About a week ago, Gallup informed us that half (48%) of Democrats believe rich people offer no benefit to society. Hey dummies, think about this, those of you capable of thought.  President Obama has ended the US manned space flight program, and focusing NASA elsewhere, for instance its important mission to make Muslims feel better about the scant contributions of the Islamic portion of the world to science in the last millennium.  One of those awful billionaires (a software and finance innovator - PayPal) is funding a private effort and it just succeeded in its first launch.

In a pivotal moment for private spaceflight, a towering white rocket lifted a cone-shaped capsule into space early Tuesday on a mission to the International Space Station.

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket carried the unmanned Dragon capsule into space after a 3:44 a.m. EDT launch from Cape Canaveral, Fla., marking the first time a private company has sent a spacecraft to the space station.

The mission is considered the first test of NASA's plan to outsource space missions to privately funded companies now that its fleet of space shuttles is retired. SpaceX aims to prove to NASA that its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule are ready to take on the task of hauling cargo -- and eventually astronauts -- for the space agency.

It is almost an  iron law of government that bureaucracies, lacking the discipline of bottom line accountability, are wasteful and expensive. (This is another why limited government is a good idea.) Private companies can replace government space flight with huge savings. Less government waste means a richer society.

It's not exactly rocket science, but then again, at least half of the Democrats aren't exactly rocket scientists.