Or, if you prefer, David vs. Goliath. (That's David, alias Wild Fire, in a CNN image.)

In this corner, with a scheduled launch date of September 29, America's own SpaceShipOne, backed by the billions of Paul Allen and the star poewr of Burt Rutan.

In the other corner, preparing to unveil their craft Wild Fire on August 5, the underfunded Canadian da Vinci Project. Brian Feeney is still looking for the money to get his $337,000 project up. Allen has already pumped $200 million into Rutan's effort.

And the contrasts don't stop there.

As we've noted before, SpaceShipOne is carried piggy-back on a special aircraft to a very high altitude, then released. The second craft then fires its rocket, makes it to the required height of 100 kilometers, then descends like an airplane.

The da Vinci effort, bu contrast, uses a helium balloon to take its Wild Fire rocket to altitude, then lights a liquid oxygen/kerosene-fueled rocket. While SpaceShipOne is an airplane, the WildFire is essentially a capsule, with Feeney planning a fiery re-entry.

This is going to be fun. Scary, but fun.