The tiny desert town in the US that could be the gateway into space
It has everything, says Megan Eaves, but the tourists
I dip a toe in, then a full foot, then lower myself into the hot water and let out a sigh. It’s only a little rock pool: two strokes and I’m across, hanging my arms over the stony edge, breathing in a lungful of dry oxygen and exhaling a cold, white puff.
Below is a sloping embankment and the sage-green Rio Grande sliding quietly along. A row of cottonwood trees stands on the opposite bank, still amber and gold despite the freezing December temperatures. Above, the purple peak of Caballo Cone rises into a rounded corner, shaded by fluffy cumulus clouds and backlit by a cornflower-blue sky.
This is Truth or Consequences, a tiny town in central New Mexico, along America’s southwestern borderlands. And, believe it or not, its name is not the most interesting thing about this place.
I’m soaking my cares away at Riverbend Hot Springs, my favourite hot springs resort in town (and maybe the world), though it’s been a few years since my last visit. I glide back across the pool towards my friend. “It’s just over that mountain,” I tell her, nodding in the direction of Caballo Cone. “That’s where we’ll go into space.”
All in a name
Clearly, the first thing that people react to when you say you’re spending the weekend in a place called Truth or Consequences is the name. I tweet about my exploits and a pal replies that it “sounds like a preamble to There Will Be Blood”. Fair enough. The name is weird. But it has a great story, and not what you’d expect. First of all, Truth or Consequences wasn’t always Truth or Consequences. It used to be Hot Springs, New Mexico – named a bit more prosaically for the wonderful, odourless mineral springs that gush up here along the banks of the Rio Grande.
In 1950, national radio host Ralph Edwards announced a cheeky competition: if any American town would rename itself after his game show, he’d broadcast the 10th-anniversary episode there on location. On 31 March 1950, Hot Springs officially changed its name, hosting Edwards the following day. The springs are a delight. Apache leader Geronimo is said to have soaked here in the 19th century, and who could blame him? “T or C”, as it’s lovingly called by locals, is unusually aqueous for a desert town; besides the hot springs, there’s the Rio and, just north of town, a reservoir called Elephant Butte Lake.
A town in decline
For decades, starting when it was settled in the 19th century, T or C was full of travellers. Not unlike the Victorian spa towns of Britain, Americans flocked here for the restorative properties of the mineral waters, as well as treatments at the Carrie Tingley polio hospital. But the town’s economy took a big hit after 1950, when a vaccine for polio came into distribution and the use of pharmaceuticals gradually replaced mineral water treatments.
Growing up in the north part of the state, I came here every summer in the early 1980s. My grandparents loved T or C and, when I was a child, we held family gatherings at Elephant Butte Lake, which is the state’s largest body of water. The handful of summering lake-goers like my family were not enough, however, and for many decades, T or C languished.
Located in one of the poorest counties in one of the poorest states in the nation, the town has a poverty rate of 25 per cent (five points worse than the state’s average). According to the US Census, the median income in 2015 was $26,877 (£20,987), a whopping $29,600 (£23,113) below the national average.
But in 2006, T or C’s fortunes appeared to be turning. That year, New Mexico’s state legislature passed laws to create a new kind of tourism: a commercial spaceport would be built, and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic was moving in. It wasn’t a new idea – a US spaceport had been proposed as early as the 1970s – but this was the first time American money was really earmarked and plans were actually drawn up.
Inside Spaceport America
In 2008, the population of surrounding Sierra County voted to release $40m of their tax dollars to help fund the Spaceport venture. If the vast desert in the middle of one of the country’s least densely populated states seems an unlikely place to build a hub for commercial space travel, consider that it is precisely this remoteness, and the 4,595-foot altitude, that make this an ideal base for space launch. As I hear numerous times during my visit: “The first mile’s for free.”
Spaceport America is 25 miles southeast of Truth or Consequences, which is already really far from everywhere. To the east is White Sands Missile Range, a 3,200 square mile US Army testing area, where the first atomic bomb was tested in July of 1945. There is literally nothing for hundreds of miles in any direction. And the empty airspace here (White Sands is a no-fly zone) is one of the reasons that Spaceport America is where it is. Standing outside, there’s no familiar buzz of passing planes – just a lone breeze whistling across the desert and silence.
