As a space/aviation enthusiast and a rock-solid, dyed-in-the-yucca-fiber desert rat from way (out)back, I sincerely wish I could be voting in Otero County, New Mexico tomorrow (Nov. 4). Why, you ask? Because voters there will have a measure on their ballots to allocate one eighth of one percent of additional sales tax towards the development of Spaceport America.

That grandly-named facility would serve as the site for commercial launches beyond the Earth's atmosphere, allowing private enterprise outfits such as Virgin Galactic and Mesquite-based Armadillo Aerospace to compete with NASA (and Russia, and China, and - for cripe's sake - India) for the privilege of launching payloads into space. These would include civilian passenger vehicles.

Hey, it ain't the Jetson rocket car we were promised lo these many years ago, but it's a (giant) leap in the general direction.

Go, Otero County voters, go! Maybe, from the initial arc of the launch parabola, passengers gazing down toward Victorio Peak can get a glimpse of old Doc Noss' crawlspace into the cavern containing 100 tons of gold.