On a September day in 1962 I wasn't even a twinkle in my parents eye's... in fact, they were only 9 years old. But the word echo's out from John F. Kennedy's mouth,

"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."

I have seen the speech a dozen times and I always hear his words echo in my ears each time I watch another space craft blast its way into space. And the journey there has been both spectacular and tragic. For all the space shuttles that flew into space, there were those that never returned. I was not alive for the first of the tragedies that struck the space program at NASA here in the USA, but I was witness to the last two, and the first is one I'll never forget. The words of Ronald Reagan are also with me until this very day,

"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honoured us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God."

I know I cried that day; I was only 5 years old, but still, I cried. In 2003 when the Columbia broke apart on re-entry, I knew again that space was a venture and a place that was not visited without great risk, and that NO amount of time would ever change that.

I think I speak for us all when I say it was a great relief to see Discovery touch down this week. And despite the dark cloud over NASA regarding their aging shuttle fleet, I believe the future is bright, and with the proper equipment, our space program can continue to be the best in the world. With goals to the Moon, Mars, and Beyond on the horizon, I am excited to see where we go from here and what happens next. In a world of so many problems, it's hard to justify the billions pored into NASA, even for me, but I still support the program for the greater good. I have to believe in the program... it's just something I feel inside.

Today I read the latest in a string of headlines that made me start thinking about space in a whole new way. While I'd been hearing rumors for years, I never once really thought about the fact that it could happen... man... civilians... IN space. Let us not forget it has only been 40 years since man first went into space and then walked on the moon... 40 years!! That's hardly half of a single generation's life. what will the next 40 years bring? Or the next 60? I figure I have a good 60 left, so believe me... I'm curious. And if you're like me, if you were born in the late 70's until the present day, you might want to start dreaming about something you once believed to be the impossible... space. Many might label my thoughts absurd... but then again, who thought we'd have golf carts on mars 20 years ago?

Today, right here and now you can already prepare your trip to the moon; for the impossible has become the inevitable. While it'll cost you a whopping $100 million dollars today, you can in fact visit space itself, and even the moon. Imagine that in your Christmas stocking.

Today CNN reports that, "A US company wants to send two tourists on a trip around the moon at a cost of $100 million per ticket." Space Adventures Ltd, which has already sent two civilians on separate trips into space, says it has researched and identified more than a thousand prospective customers with the necessary wealth for a moon shot as early as 2008. The Arlington, Virginia, company plans to lead missions that will eventually land on the moon as well. The trip around the moon would last between eight and 21 days, depending on whether the travelers make a stop at the International Space Station.

It's almost hard to believe isn't it? I mean despite the price... 2008? Civilians in space? Wow! Big wow!

In fact, I learned today two civilians have already flown in space with the next of the Russian space program. But if Space Adventure LTD gets their way, that number will be going up by the dozens here soon. And don't let the high price tag discourage you just yet. When flat screen TV's came out a few years ago they too hit the high numbers... the very first cost more than some luxury cars. Today, they aren't cheap, but you can pick one up from Best Buy for right over a thousand bucks. And while LCD screens are a drop in the bucket to the $100 million price tag of space don't forget that part of that price is the cost of "being first" - or close to it. Eventually that price will drop, and I expect a substantial bit at that. I mean, even if a journey to space cost $35,000, would you save for it? At what price would it become worth it? Who's to rule out the possibility of a $2500 trip one day? The future opens the door to many things... and history has all but proved that we should expect the unexpected.

Beyond the space flight program there are others proposing other various ideas; some good and some that sound outright crazy. One BIG program is the space tunnel project, which connects a tube to earth and goes all the way to space, like an elevator. You can read more on that here:


So don't be afraid to dream of what may be... of what a few years in the future might hold. For us space enthusiasts, like myself, this is something to certainly dream about. Imagine the stories you could tell...

Perhaps Olsen, who will become the third civilian in space in October, said it best, "Who wouldn't want to go to the moon?"

I would... it'd truly be an out of this world experience. And ultimately in the end, no harm ever came from dreaming...

"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard..."

Dream of the heavens, of the stars, and to the moon my friends... to the moon. The sky might not be the limit after all.


John C. Derrick
Founder