This also isn’t the first time humankind has ventured into outer space from New Mexico. In October of 1946, the first-ever photographs taken in space were captured from rockets launched at White Sands. Scientists were experimenting with putting cameras into the noses of German V-2s and sending them an astonishing 65 miles above the earth’s surface. Humankind’s first moment of perspective, captured in grainy black-and-white over the empty desert.
On a cold morning during my visit, I pile into a minivan alongside six other tourists and set off into the desert. Our guide is Curtis Rosemond, who owns Final Frontier Tours, the official (and only) tour company licensed to bring visitors into Spaceport America.
We drive over a vast, brown scrubland covered in sagebrush and tan feathergrass, towards an ever-distant horizon outlined by the purple San Andreas Mountains. One of the other tourists looks out the window trepidatiously and asks Curtis, “Are there rattlesnakes here?”
“Oh yeah. Lots of rattlers out here.” We are crossing the Jornada del Muerto, or “Dead Man’s Journey” – a south-north route that 17th-century Spanish conquistadors travelled through.
Curtis veers the van onto a tiny paved road and flashes a badge at a military checkpoint. There are no other visitors and I haven’t seen another car for nearly an hour.
We get out and stand in the middle of the entrance route to take pictures of the main terminal building: a semi-underground, butterfly-shaped structure designed by British architecture firm Foster & Partners. It’s owned by the state of New Mexico, but leases were sold to several private corporations aiming for the stratosphere. The most promising of these was Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.
In an email, I asked Virgin Galactic’s Commercial Director, Stephen Attenborough, why the Spaceport is located here. “There are some very practical reasons like great weather, free airspace, low population density and high altitude. And then there are some more aesthetic considerations, an incredibly beautiful part of the world – [New Mexico] is the ‘Land of Enchantment’ after all – and a totally out-of-this-world spaceport facility!” he says.
The Final Frontier tour offers a lot of access. It’s a Saturday, so no one is working, and Curtis lets us into the flight command centre, where a few computers will at some point guide spaceship pilots up and down. Air traffic control is unnecessary – the no-fly zone means there are no other planes to crash into out here.
Then he takes the van for a spin down the middle of the “spaceway”, a 2.27 mile-long runway designed to handle the ebb and flow of commercial space departures. We get to clamber around in ambulances and fire engines that wait idly in case of an emergency, and we peer through a thinly veiled picture window into a hangar where White Knight Two – the aircraft that will lift Virgin Galactic’s spaceship out of the atmosphere – sits waiting for action.
It’s certainly inspiring to be surrounded by the physical possibilities of humankind’s endeavours into the galaxy.
At the same time, though, everything here feels a little... forgotten. That’s because, in 2014, disaster struck. A failure during a Virgin Galactic test flight killed a pilot and everything was put on hold. Virgin backed off to regroup, Spaceport America put its life on pause, and Truth or Consequences held its breath.
Finding the future for T or C
Back in 2005, when it was announced that Virgin Galactic would make its headquarters here, Truth or Consequences and Sierra County were expecting great things. Cosmic tourists were coming and, with them, millions in income.
“I actually moved back here from Albuquerque to take over when I heard about the Spaceport,” says Jake Foerstner, Managing Partner and General Manager at Riverbend Hot Springs. “My parents had Riverbend for sale since 2003 and I told them to take it off the market when I discovered the possibility of a T or C comeback, and I quit my career to take the reins.”
Soaking in Riverbend’s perfect stone pools, it’s not hard for me to imagine why someone would overturn their life to keep this place open. But was it worth it?
Jake isn’t the only person who’s taken a chance on Truth or Consequences. In 2015, John Masterson and Marianne Blaue were holidaying in New Mexico from Seattle when they accidentally stumbled into T or C on their way to somewhere else and fell in love with the town. Two years later, they found themselves buying a building on the historic main street and renovating it into the area’s first microbrewery: Truth or Consequences Brewing Company.
When I ask John about T or C’s future, he’s optimistic. “We’ve already seen a handful of literal rocket scientists in the brewery, and by all accounts things are heating up at the Spaceport, which is just 40 minutes away.” The brewery has even drawn inspiration from outer space: its beer range includes the Cosmic Blonde, Nebula Nectar and Dark Skies Oatmeal Stout.
