Spaceport America

Abstract

The above invitation is posted on Spaceport America’s website [1]. Also posted is the following note: “We strongly recommend that you do not drive out to Spaceport America on your own! Due to its remote location there are no service stations, restrooms or other amenities along the way, and cell-phone service is limited at best” [2]. That’s because Spaceport America is in the middle of nowhere. But, if you do want to drive there, be prepared to bounce over kilometers of rough road that threads its way through scrubland lined with purple sage and ramshackle ranch houses. Stop along the route, switch off the ignition, and all you’ll hear is silence. Gaze into the sky and you may see the occasional wisp of cirrus set against the crystal blue sky. In the distance you may catch sight of the odd buffalo. This is New Mexico (Figure 5.1), home of Spaceport America. It may be remote, but it’s an apt location for the business of suborbital spaceflight. After all, it was in this state that America launched its first suborbital rockets at the White Sands Proving Grounds. The rockets in question were Wernher von Braun’s captured V-2’s (Figure 5.2) which, between 1946 and 1950, flew to altitudes as high as 160 kilometers. And the V-2 isn’t the only space legacy New Mexico has to offer. Not if you believe the Roswell event.