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An Example of Private Versus Government Funding on a Project

AP Newswire [1] is running along with everyone else the story of a private concern putting a space plane up, and getting it back safely:

“MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) – A rocket plane soared above Earth’s atmosphere Monday in the first privately financed manned spaceflight, then glided back to Earth for an unpowered landing.
SpaceShipOne pilot Mike Melvill was aiming to fly 62 miles above the Earth’s surface and he just exceeded that goal, reaching 62.21 miles, according to radar data.”

Read the whole thing.

Keep this in mind as you read it.

The project was funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who would only describe the cost as being in excess of $20 million

Quotes I’m getting from other sources suggest it was a $44Million price tag.
Which sounds like quite a lot, until you consider it took the government near $44Million to do essentially the same thing.

An object lesson, dear reader, in the mechanics of government, versus private, enterprise.