Popping in for a flight of beers in the evening after the Spaceport tour, it’s clear that the brewery has already become a meeting point for the town of Truth or Consequences. Friends are gathered helping brewery staff erect seasonal decorations, dogs are playfully mingling, and in the booth behind me, a local politician is holding a meeting with her staff members about an upcoming election.
In addition to its charming riverside and spa hotels like Riverbend, T or C’s got a classic American main street dotted with cafes, craft shops, art galleries and antique stores. There’s a quirky local museum – the Geronimo Springs Museum – containing dusty displays filled with collections of Native American pottery, cowboy hats, saddles and locally found fossils. Several diners serve up huge plates of New Mexican-style burritos and enchiladas smothered in the state’s signature green and red chilli sauces. The town’s 1930s El Cortez Theatre was one of the last American cinemas to project 35mm film and still has its Route 66-style neon sign. And all of this set on a walkable little grid of streets that see an average of 350 days of sunshine a year.
Town and Spaceport, today and future
But the Spaceport project has become the butt of jokes among some state residents, who since the 2014 crash have considered it a colossal failure. When I tell my Albuquerque-based family members I’m going on the tour, they are surprised. None of them had a clue it was open for tours and there are several mocking “Yeah right” eye rolls when I reiterate what I’ve been told: Virgin Galactic is planning to launch in 2020.
What interests me is that the citizens of Truth or Consequences – the place hit most directly by the setbacks – are optimistic about their town’s future. Jake Foerstner tells me he’s “hoping that it will bring on a momentum that this town hasn’t seen since its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s”. With that optimism, Riverbend is expanding, having purchased two closed-down hotels to use for weekend overflow.
And all signs point to Virgin Galactic making good on their word. The company has sold more than 600 seats on their space flights. A single ticket costs $250,000, and includes a 90-minute flight out of the earth’s atmosphere, with five minutes floating in zero gravity.
Stephen Attenborough tells me Virgin has recently relocated its operational teams to New Mexico from Mojave, California, where the spacecraft has been engineered. “We have also been standing the Spaceport up operationally so that it can accommodate our flight requirements, and building out the detailed customer journey, from finalising the astronaut spacewear – an amazing project spearheaded by our partners at Under Armour – to ensuring every element of hospitality and training is just as it should be,” he says.
When I query the local authorities, a representative from the Truth or Consequences Chamber of Commerce lists the town’s highlights: an abundance of natural attractions far removed from the bustle and traffic of the modern world, mineral springs, great weather and zero pollution. T or C, it would appear, has everything. Except visitors.
But Scott McLaughlin, Director of Business Development at Spaceport America, is also hopeful. “We are looking forward to a regular cadence of visitors directly connected to the flights. Each Virgin Galactic astronaut will likely bring several family and friends, which besides viewing the launch and landing, will all be looking to see the sights of the area.”
Divine desert escape
On our final evening in T or C, my friend and I pull on our swimsuits and head to the pools at Riverbend one last time. The sun is setting into a winter watercolour of reds and oranges, casting a pink hue across the frigid desert. Off to the east, a nearly-full moon has risen over Caballo Cone and is shimmering in the Rio Grande.
Soaking in this perfect moment, the question of whether or not the Spaceport will somehow save Truth or Consequences seems completely irrelevant. This town – like many small and underserved communities around the world – is a place where resilient people create their own opportunities in the face of setbacks, lack of funding and few resources. As brewer John Masterson tells me, T or C is “defined by juxtaposition. Lakes, rivers and hot springs in the desert. Cowboys and astronauts. Truth and consequences”.
In an era where popular tourist destinations like Venice are literally sinking under the weight of too many visitors, here is a town – and there are many like it – that desperately needs them. Will there ever be a thriving space-tourism industry in Truth or Consequences? Who knows. Is it worth visiting? Absolutely.
Travel essentials
Getting there
American Airlines flies from London Heathrow to Albuquerque International Sunport with a transfer in Chicago or Dallas for around £1,200. For a cheaper option, Norwegian flies non-stop to Denver, where you can connect on multiple domestic airlines to Albuquerque.
Visiting there
Truth or Consequences is 150 miles south of Albuquerque; car hire for 10 days costs around £250. Spaceport America can only be visited on a guided tour, which must be booked in advance through the official website. Double rooms at Riverbend Hot Springs cost £100 per night, including unlimited soaking.
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