Ear to the ground

“They were going to have a child, but decided to buy a Porsche instead.”

-A Durangoan relating one of the dilemmas of big city life for thirtysomethings

Blasting off

The countdown has officially started in New Mexico. Plans for the New Mexico Spaceport were recently unveiled. The $31-million terminal and hangar facility is the first phase of the project that has been tagged “Spaceport America,” and construction is scheduled to begin early next year just south of Truth or Consequences.

The spaceport is the brainchild of the company Virgin Galactic. When the first phase, a 100,000-square-foot building, is complete, it will include training and medical facilities for space tourists and hangar space for spacecraft storage. The design is from a U.S.-British team and consists of a low-lying structure that uses natural earth as a berm and relies on passive-solar energy for heating and cooling. Photovoltaic panels will provide electricity and there will be water recycling capabilities. A rolling concrete shell acts as a roof with massive windows opening to a view of the runway and spacecraft.

The facility will be the centerpiece of the larger commercial spaceport, which is expected to tip the scales at $198 million. Total build-out and the first launches are planned for 2009.

For a mere $200,000, passengers will be shot 70 miles above the earth’s surface to experience several minutes of weightlessness before plummeting back into the Land of Enchantment. Virgin Galactic plans to begin with one flight a day before expanding to three suborbital flights daily.

Cowan Part II

Chances are that you’re not still waiting outside the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College for the big John Cowan Band show. The concert was cancelled at the last minute last week after Cowan checked himself into the hospital.

Cowan’s management reported: “John Cowan had an episode of chest pain and was admitted to Baptist Hospital in Nashville Tenn. Upon careful evaluation, he was found to have a partial blockage in one coronary artery. Following a coronary artery stent insertion scheduled for tomorrow, he is expected to recover quickly and completely.”

Worry not, Cowan is already back on his feet. The show has been rescheduled for Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m., and Sept. 18 tickets will be honored.