Re: And we should give a Rat's Arse about this why?
"Because it's observable progress in space manned exploration that has been missing from the likes of NASA?"
Not sure I agree with that.
Space? Barely.
Exploration? Err, no again - it's a jolly.
Missing from NASA? NASA have orbital and suborbital missions all the time ...
What Virgin may do is come up with alternative ideas and methods of engineering that may reduce future mission costs (though disintegrating rather than investing in landing gear isn't one of my favoured ones!)
Biting the hand that feeds IT
