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Jealousy (that Dubai was going to have their own spaceport) turned to incredulity,disbelief and finally excitement when I read that Singapore was going to have our own Spaceport!

And it will be ready by 2009!

I never thought space travel and Singapore could ever be mentioned in the same sentence. I thought wrong, all thanks to Burt Rutan, SpaceShipOne, Paul Allen. (Maybe Microsoft ain’t that evil after all, or maybe Paul Allen was never evil anyway)

Space Adventures, a US company based out of Arlington, VA has chosen Singapore to be the natural choice destination for space travellers in Asia. Apparently, they think the same reasons Singapore became a sea and air hub for Asia positions it to be a potential high-payoff space hub too! Ignoring the economic benefits from tourism aside, this will be a major coup for Singapore if it really happens. We finally have something cool other than an exotic arts theatre designed based on the shape a local spiky fruit. Finally, I am beginning to really believe all the government spiel on us becoming a “global city”. Wtf, we will go one up and become a “galactic city” man. I can see this spaceport becoming very compatible with ournewly designed Supreme Court building (the one with the huge UFO disk left over from the Independence Day movie set).

This brings me to another exciting and relevant news article.

There might really be life outside of earth. And someone has told us specifically where to look.
Margaret Turnbull of the Carnegie Institution of Washington has announced the top 10 list of star systems where life could possibly exist. This is based on a stringent list of parameters, based on current human knowledge of our universe, such as the size and lifespan of the stars, the iron composition of these stars etc. The nearest star system is only about 10.5 light-years away in the constellation Eridanus (the River). Thats only 10 friggin’ years! (assuming we figure out a way to travel at light speed)Now, lets indulge in some fantasy for a while, assuming:

1. we invent warp speed (from Star Trek) or have a significant breakthrough in energy research (either nuclear fusion or antimatter) in the next 20-30 years,
2. apply the computer industry’s rate of innovation to the energy R&D and commercialization product development life cycle,
3. I get fucking rich,

On my 50th birthday, I will be able to step outside my mansion in Singapore, drive my flying car to Spaceport Singapore, board a White Knight-clone that will take the cargo load (containing me) to 14km above sea level, and let me blast off to epsilon Eridani. for a 20-year return space flight. (modus operandi of SpaceShip One launch )

Now, thats a good dream to have. Back to reality…