Spaceport Development Picks Up Steam In Texas

RocketAcademy writes "The Lone Star State is moving to become a leader in spaceport development. The Houston Airport System is officially moving ahead with plans to turn Ellington Airport, near NASA's Johnson Space Center, into an FAA-licensed commercial spaceport. The airport system has completed a feasibility study for turning the field into a spaceport for suborbital spacecraft such as Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip Two and XCOR's Lynx. In the longer term, spacecraft could link Houston to Singapore in as little as three hours, according to airport system director Mario Diaz. Meanwhile, state Representative Rene Oliveira (D-Brownsville) introduced a bill that would allow county commissioners to close a local beach for launches from the proposed SpaceX launch site in Cameron County. The bill is part of a flood of spaceport-related legislation that has been introduced recently in the Texas legislature."

Re:Science

[Dasuraga]

I get that it's a joke, but I'm really tired of hearing people demean Texas' education system.
While the state might not do so well in math and science test comparisons compared to other states, the state excels at making many things available to students that are rare if non-existent elsewhere. The right to a good education is in the state constitution (which also asks for the foundation of "first-class" state universities: University of Texas and Texas A&M), and implements a very broad wealth redistribution scheme (Robin hood plan), which makes sure that even very poor school districts can pay for AP classes, music electives, sports facilities, the works. Children who show potential are given chances from a very early age to enter advanced-placement courses, and many efforts are made by teachers to identify children who can enter these.

I honestly think that the low rankings of Texas in Math and Science comparisons is more due to demographics than the school system, and in more general rankings the school fares much better. In any case, it goes to great lengths to let children broaden their horizons with their peers, independent of social class.

Re:Science

[Dasuraga]

No, I'm saying that the demographics of Texas (5th poorest state in the nation by poverty rate, among other things) cause the lower rankings, not the school system. The school system gives the tools for motivated children to learn, but when these children don't get three meals a day....

Re:Space ports are nice and all.

[OhANameWhatName]

Why not develop this technology so everyone can use their microwaves and a copper cone to have a spaceport in their driveway?

Yes indeed .. why not? That's one of those quintessential questions. It's like the question "Why aren't we all driving around in cars powered by Tesla's black box" or "Why are we still burning fossil fuels when the problem of abundant energy was solved nearly a hundred years ago" or "Why are we all working 40 hour weeks when there's enough automation to work 12 hour weeks" or "Why are we clinging to a dying monetary system that serves no purpose" or "Why do people starve to death on a daily basis when there's no need for it" or "What's causing the current global environmental changes" or "Why does religion have such an improperly powerful position in society" or "Why do people raising valid question get modded as trolls".

Take the red pill.