Wide Open Spaces

How in the hell did this happen? Not only is it an embarassing mistake, it is a sickeningly expensive one, to boot!
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Meanwhile, our Russian pals continue to make our rocket scientists at NASA look like a bunch of rank amateurs.
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Here's the visionary behind the X Prize:

From the time he was a child in Long Island, smitten by images of the Apollo moon landings, Diamandis has poured his heart and soul into researching space and trying to speed up his chances of getting there. He gave up on the idea of government-sponsored space flight after the 1986 Challenger disaster derailed NASA's space shuttle program. The quickest route to space, he decided, would be through privately funded missions.

So Diamandis set out to make it possible.

Inspiring!
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