DungeonDimensioner

It took the US ten years from launching a monkey to returning it alive. How do you motivate yourself (and others) for what looks like an extremely long-term project? To be more specific: Most entrepreneurs achieve their goals through a healthy dose of reality distortion in the form of unrealistic optimism, which might not be optimal if you are trying to safely launch a human being into space. How do you manage your (and the public's) expectations about the likelihood of success?

Every project needs spokespeople. The two main news channels I am aware of are your blog and Peter's. Do you have any arrangements within CS regarding who is allowed to speak on behalf of CS? How much "I" is there in the "we"? Does everyone speak for him-/herself? If yes, are you afraid of confusing people by too much cross-talk? Keep up the good work! Edit: spelling