Corrections and Apologies

by Chris Danielsen

I need to make a couple of clarifications and corrections to the article “Shattering a Record and Shifting a Paradigm” that appeared in the June 2022 Braille Monitor. I humbly ask the forgiveness of New Mexico historians, space aficionados, Spaceport America officials, and any other readers affected or confused by my reporting errors, which are as follows:

The Elephant Butte Dam, near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, was not constructed early in the Depression. Rather, although it was a federal dam project like the Depression-era Hoover Dam, it was completed well before then, in 1916.

The suborbital space planes projected to be operated from Spaceport America by Virgin Galactic are not named “Blue Origin.” That name belongs to a separate commercial space company. The currently operational Virgin Galactic plane is the company’s “SpaceShipTwo” model and is named VSS Unity.