{"id":4668,"date":"2009-06-19T11:12:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-19T17:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/06\/southern-new-mexicans-optimistic-about-spaceport\/"},"modified":"2009-06-19T11:12:00","modified_gmt":"2009-06-19T17:12:00","slug":"southern-new-mexicans-optimistic-about-spaceport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/06\/southern-new-mexicans-optimistic-about-spaceport\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern New Mexicans optimistic about spaceport"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

By Vicki Nisbett<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be cheap to take a ride into space from Spaceport America — Virgin Galactic<\/a> is selling tickets for $200,000 apiece — but many of the estimated 1,500 people who attended a celebration<\/a> of the facility\u2019s groundbreaking on Thursday in Las Cruces are still excited about the project.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIf the optimistic views come true, it\u2019s going to be pretty amazing,\u201d Las Cruces resident Pam Carpenter said. \u201cI\u2019m a teacher in Hatch, and I\u2019m anxious to see if there\u2019s any repercussions up there and how it\u2019ll help the community, the people in Hatch.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

So would Carpenter go up into space?<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, you bet I\u2019d go, if it wasn\u2019t my money,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Officials have touted the economic and educational benefits they say Las Cruces and the surrounding counties will experience with the development of the spaceport. James Webb, a SpaceTec<\/a> instructor at the Do\u00f1a Ana Community College, said, with the development of the aerospace industry in southern New Mexico, \u201cthe 21st Century is here.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Webb teaches hands-on skills for building and maintaining rocket components at the college. He said a number of companies and agencies want to develop the industry, and he\u2019s helping teach students so they \u201chave the tools necessary to do the job right.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Webb also said he would, if given the opportunity, take a ride into space on Virgin Galactic\u2019s SpaceShipTwo<\/a>, which the company estimates will be ready to take passengers into space in 2011.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2018Just a great opportunity\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Others who attended Thursday\u2019s celebration in Las Cruces shared also expressed optimism.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI hope (Spaceport America) helps the local employment around here, Las Cruces and Truth or Consequences,\u201d Las Crucen Gene Miller said. \u201cThey can stand all of the new jobs that are available.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Gene\u2019s wife Erika Miller said she is \u201cvery enthusiastic\u201d about the spaceport, adding that it\u2019s \u201cjust a great opportunity for people.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima emphasized in an interview that, while he didn\u2019t favor the local tax increase that helped fund the spaceport, he\u2019s a fan of the project and the growth he expects will result.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIn 50 years, we\u2019ll probably be the size of Tucson. Even though we probably won\u2019t need it, we\u2019ll probably have our own major airport or it\u2019ll be closer between El Paso and Las Cruces,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll still be one of the top places to live. We\u2019ll be a hub for trade with the Far East and Europe because of the availability and products we have such as pecans and chile. What we import in will be interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Miyagishima said \u201cmaybe\u201d when asked if he would be willing to take a ride on SpaceShipTwo.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

One woman who attended Thursday\u2019s celebration just learned about Spaceport America.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI was at the chamber of commerce today, where the guy from Virgin Galactic, the guy from the U.K., talked about having 300 customers already who paid to go on (SpaceShipTwo),\u201d said Suzette Coggins, who is from Mesa, Ariz. \u201cThose people are coming from all over the world. All I could think about was, why was Phoenix so stupid? Why didn\u2019t Arizona get (the spaceport)?\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m waiting to see\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Two men interviewed are spaceport proponents but said they\u2019re a little skeptical.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI would like to see more work being done, actually get to see facilities, hardware and more development,\u201d said Las Cruces resident and mechanical engineer Rich C\u2019de Baca. \u201cI\u2019ve been to a lot of publicity events. I would like to see more progress in the actual technologies side of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

C\u2019de Baca said he would ride on SpaceShipTwo if he got a discount.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Lee Baker, a alumnus of New Mexico Tech in Socorro, said he has \u201cseen a lot of money put into events like this, and a lot of hype surrounding things, but not much in the construction of the actual spaceport. So, that\u2019s what I\u2019m waiting to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Just like Rich, Baker said he would go on the spaceship with a discount.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Two people from Deming were optimistic about the spaceport.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really excited about the space program; I always have been,\u201d said Jack Briggs. \u201cI moved here from Michigan and now they\u2019re putting a spaceport in New Mexico. My kids are (crazy) about it. I would go on the spaceship in a minute, and my whole family would, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Briggs\u2019 neighbor, Pam Ortega, said the project is \u201cpretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe younger generation is really digging it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a learning experience, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

No, she wouldn\u2019t go up in the spaceship, but her husband, Gary, would, she said. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Nisbett is a Las Cruces-based freelance writer, and is writing articles for this site while she pursues other opportunities. She can be reached at puncpubs@yahoo.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Vicki Nisbett It won\u2019t be cheap to take a ride into space from Spaceport America — Virgin Galactic is selling tickets for $200,000 apiece — but many of the estimated 1,500 people who attended a celebration of the facility\u2019s groundbreaking on Thursday in Las Cruces are still excited about the project. \u201cIf the optimistic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}