Years ago actors Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland popularized a now-famous show business cliché: “Let’s fix up the old barn and put on a show!”

US President Obama’s budget containing some hopeful directions for the space program…we think. Nestled within the thousand-page document is an increase in NASA’s budget: US$18.7 billion for 2010, which is US$2.4 billion more than the total for 2008; the House of Representatives also passed a bill on February 25, 2009, increasing the budget by US$360 million to the human space exploration budget for 2009.

WhiteKnightTwo, the twin fuselage carrier for the sub-orbital vehicle SpaceShipTwo, took off for its maiden flight 21 December 2008 from the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, CA. WhiteKnightTwo, or “WK2,” flew for an hour.

The fourth SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket was launched today, achieving a significant milestone; it's the world's first privately funded TSTO liquid rocket to achieve orbit. Even though the first three launches of the Falcon 1 were not successful, NASA and the US Department of Defense kept faith in the fledgling space company. Today, after many trials and tribulations, that faith has been rewarded.

Sam Coniglio, contributing editor of the Space Future Journal (and the vice president of the Space Tourism Society), told the Journal that the Falcon 1 mission failed.

UPDATE, 11:51 pm

“I think you will agree that WhiteKnightTwo, or 'EVE' as we will be able to officially call her soon, is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary aviation vehicles ever developed.”

Flight International's Rob Coppinger reports that Starchaser is building a new manned rocket.

“Git’n ‘er done!” must be the operating phrase around the shops at Scaled Composites, Burt Rutan’s company that successfully built and flew the world’s first private aircraft to the edge of space. This craft, SpaceShipOne, reached the fringe and claimed the Ansari X-Prize while the other competitors watched from the stands or on their TV sets.

EADS Astrium, Europe's aerospace conglomerate, is once again toying with the possibility of building a European piloted spacecraft. Europe's rocket scientists have tried to interest their politicians in funding piloted space projects in the past, most notably the Hermes and Saenger spaceplanes. But as spending on these programs climbed, the politicians eventually balked at completing them.