Now Goes To President Bush

Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Virgin Galactic...

...and for just $190,000, you, too can be a space tourist. We'll even throw in the pointy ears...

That fanciful pitch is one step closer to reality after the Senate Wednesday passed a bill to regulate commercial passenger space flight.

The measure give the FAA authority to regulate such flights in an era where private companies are rushing to space in hopes of turning a profit.

"This is a great victory for the future of America's space efforts," said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), a major proponent of the measure. "The people who will invest the type of big dollars necessary to make this a major new step in mankind's ascent into space have been waiting for the government to lay down the regulatory regime and set the rules of the game, and this is the first major step towards doing that."

The bill had been stalled several times over the past few weeks because of disagreements between lawmakers over how much protection it should afford operators, passengers and those on the ground.

For the first eight years, according to the bill, the FAA will only be able to make regulations on commercial passenger space flight if it spots a design or practice that causes injury or death to those on board. After eight years, the FAA can indeed begin issuing regulations and directives.

It could have been much worse for commercial space tour operators. But Rohrabacher and like-minded lawmakers successfully argued that more regulation would stifle the entrepreneurial operators leading the industry. The bill means passengers will have to be made aware of the risks. It also gives the FAA authority to issue rules designed to protect the non-flying public as well as national security.

FMI: www.ast.faa.gov