Earlier this week, aerospace designer Burt Rutan and Sir Richard Branson unveiled SpaceShipTwo – the latest spacecraft from Virgin Galactic. With packed attendance and the usual grandeur that follows Sir Richard, many were infected by his enthusiasm. The edge of space may be getting closer. As Branson stated, “2008 will really be the year of the spaceship.”

The New York Times posted a great article covering the event. As they reported: ”’Most people think of going to space as Saturn V or the Space Shuttle,’ said Mr. Whitehorn, the company president. But the Rutan model, a descendant of the record-breaking X-15 experimental craft, shows there is another way, he said. The vehicle is meant to open space to a new generation of spacefarers who are more creative than the classically trained astronauts, Mr. Rutan said. And that will bring with it a new way of looking at space travel, just as personal computing opened up the use of computers from a military and academic tool to something that transformed the world.”