N.M. spaceport is up in the air

[scottb50]

N.M. spaceport is up in the air<br /><br />By ALICIA CALDWELL, Associated Press Writer <br /><br />UPHAM, N.M. - Billionaire Richard Branson looks at a bleak and featureless expanse of the New Mexico desert and sees the perfect spot on which to build the future — a $198 million launch complex that would blast paying tourists into space.<br /><br />Whether enough folks around here share his vision remains to be seen.<br /><br />Spaceport America, as sketched out by Branson, would be funded by $198 million in state, local and federal money. The first rocket flights would be in 2009 and would initially be suborbital trips that would offer five minutes of weightlessness at about $200,000 per person. Eventually, the spaceport could offer trips into orbit and beyond.<br /><br />But in poor southern New Mexico's ranching country, some say they have no intention of paying for some rich people's thrills.<br /><br />On Tuesday, residents of Dona Ana County voted on a proposed quarter-cent sales tax increase critical to the project. The tax increase, which would raise a projected $49 million, led by a mere 238 votes out of 17,168 cast, with 541 provisional ballots still to be counted. A final count is expected Thursday.<br /><br />"I do not see any reason that every time I buy a dress for my wife I should have to pay more taxes," grumbled George Gandara, a 63-year-old business owner in Las Cruces, about 60 miles south of the spaceport site.<br /><br />Carol Garcia, 52, of Las Cruces, said: "It's just a rich man's dream that he needs us to help pay for. If it's your dream, build it yourself."<br /><br />http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070404/ap_on_re_us/new_mexico_spaceport_2 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Boris_Badenov]

If you had ever been to New Mexico this announcement would be no surprise. The people in that part of the state are mostly farmers & the people that serve them. The Internet is almost unheard of. Space Travel as a method of bettering their lives would be beyond the comprehension of most in that area. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#993300"><span class="body"><font size="2" color="#3366ff"><div align="center">. </div><div align="center">Never roll in the mud with a pig. You'll both get dirty & the pig likes it.</div></font></span></font> </div>

 

[scottb50]

Actually I am from Colorado and lived in New Mexico for a number of years, Gallup and Albuquerque. That's why I made no comment with the post.<br /><br />I fully see their point. The other point is why SHOULD they have to pay for something that they see having no benefit to them? If nothing else the influx of people will cause their property taxes to go up to where they are forced out of business because the land is needed for houses.<br /><br />I also think the Space Port makes a lot of sense and if New Mexico State wants to invest in it fine, but the whole point is it is proposed as a commercial venture and if the commercial users don't think it is worth the expense without subsidies, or "incentives" then maybe their right. <br /><br />Here in Pheonix we have developers getting millions to build malls and housing developments while what we have now are half empty. Not that I oppose attracting businesses, but it has now become an industry and the businesses are cashing in on it. <br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[docm]

It passed;<br /><br />Article....<br /><br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p><b>N.M. County Passes Spaceport Tax</b><br /><br />(AP) -- Voters in a southern New Mexico county have approved a tax to raise an estimated $49 million toward a $198 million tourism spaceport, according to unofficial returns Thursday.<br /><br />Residents of Dona Ana County voted on the sales tax Tuesday in what backers said was a make-or-break election for the state-supported Spaceport America.<br /><br />"This positive vote for the spaceport ballot initiative means America's new frontier begins in southern New Mexico," Gov. Bill Richardson said Thursday. "I'm proud that the people of Dona Ana County chose a high-tech and high-wage future, with better math and science education, and expanded opportunities for young men and women right here in New Mexico."<br /><br />The complex would cover 27 square miles of desert near White Sands Missile Range, where the U.S. launched its first rocket after World War II. Its anchor tenant would be British millionaire Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic.<br /><br />Branson envisions starting suborbital rocket flights, at about $200,000 a person, in 2009. Eventually, the spaceport could offer trips into orbit and beyond. <br /> /><p><hr /></p></p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>