Let's moon 'em!
I make no secret of the fact that I'm really excited about the private sector finally getting into the spaceflight business. I consider SpaceShipOne's historic flight to win the X-Prize to be one of the more significant historical events in my lifetime. Watching SpaceX's Falcon rocket almost reach orbit gave me chills. If one day I get the chance to ride Virgin Galactic to a Bigelow space hotel, I'm SO there. And mankind just bloody better have colonized Mars by the time I die or I'll be pissed.
When the rumors started about a new X-Prize I was assuming that it would be for orbit. After all, as critics were quick to point out, SpaceShipOne's achievement, while impressive, was a LONG way short of what orbit would require - and orbit is kind of a prerequisite to getting anywhere else.
But nope. With the help of Google they've gone one better - the new X-Prize will be for putting a robotic lander on the moon. Impressive! I wonder how long it'll take to be won...