few, dedicated individuals who are focused entirely on making spaceflight affordable,” said Burt Rutan, an aviation technologist.

“Without the entrepreneur approach, space access would continue to be out of reach for ordinary citizens. The SpaceShipOne flights will change all that and encourage others to usher in a new, low-cost era in space travel,” Rutan added.

In a press statement last December, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen said: “SpaceShipOne is a tangible example of continuing humankind’s efforts to travel into space, effectively demonstrating that private resources can make a big difference in this field of discovery and invention.”

Allen is financing the project. Pretty cool.