Space science: Along for the ride, Nature

"Three days after Discovery 's launch ... two planetary scientists are talking with a group of fellow researchers about what should come next. Sipping his drink, Daniel Durda laments that after half a century, only about 500 people have flown in space. Access to humanity's final frontier is still restricted to people employed by a handful of powerful governments and corporations, plus the occasional joyriding mega-millionaire. "I'd prefer for anyone to be able to go, for any reason they choose," says Durda, of the Boulder, Colorado, branch of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)."

- Video: First Suborbital Scientist Class Trains at NASTAR Center, earlier post
- Videos: Flying SpaceShipTwo in a Centrifuge, earlier post

Keith's note: I will be part of suborbital scientist training program at NASTAR next week. I hope to bring you more video and updates - including a personal look at what it is like to fly a SpaceShip Two profile in a centrifuge. We hope to live stream some of us riding a full 6G Virgin Galactic flight on Wednesday. Stay tuned.