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New park celebrates aerospace, aviation pioneers
| Friday, Aug 22 2008 1:31 PM
Last Updated: Friday, Aug 22 2008 1:35 PM
MOJAVE — Legacy Park at the Mojave Air and Space Port pays tribute to the men and women whose hard work, innovation and sacrifice put the desert community on the aviation and space map.
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In Legacy Park at the Mojave Air and Space Port, there's green grass and trees to go along the Rotary Rocket, left, and a replica of SpaceShipOne, right.
Aviation pioneer Dick Rutan was on hand for the dedication of Legacy Park at the Mojave Air and Space Port. Behind Rutan is a replica of SpaceShipOne.
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Dignitaries, including pioneer Dick Rutan, celebrated the park’s dedication Friday morning under clear blue skies. Rutan commanded Voyager, a composite plane that flew around the world in 1986 without refueling.
The park features landscaped gardens, an “oasis,” said county Supervisor Don Maben. Lush grass and a rock-lined garden stand out in stark contrast to the desert’s scrub. The garden includes a watermelon and pumpkin patch, so children may learn about how plants grow.
But the most notable features are a replica of SpaceShipOne, the first private craft to reach suborbital space, and the actual Rotary Rocket Roton craft, the first rocket-powered vehicle to fly at the space port.
An interactive kiosk gives visitors background about the Air and Space Port’s history and Kern County tourism information, such as attractions, and hotels and dining options. It’s maintained by the county’s Board of Trade and is the second interactive display in Kern.
Many construction materials were donated to the East Kern Airport District, and its ace landscaping and maintenance crew designed it.
The district wants to build a structure to house the crafts. The SpaceShipOne replica is fragile and requires shelter from the elements.
Stu Witt, general manager of the Air and Space Port, said some might view the Roton as a failure because it only flew three times.
But 14 companies exist today in Mojave because of it.
One of those businesses, Scaled Composites, lost three employees in July 2007 in an explosion during testing using nitrous oxide. A plaque memorializes Eric Blackwell, Todd Ivens and Charles “Glen” May.
“Without risk or daring, there would be no advancement,” Rutan said.