Maybe you saw this: Guy Laliberte, the rich fellow who founded (and owns most of) Cirque de Soleil, went into space to Wednesday aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule.

Cost of his ticket: $35 million.

Fortunately for Mr. Laliberte, he is worth about $2.5 billion. Boy, those flexible folks who make the cirque soar can really pull it in, can’t they?

Now, where’s my check book?

How high does Miyuki Hatoyama fly? High enough to get to Venus. Or so she says.

Actually, she wrote that in a book some 20 years ago, titled “Very Strange Things I’ve Encountered”. In it, she tells us that Venus is a “very beautiful place and it was really green.”

If you’re wondering how she got there, it was via UFO.

By the way, Miyuki’s husband, Yukio Hatoyama, once had a nickname, based on his appearance (something to do with his eyes) – he was known as, “the alien”.

I guess I’d have to say that’s a very strange thing that I’ve just encountered.

It’s not all Virgin Galactic when it comes to commercial space travel. There are other players in the game, and now NASA is jumping in:

“Using $50 million in federal stimulus funds, NASA is seeking to encourage private companies to develop a commercial taxi service in space…” (from SmartBrief)

NASA plans to announce it’s awards at the end of September, so private companies only have 45 days to submit their plans. So…do you think you have the right stuff (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself)?

Just wanted to say thanks to the astronauts of the first moon landing – it was spectacular – and nuts to all the hoax believers out there (kind of hard to keep a conspiracy secret for 40 years, don’t ya think?).

I’ve enjoyed reading the “where are they now” items about all the folks who trod the lunar surface – for example, Alan Bean became a painter (nice); Harrison Schmitt became a U.S. Senator from New Mexico (one term); and Neil Armstrong is as gabby as ever (okay that’s a joke – he is famously publicity-shy – and I think that’s just swell).

Then there’s Edgar Mitchell – who made a moon landing in 1971 – and who has since championed the cause of aliens. Aliens from outer space.

Mitchell has been quoted as saying the following:

“I happen to be privileged enough to be in on the fact that we have been visited on this planet, and the UFO phenomenon is real. It has been covered up by governments for quite some time now.” -Edgar Mitchell, July 2008

Where did Mr. Mitchell grow up? Why – Roswell, New Mexico. If you ever find yourself there, be sure to try the UFO burger – it’s alieny delicious!

With the new X-Files movie starting today, it seems only appropriate that we should talk a little bit about aliens.

Apparently Agents Mulder and Scully aren’t the only ones with extraterrestrial life and a vast government cover-up on their minds. Former Apollo 14 astronaut Dr. Edgar Mitchell made some very bold claims on a radio show recently, stating that aliens do exist and that the “‘little people who look strange to us” have visited Earth on several occasions. Dr. Mitchell also claims that military and government officials have gone to great lengths to keep the aliens under wraps:

“It’s been well covered up by all our governments for the last 60 years or so, but slowly it’s leaked out and some of us have been privileged to have been briefed on some of it…”

Dr. Mitchell, who shares the record for the longest moon walk (9 hours), is said to have conducted private ESP experiments while on his Apollo 14 mission, so this isn’t his first foray into the “unseen.”

The folks at NASA responded to Dr. Mitchell’s claims by saying, “Dr. Mitchell is a great American, but we do not share his opinions on this issue.”

If the former astronaut does turn out to be right, it could make that Virgin Galactic maiden voyage even more exciting.

Visit news.com.au for more details on Dr. Mitchell’s recent radio interview and his thoughts on alien technology.

Sometimes, anyway. A few seconds worth, anyway.

Here’s the deal: an acquaintance told me that any time a small plane flies over his house, he can hear the pilot’s conversation coming out of his computer speakers.

You’re probably thinking flashbacks, but he was always kind of a goody-goody, so that’s not it. Maybe it’s because his house is high up in the Rockies — closer to the action so to speak.

I wanted to know if he heard anything interesting – but no. Just idle chit-chat. And he could recall neither the chit nor the chat.

Now if he could just arrange to be seated at said computer when UFO’s fly by. You know how the Western skies are infested with them, and I for one would like a heads-up about any conquest of earth – strictly for planning purposes (Do I send the dry-cleaning out? Or wait?).

All my childhood dreams of space travel are rushing to the surface. Virgin Galactic has released its designs for what should be the first viable commercial space craft, and if I can get the $200,000 needed to get onbaord, I could be going suborbital by 2010.

BBC News reports that Virgin’s design for SpaceShipTwo builds on that of the X-Prize winning SpaceShipOne. That means the craft will initially be lifted by a carrier plane (White Knight Two) before blasting off.

Visit Virgin Galactic for more on Richard Branson’s space plans, and if anyone could spot me the $200,000, I swear I’m good for it.

Liked this story? Check out “The Virgin Empire”