SPACE: Space.com article about the future of mining in space. I'm always overjoyed to see that people haven't given up looking into space for the future, like the government and the media seem to have done. The best way to do anything is to assume it's going to happen and work forward from there. Once you figure out what's going to happen when we get into space in large numbers, it gives more of an incentive for people to accomplish the 'getting there' part. I've said for awhile now that the best way to get people into space is to give somebody a financial reason for it. Science and exploration are, of course, the most noble goals for space exploration but putting the dollar signs in Boeing's eyes will probably get a reusable space vehicle much faster than going through NASA. Even when NASA works with Boeing on stuff the goal isn't specifically lots of money for Boeing, it's a ship for NASA. If you watched the show PBS did on the design of the new Joint Strike Fighter you'll see how fast people can work to come up with and implement new ideas when there are billions of dollars on the line. I think the government should have a design contest like the JSF contest where the prize to the best design is a long-term contract on all space delivery vehicles. With a few billion and a 10 year contract somebody like Boeing or Lockheed could have a reusable space delivery vehicle within 5 years. You know there are a dozen aerospace engineers with mostly workable space vehicle designs sitting in their desks. There are a ton of smart engineers who want to go into space, let's get them on it.