November 13, 2009, is the day the Moon changed—or at least, our perception of it did.

Who better to write a book about space development than Douglas Mallette, a systems engineer working for a Houston, TX company providing technical services to NASA for the Space Shuttle?

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden discussed the importance of private industry, as well as motivating the younger generation, in a speech to the National Association of Investment Companies.

Yesterday, October 7, 2009, the X-Prize Foundation announced that Masten Space Systems completed the first stage toward winning the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. Masten’s vehicle, Xombie, successfully completed two vertical take-offs and landings, at 93 and 91 seconds, respectively. But with other challengers such as BonNova nipping at Masten’s heels, the race for the US$2 million purse is far from over.

by Carol Pinchefsky with G.B. Leatherwood

By Carol Pinchefsky and G.B. Leatherwood

The announcement that Richard Branson has sold a 32% stake in Virgin Galactic to Sheikh Mansour for $280m, reported on Bloomberg and widely in the press, puts a valuation on a space tourism company into the public domain for the first time and gives the nascent industry a higher profile in the financial world.

Here on planet Earth, we’re suffering from an energy crisis: we need gasoline to power our cars, and we need electricity to power our homes. Alternative sources of energy, such as solar and wind power, can only provide a fraction of what we need, and nuclear power has inherent risks. Of course, space enthusiasts see the answer to our problems beyond the planet. By capturing the limitless energy of the sun and transforming it into electrical energy we can use, the world will have the energy it needs without being drained of its finite resources.

Years ago actors Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland popularized a now-famous show business cliché: “Let’s fix up the old barn and put on a show!”