POW! Right to the Moon

I wasn't sure it would happen, but I actually agree with the Grinch on something. Presidential candidate and GOP bad boy Newt Gingrich is promising to establish a permanent settlement on the moon, if he becomes president.

I don't agree with him about the president part; that would be a disaster of Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire proportions. But we should be on the moon, and we should have a space transportation system that works. And, yeah, I might even agree with him on the statehood thing.

My preference is for privatized space (see my article on Virgin Galactic in my free digital Galaxis magazine from last summer), but we should be out there. And yes, we should be talking about permanent colonization of the moon and other appropriate places in the solar system – and not just when we're shilling for votes of NASA workers.

Virgin Galactic's Spaceship Makes First Manned Free Flight

These days, Virgin Galactic pretty much seems to be single-handedly upholding the notion that America is still the land of frontier adventure and innovation.

Then again, Virgin's parent is a British company, so that can only mean one thing: In 10 years, it'll be owned by the Germans. Still, it's a cool spaceship, and it did land on an American desert.

Video of Virgin Galactic's "Captive Carry" Flight of the Enterprise

Here's some high-quality video from Virgin Galactic from yesterday's captive carry flight of the VSS Enterprise over the Mojave.

Virgin Galactic's First "Captive Carry" Flight a Success

The VSS Enterprise had a successful flight March 22, 2010. Photo by Mark Greenberg.

Virgin Galactic -- the private space firm headed by Sir Richard Branson (and the leading reason you or I might actually get into space) -- announced today the successful inaugural "captive carry" flight of the VSS Enterprise.

Captive carry refers to a flight in which a mothership supports the secondary ship, such as a missile or, in this case, a spaceship.

Enterprise's flight, which took place over the Mojave desert from the Mojave Air and Spaceport, was "a huge success," according to Virgin Galactic.

"Seeing the finished spaceship in December was a major day for us, but watching VSS Enterprise fly for the first time really brings home what beautiful, ground-breaking vehicles [spacecraft designer Burt Rutan] and his team have developed for us," said Branson. "It comes as no surprise that the flight went so well; the Scaled team is uniquely qualified to bring this important and incredible dream to reality. Today was another major step along that road and a testament to U.S. engineering and innovation."

Rutan himself called it a "momentous day for the Scaled and Virgin Teams" and said it was the start of "what we believe will be extremely exciting and successful spaceship flight test program." Scaled Composities is a Mojave-based air vehicle design firm.

Virgin will continue testing VSS Enterprise through next year, moving from more captive carry flights to independent powered flight.

Richard Branson Boosts Private Space in BBC Focus Guest-Editing Stint

The BBC, in addition to producing untold hours of radio and television programming around the world, owns Bristol Magazines Ltd, which -- as the name pretty much says -- publishes magazines. (It even produces them in Bristol.) The next time you're at Borders or Barnes & Noble or any other store with a big magazine area, scan through the history or science sections, and you'll find such titles as BBC Knowledge, BBC Sky at Night (an astronomy title), BBC History, and more.

Though I'm a history buff, the only BBC magazine I pick up from time to time is BBC Focus, which is a popular-science magazine. With a circulation of only about 68,000 (a level that would not even interest many American publishers), Focus produces a high-quality monthly package of more than 100 oversized (by anemic U.S. magazine standards) pages. The magazine is full of colorfully illustrated, easy-to-read articles about science in our lives.

It had been a number of months since I'd last bought a copy of Focus (I am rather falling behind in my magazine reading as it is), but the December 2009 issue caught my attention with its reflective silver logo box, a change from its usual red. The key factor in my decision to purchase the magazine, however, was the cover story package: the privatization of space. It's a favorite topic of mine, and it promised to be a nice look inside the burgeoning private space race.

The cover also noted that the issue was "guest edited by Richard Branson." Branson is the billionaire owner of the Virgin brand of companies, including Virgin Galactic, the leading private space travel firm. I am not, as a rule, a fan of guest-editing gimmicks. In this case, there was at least a compelling link between Branson and this magazine's topics.

If I have a complaint, it would be the one I've made in the past with regard to guest editors and the integrity of magazines' editorial products. Branson's issue of Focus includes at least five articles (comprising a majority of the special section on private space travel) by or about Virgin Galactic. Now, making all the necessary photo shoots, interviews, and information exchanges happen might well be a big part of what a guest editor brings to a magazine, but it still looks like BBC Focus gave Branson's company a big free advertisement in its December issue (or make that "... of its December issue.").

In a statement by Bristol Magazines, Focus editor Jheni Osman said of working with Branson: "The father of space tourism was a pleasure to work with -- full of feature ideas and Focus-esque humour. It's the first time he's guest edited a magazine, giving readers an exclusive insight into his world."

As with most BBC Focus magazines, it's a nice issue. Focus and Branson can be proud of their work on many levels. But I don't think they advanced the cause of journalism any.