This, from the New York Times, is one of the most exciting pieces of news to be published in a long time:

Pilot Guides Private Plane Beyond Atmosphere, a FirstA veteran civilian test pilot became the first human to reach space in a privately financed mission today, riding a small, winged rocketship high above California before gliding back to a powerless, soft landing in the Mojave Desert, organizers said.

Despite a washboard ride and a loud bang on the way up, the craft, SpaceShipOne, soared beyond the Earth's atmosphere, according to preliminary radar data collected by the design team, a voyage that if confirmed, would make the pilot, Mike Melvill, the world's first private astronaut.

Upon crossing the threshold of space, more than 62 miles up, Mr. Melvill said later, he opened a celebratory package of M&Ms as he became weightless.

"It was absolutely amazing," Mr. Melvill said upon his return to Mojave Airport, 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles. "M&Ms were flying around."  [more]

It's no accident, I'm sure, that one of the backers of this effort is Paul Allen, the same Microsoft co-founder behind the new science fiction museum in Seattle. Even if competition with China should fuel a new space race, private ventures like this will still be the best hope for average citizens like you and me to make it into space someday.

Hell, yes.