On Friday, April 16, 2010, my Leadership Las Cruces classmates and I went to the Spaceport. Everyone of us was thrilled that we got to see this amazing portal for future space travel under construction. The construction materials and methods being used on this massive project will make it a LEED Gold certified compound.
LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. A LEED certified building/project is designed to be efficient in many ways. From design to completion, standards are set and verified for energy efficiency, use of locally available materials, reduction of construction waste, re-use of salvaged materials, minimal impact to the environment, appropriateness of location for the project, minimal use of toxic substances or products that off-gas, smart orientation of structures to maximize natural daylighting and ventilating, and so on. The highest LEED designation that can be obtained is a Platinum--the Spaceport America falls a little short of being a Platinum, but it is a strong Gold.
Here you can see the runway. It is still under construction. It is 200 feet wide by 10,000 feet long. It is about 4 feet thick because it has several sub-layers to it. The top surface is a monolythic concrete layer with expansion joints about every 20 feet. The runway is near completion.
From the runway we went to ground level of the terminal. We were not allowed to get close to it because of the construction activity.
Then we went to the massive water tank. It is designed to hold over a million gallons of water. The water has not been pumped into it yet so we were able to go inside it and see what the inside of a massive water tank looks like. It's round, made of tons of structural steel and surrounded by massive metal plates all carefully fitted together so that it is all seamless. It was pretty hot inside because its a big metal structure with no ventilation.
While we were still inside the structure our tour guide and classmate, Aaron Prescott, had us all shout "LEADERSHIP!" on the count of three. The sound echoed and reverberated for a very long time. It made a big impression on all of us.
The tank will store non-potable water to be used in the event of a space vehicle in crisis, or other critical need. The capacity of the tank and the pumping capability are designed to handle two major critical events at the same time.
Then we went to the firehouse and administration building. It will be a big round building. The contractor will soon be arriving to create the shell of the building. The shell will be inflated and then the concrete surface will be sprayed into the interior. It will be a multi-layered process with structural fittings and more concrete. I wish I could be there when it is being fabricated.
Lastly, we drove up the berm that leads to the Virgin Terminal entrance. This took us up about to the third storey of the terminal. Like the other structures on the Spaceport campus, the terminal building is designed to have minimal visual impact on the horizon line. The area is surrounded in all directions with distant mountain vistas. Every effort has been made to ensure those panoramic views are protected.
What you see in the picture above are the terminal structural bays. There are four of them, each on the corner of a big rectangle. The entrance to the building is through the long spine that leads into the center reception area.
This is going to be an amazing facility when it is completed. With all the LEED design that has been invested in its creation, the structure should last well into the 2100s. I am very proud and happy that our Leadership Las Cruces class was able to get permission for a very specialized, up front tour of the facility in its early stages of construction. On behalf of the Leadership Las Cruces, we owe the Spaceport America a debt of gratitude for giving us this opportunity.
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