The tiny little black dot in the lower left of this picture is the SpaceX Dragon capsule with its solar panel unfurled, performing a "fly-under" about a mile beneath the International Space Station. After Tuesday's flawless launch, Dragon is now maneuvering for berthing with the station on Friday.

In what was a brutal reminder that NASA can (and should) delay a launch at any time if there's a perceived problem, SpaceX's highly anticipated liftoff was stopped short just before its Falcon 9 rocket should have been streaking toward the sky, and Dragon's historic rendezvous.

An exact date has bounced around for the last couple of weeks, and NASA is finally giving SpaceX the go for a rendezvous between the company's Dragon capsule and the International Space Station. It's a landmark launch for SpaceX, and one that's poised to make history for the next generation of manned spacefaring efforts.

Within the next five years or so, you'll be able to buy a ticket to suborbital space for about $200,000. And that'll be fun, we're looking forward to it. SpaceX, a major player in the suborbital industry, is thinking about where else the company will be able to take people within the next few decades, and founder Elon Musk says Mars is a real possibility. And it'll be damn cheap.