On May 29th, Virgin Galactic, the brainchild of Billionaire Richard Branson, announced that they have just signed a deal with the FAA to outline their plans for suborbital commercial space flights.  What this means is, by the end of the year, everyday folks (non astronauts) will be able buy tickets to go on a space vacation!  Now don’t get too excited, the tab for this journey will run you about $230,000! Yikes! This sounds like a lot, but if you consider that up until now, all self funded civilian trips to space cost about $20Million dollars, then you will realize that this is a huge step for the space tourism industry.  In the past, only the super rich, like Dennis Tito or Gregory Olsen, could afford to self fund their space exhibitions.  Anybody else that wanted to make this trip would need corporate sponsorship (we all remember Lance Bass from N’sync’s attempt to go to space in 2002).  Virgin Galactic tours will be opening up space travel to a wider range of people, and that is a good thing.

This story got me thinking about limits, and the boundless possibilities that are created when people dare to dream of pushing the limits .  Once upon a time, we thought the world was flat, then dreamers dared to questions this, and in time were able to navigate the entire world in a matter of months.  Once upon a time the idea of flying through the air, was a silly dream held by two brothers, and now we can get from one side of the world to the other in just one day.  Once upon a time the idea of flying through space was considered ‘Science Fiction’, but dreamers started the space race in the 1960s that led to the space tourism space we see today.

So cheers to dreamers like Richard Branson, Cheers to Virgin Galactic, and cheers to you the readers……Keep on dreaming, dreams are the catalyst for all innovation!