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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."
(Line for the 10-mile-high club forms to the rear of the craft.)
"and thank-you for riding Virgin Galactic. We hope you'll come again."
Sent from my ENIAC
Hey guess what? I am a Texas high school student and I am currently doing chemistry homework.
No you're not, you are wasting time on /.
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.
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....
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.
Which explains why the state recently gained additional seats in the House of Representatives. It's growth rate is outpacing the national average by a decent amount since people are moving into it at a pretty rapid rate. And, honestly, having moved here a little over a decade ago, I can see why. Sure, there's some truth to the various stereotypes, but having lived for roughly equal amounts of time in California, Florida, and Texas, I'd pick Texas over the other two any day. The people are nicer, you get a LOT more bang for your buck in the housing market, and there's high demand for folks with the sorts of skills the commenters here at Slashdot have. You'll deal with crazy people anywhere you go, but at least the Texas crazies are pleasant enough to be around.
Indeed! How can they possibly justify suggesting that a large-ish military/NASA airport within spitting distance of Johnson Space Center be used as a spaceport?! Why, next thing you know, they'll try and pass it off as common sense. One person I met had the gall to suggest that because Houston is one of the largest urban centers in the nation, is within a short driving distance of 3 of the top 5 seaports in the nation (which might make transporting parts for these craft easier), and has a high concentration of individuals connected to the space industry, it makes sense to put a starport there. How dare there! Harumph.
Because if you want the money to flow back to the "masses" you better find something interesting for those "rich bastards" to spend it on, rather than having it stagnate in some bank account. Money is most effective when it is in use, lubricating the economy engine.
What you and everyone else is missing is that Texas is burdened with educating hundreds of thousands, if not more, illegal aliens. In fact, Kids come across the border to attend our school. Why? Fuck if I know, but the courts said we have to let them in for some reason.
So now you have to feed them, hire Bi-Lingual teachers, and then deal with the inevitable gang problems. Just look at San Antonio ISD.
The district my kids went to is rated tops in the nation in all the math and science scores and guess what? 99.9% of the kids that go there speak English and are not in gangs. If you think I should pony up more tax dollars to make sure a bunch of illegals on the border get a nice stadium and band instruments, then I think you should too.
As for Football, aside from the initial capital investments, the programs are run mostly on ticket sales and other fund raisers. Same thing with the Bands.
When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.