I've finally received official confirmation of my deposit, in the form of a letter from Virgin Galactic's President, Will Whitehorn.

They tossed in a very nice colour brochure. Scans of every page here: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Got a lovely letter from Sir Richard today, mailed from Switzerland, thanking me for joining up. It's even personally signed. Big black Sharpie. If I were the Rebel Billioniare, that's exactly how I'd sign things, too. Wouldn't you?

I've scanned a copy and put it here.

Now I'm waiting for my invitation to the Necker Island Pioneers' Party. Come on Sir Richard, you know you want to.

So I see my post today about Virgin picked up a few fans. I guess this means you're interested. :)

I've never played with Slashdot's journal feature before, but I guess this is as good a time as any.

I'll try to make some remarks in my journal here whenever anything happens. This is a long path, so expect to be here for the long haul. You won't see much, often.

At this point, I don't know much that isn't the same as what's in the articles published about Virgin Galactic and their plans.

I have so far signed a contractual agreement and committed a 50% deposit for my seat. Higher deposit levels get earlier seats, but neither do I feel like I can afford 100% right now, nor do I want to be on the first flight. Let someone else be the guinea pig, thanks.

There are certainly going to be people out there who think this is a giant waste of money, and those who are offended that I'm not spending my money on something like feeding starving children. All I can really say to them is that I believe that spaceflight is the future of the human race, and it's my pleasure and honor to encourage its development in the private sector by funding early efforts. We're all going out there someday, and I want to help make that happen.