Word: spaced
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...under the construction trailers for shade and safety. Bulldozers have scraped away the mesquite to make a board-flat rectangle 10,000 ft. by 200 ft. Workers have begun putting down layers of gravel, packed earth, asphalt and concrete 42 in. thick to form a runway. The age of space tourism is here...
This expanse of high desert 35 miles southwest of Truth or Consequences, N.M., is the site of Spaceport America, a collaborative effort between the state and Richard Branson's space enterprise, Virgin Galactic, that hopes to send private citizens into near orbit as early as 2011. New Mexico is spending $198 million on construction; Virgin Galactic will lease the place for 20 years at a price of $200 million to $250 million. (See pictures of billionaire Richard Branson...
...house WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo, the tandem craft designed by aerospace engineer Burt Rutan. WhiteKnightTwo is being test-flown now; SpaceShipTwo makes its public debut in Mojave, Calif., on Dec. 7. Together, they will carry two pilots and six passengers to an altitude of 70 miles - the edge of space. Passengers will enjoy five minutes of eerie silence and weightlessness (floating somersaults are allowed) and 1,000-mile views in all directions before a half-hour glide back to earth. Tickets cost $200,000, and 300 people have already signed...
Indeed, not all New Mexicans are enthralled by the spaceport. Having toured the state, Landeene sums up taxpayers' objections this way: "It's rich men into space. Why in heck are we paying for Richard Branson? It's his deal. Let him do it." Ranchers in the area have also complained that they've had to reduce the size of their herds and move cattle away from the construction, though compromises are slowly being worked...
...pictures of Earth from space...