The Japanese, original trade name for Speed Racer seems appropriate for this free-market, astronomical triumph:
A privately funded and constructed spaceship returned to California's Mojave Desert today after a successful mission to become the first non-governmental craft to leave the Earth's atmosphere.SpaceShipOne, financed by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen and designed by Burt Rutan and his team at Scaled Composites, landed at about 8:15 a.m. California time at the Mojave Civilian Aerospace Test center, where it was launched about 90 minutes earlier. The launch and landing were televised.
...If the altitude of 100 kilometers is confirmed, the team will later compete to win the $10 million Ansari X prize. The award was set up by the non-profit X Prize Foundation of Missouri to encourage missions allowing the public to travel into space. To win it, the same craft, able to carry three people, must be successfully launched and landed twice within a two-week period.
In fact, a 100-kilometer crest has been confirmed. Virtual champagne, if it suits your fancy? Glenn Reynolds is starting a roundup of reactions.