Leonard David, who is a columnist over at space.com post this video along with a column he wrote about Virgins Galactic’s bid to become the first commercial space liner service. What the ship does is it allows people to travel to the edge of space, experience a few minutes of weightlessness, and view the darkness of space and the curvature of Earth, all before gliding back to ground.

The technology is still in assessment phase, but after watching the video, it became evident that if they pull it off, it is proof that that the free market really can handle space flight. There is no reason to consider that this will not work.

In all of human history there has been about 525 people in space, Virgins Galactic now have 477 people signed up to go, at $200,000 each, with more signing up all the time. Virgins Galactic has about $60 million worth of deposits in the bank, which represents about $100 million worth of business.This is all proof that getting the free market more involved in space is not such a bad idea. Man has been going to space for a while now, but we are just now going to be able to allow private citizen to purchase a ride.

Newt Gingrich says if elected President, he would want to spend 10 percent of NASA’s budget on prize money for space technology competitions.

Irene Klotz over a Discovery.com contends, “Former President George Bush embarked on a moon exploration program called Constellation that was canceled due to funding shortfalls.”

As a nation that is in financial trouble, how do we go about staying ahead of China in the space race?

“Gingrich wants to pioneer space without a huge standing government bureaucracy and with investments by private industry. To help lure companies and research organizations to space, Gingrich proposes to spend 10 percent of NASA’s budget, which is currently $17.8 billion, for prizes for an array of competitions.”

Gingrich has tapped into something important here. The country is insolvent, but at the same time staying the leading nation on space science and space travel in essential, not just for my inner geek, but also for the generation of children to come.The science is vital to so many people, and going to the moon at one time meant the United States was bar none number one.

It started with President Eisenhower, who was skeptical about human spaceflight, but pursued advanced commercial and military applications of satellite technology.My guess is this helped the country in many ways.

Romney contends “Let’s have a collaborative effort with business, with government, with the military, as well as with their educational institutions, have a mission that once again excites our young people about the potential of space and the commercial potential will pay for itself down the road. This is a great opportunity. Florida has technology, the people here on the Space Coast have technology and vision and passion that America needs. And with a president who is actually willing to create a mission and a vision for NASA and for space, we can continue to lead the world.”

Once again, Romney hits some of the right notes, but shows lack of understanding of how to do what he is talking about in a conservative way; he talks the talk, but where are the ideas. We have seen enough talk for a lifetime; it is time to see some action.Out of the candidates remaining in the Republican race, Gingrich clearly has a better governing record.Right now, this is what the country needs.

Rick Santorum even has his opinion on the space program, or more so, his opinion on Gingrich’s plan on building a moon colony.

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