Rocket Man
'Enterprise'. It won't be piloted by Captain Kirk, but that's what Richard Branson has dubbed his ground-breaking - well, atmosphere-breaking, if we're splitting hairs - commercial space vehicle. Unveiling the carbon composite craft in California's Mojave desert this week, Branson announced to the world that travel beyond the stratosphere will soon be available to the masses.
At least it will be, if by 'masses' you mean six people per flight, and if by 'available' you mean those who can shell out £120,000 for the privilege of experiencing five minutes of zero gravity.
It's a characteristically enterprising initiative on Branson's part. And whilst we would do well to question all the billions and all the resources necessary to the development of space travel, don't let's forget the sheer wonder it could inspire. Seeing the earth from space might, strictly speaking, be unnecessary, but space tourism might well foster a deeper appreciation of the biblical truth that the universe really is 'fearfully and wonderfully made'.
Still, in the week that the Copenhagen summit on climate change got underway it's perhaps tempting to think that Branson's unveiling of the 'Enterprise' was somewhat ill-timed. Quite possibly this is why the bearded business guru was eager to highlight the spacecraft's green credentials, including the claim that the carbon footprint of each space flight will be lower than an average jet trip from NY to LA.
Actually, though, enterprise is a worthy theme for world leaders to take to the negotiating table and with which to characterise their conversations in Copenhagen. Unless we're enterprising, unless we 'boldly go' and attempt the seemingly impossible, we will never find solutions to the pressing problems our planet faces in the 21st century - including that of climate change.
Nevertheless, our ambitions need to be fuelled by a desire to shape a better world for all its inhabitants rather than simply to satisfy our curiosity or slake our avarice. The key to that is surely to recognise and respect the source of our creativity and innovation in the Creator God, who created a world for the flourishing of all humankind and the care of all his creatures.
Jason Gardner
Links
To book your space flight with Virgin Galatic, click here
Read the Guardian's take on Branson's venture here
Find out why you should help colonise Mars here
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