Free Republic

Outrageous egos battling each other across the cosmos? Check. Sci-fi nerds who’ve definitely watched too much Star Trek? Check. Humanity’s next chapter in a space left in the hands of insanely rich tech billionaires happy to take NASA’s tax-payer billions? Check. This is Mission Control: We have lift-off! Just a month after Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the world’s most powerful rocket to date - the 400-ft long, $67 million Starship - only for it to explode mid-air just four minutes into flight, a phoenix has risen from the flames to bravely take on the quest for space travel. Or at...

As several new private ventures to take people on trips to space come closer to becoming reality, California lawmakers are racing other states to woo the new space companies with cushy incentives. They are debating a bill now in Sacramento that would insulate manufacturers of spaceships and parts suppliers from liability should travelers get injured or killed on a voyage, except in cases such as gross negligence or intentional wrongdoing. Last year, the state enacted a law that shields space tourism companies such as Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic from similar lawsuits. “We’re still in the fledgling part of space...

Joining a swelling group of countries shooting for the moon, Japan is considering a plan to establish a manned lunar base by 2025, officials said yesterday. If approved, the mission would mark a major change of direction for Japan's space program, which has for decades focused on unmanned, scientific probes. It would also up the ante in an increasingly heated space race in Asia. Both China and India have announced moon missions, and US President George W. Bush has proclaimed that the US will return to the moon in the next decade or so and will try to send astronauts...