365 Things To Do In Southern NM: Day 19 - Spaceport America

Wow. What a week in Southern New Mexico!

It all started last Tuesday when the International Symposium for Personal and Commerical Spaceflight opened in Las Cruces at the Farm and Ranch Museum and New Mexico State University. The schedule was jam-packed with amazing speakers from the aerospace industry, former astronauts, local officials and internationally recognized experts.

Let me step back and explain to you why this was going on.

About 5 years ago, Richard Branson of Virgin everything approached Govenor Bill Richardson about creating a place in the New Mexico desert where flights to space would happen. New Mexico would build the facilities, Sir Richard would provide the air/space craft on which travelers would journey into space.

The place chosen was Upham, New Mexico - just east of Hatch and about 40 minutes north of Las Cruces. It's close proximaty to the NASA Testing Facility as well as White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base made it the perfect choice.

From that meeting, Spaceport America was born.

And yesterday, the runway was officially dedicated by Sir Richard. (This link is to a YouTube video. They disabled embedding.)

I'm going to attempt to explain what this means to Southern New Mexico. I know I'll miss a bunch but here are the basics -

1. Employment: It's be stated that there will be an additional 800 jobs available, from assistants and janitorial all the way up to aeronautical engineers. What this means: our engineering and aerospace graduates from NMSU will be able to stay in the area and find employment instead of leaving.

2. Tourism: This is a big one. Once the flights start, Las Cruces and the surrounding towns will be the biggest benefactors from visitors. Think of what happens in your town when there is a big event. People come in, stay in your hotels, eat at your restaurants, shop in your stores and experience the touristy places. What this means: The financial gains for Southern New Mexico will be tremendous. It will be a chance for us to grow even more.

3. Real Estate: Yep. We're expecting a lot of growth here and hoping it will bring us out of our doldrums. Granted, we'll have some of the work force here but others will have to be transferred in. What this means: Hopefully, home sales will really start to climb, especially on the North side of Las Cruces.

4. Education: This is a huge portion in my mind. New Mexico State has already implemented an Aerospace Engineering program and was just 'certified' for it's Masters program. Students in our public school system will benefit from the outreach programs that have already been established...as well as the ones that are in the works. What this means: A growth in students becoming interested in math and science again, among other things.

I like to think that the future of Southern New Mexico is extremely bright right now...shades may be required. I think what makes me smile even more is looking at the nay-sayers. "It will never happen." "It's a waste of time and money." Well, it IS happening and it's right in our own backyard. It's been well worth the time and effort to watch this come to a realization.

I really can't wait to see that first flight take off for space. It's going to be amazing!