Free Republic

If there’s one thing that the Virgin Group, the umbrella of companies that includes Virgin Galactic, is known for, it’s putting on a spectacle. The company has, over the years, refined the art of doing events designed to maximize public interest and media attention. It’s something that had its roots in the company’s need to compete against rival companies with bigger advertising budgets, but has since become a hallmark of Virgin itself.

The report of the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee (the Augustine Committee) formed by the Office of Science and Technology Policy is truly exciting and inspiring. But that is hard to tell from its title, its text, or listening to the folks presenting it. It is dry, technical, and full of caveats. Nor would you know it from the media coverage — which is mostly about the negatives of NASA not having enough money.

Astronomers announced today the discovery of at least four — and as many as six — planets orbiting two nearby stars. These planets are relatively low mass, ranging from 5 to 25 times the mass of the Earth. For comparison, Jupiter is over 300 times more massive than the Earth, and Uranus 15 times our mass. Three of these extrasolar planets orbit the nearby star 61 Virginis, which is only about 28 light years away (that’s a stone’s throw in galactic terms). 61 Vir has been a target for planet hunters for some time because it’s very much like our...