I liked the philosophy of the plane that won the X-prize. I'm not clear if
it made it far enough up to get OUT into space, but I think it proved the
concept. Why not get into space with a smaller vessel that is less expensiv=
e
to launch and then fly over to a space dock to pick up your space-only
plane. Then you could maybe dock the earth-space vessel to your space-only
craft and carry it with you as you go to where ever you're going. You'd use
the earth-space vessel as a shuttle craft to the planets we visit (after, o=
f
course, having Mr. Data launch unmanned probes to the planet to let us know
what kind of atmosphere we're dealing with and what kind of fuel we'll need
to get home).
 Just a thought...
 James
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