Good News About America

I’ve been following with interest the progress of Spaceport America, out in New Mexico; even though I know I’ll probably never get to go into space myself, it’s cool to know that we’re actually on the verge of commercial space travel! (Granted, Russia has been selling trips into space for a while now, but if you have to be a billionaire it doesn’t really count).

Spaceport America is a great example of where innovation can depend on government investment; can you imagine this thing being built without government involvement?  The Spaceport, which is expected to cost about $200 million altogether, is about sixty percent complete and has so far created over 600 jobs. Just this month, they finished a 10,000 foot runway and are looking for contractors to actually run the facility. If I was in New Mexico, I’d want to get in on one of those hard hat tours they offer.

Remember when SpaceShipOne won the $10 million X-prize a few years back?  Its successor, SpaceShipTwo (yes, they’re very creative) first launched on March 22 of this year; the ship is currently being tested at Scaled Composite’s home base in Mojave, California, but will then be moved to Spaceport America for commercial flights.

Image credit: Spaceport America

Now, if I was a  multi-billionaire, I’d be tempted by the company that plans to send tourists to the moon, even if it does cost $100 million a pop..