Spaceport America

Bearsy · 12-07-2009, 07:57 PM

Spaceport America - Wiki

Popular Science article

Official Website of Spaceport America

Quote:

For everyone looking to hop the next commercial flight to space, your departure gate has finally been announced. Almost two years after the first plans were announced, construction has finally begun on Spaceport America. The spaceport, which will serve as the launch and landing pad for Virgin Galactic flights, is the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and represents the first serious commitment of infrastructure to manned commercial spaceflight.

According to the the project website the festivities kick off today with a a panel of speakers, food and drink, and even a mariachi band. Tomorrow, the construction begins in earnest.

Currently, Virgin Galactic only has two space ships, so it will probably be sometime before the facility experiences O'Hare and LaGuardia level traffic. So now might be the best time to sign up for a flight, before Spaceport America starts experiencing the soul-crushing delays that keep John Grisham, Hudson News, and Brookstone in business.

The goal is to have it completed in 17 months, by December 2010. I'm definitely gonna go check this out when I go to Burning Man in 2011.

I'm so looking forward to this.

I actually intended to make this thread a while ago, but I made it somewhere else instead and forgot to make one here too. Pacman's thread about Virgin Galactic made me think of it.

Bearsy · 12-07-2009, 08:00 PM

Location in the New Mexico desert

Artist's rendering of the arial view of the main terminal

Artists rendering of the main terminal.

Most commercial space ships(actually all, iirc) will be shuttles with runway launches, not vertical launches.

Artists renderings of the inside of the terminal.

Artists renderings of the common areas of the outside

Not sure what this walkway is for, but it looks cool(and I'm thinking those are pictograms or something of the history of space travel)

Obviously it won't be this busy(aside from people like me who are just going to gawk, as opposed to actually catching a flight) until about 20-30 years from now when the cost of space travel has reduced extremely significantly, as a flight on SpaceShipTwo will cost somewhere around $200k.

Flamingnun · 12-07-2009, 08:29 PM

That looks awesome, but I can't help this gut feeling that this is going to be the Titanic, of our generation.

Lloydy · 12-08-2009, 12:48 AM

didnt bono book a place on one of the first flights? we can only hope

12-07-2009, 08:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
Flamingnun Shpadoinkle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: roflmao Posts: 17,491 Thanks: 1,046 Thanked 2,633 Times in 1,185 Posts	That looks awesome, but I can't help this gut feeling that this is going to be the Titanic, of our generation. __________________

12-08-2009, 12:48 AM	#4 (permalink)
Lloydy KTF Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: England Posts: 11,976 Thanks: 533 Thanked 2,479 Times in 1,140 Posts	didnt bono book a place on one of the first flights? we can only hope __________________ Keep the red flag flying high

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