Moon Shot

Jamie and I were up early (Chicago time) yesterday to watch the successful conclusion of space shuttle Discovery's "return to flight" mission. But while questions linger about NASA's manned spaceflight program in the post-Columbia era, the NYTimes reports today on a private company that proposes to use Russian technology to send two paying customers on a flight around the moon. (Basically by adding a booster rocket to a Soyuz capsule -- described as a 14-day trip for three in an SUV, without the rest stops.) If there's a market for $100 million tickets on that ride, I gotta believe the future of space exploration is assured, regardless of the direction Congress and the President drive our space agency.