Pilots show their aircraft at Spaceport Days

While the Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport hasn't received any extraterrestrial visitors lately, it has welcomed pilots and travelers from all over. 

During the annual Spaceport Days event last weekend, both local pilots and pilots from around the state flew in to the spaceport on Saturday morning.

Bob McAdams, a Green River local since 1986, arrived at the spaceport in his Titan Tornado Super Stretch, a kit plane that he and his wife Debbie built in their garage. The Titan Tornado is the third plane Bob and Debbie have built since they started in 1997. The Titan is made of fiberglass and aluminum, and has almost 800 hours of flight time on it. Bob said he enjoys flying around the area and has flown to Colorado, and he especially enjoys using his plane for photography.

Vladimir Karpsyev also stopped in at the spaceport, coming from Dutch John, Utah, where he is currently working for the U.S. Forest Service. Vlad built his plane 10 years ago, and loves to fly to new places. In addition to flying to every US state except Hawaii, Vlad has flown to Russia, Mexico, the Bahamas and Canada. Vlad was excited to stop in at the second spaceport he's visited, especially since there are only three in the United States. He said he heard about the event through social media and hopes to come back with more pilot friends next year. 

This year's Spaceport Days had a good turnout according to Green River Public Works Director Mark Westenskow, who oversaw the event. Within the first hour Saturday morning, six pilots had flown their planes in and more than two dozen people had gathered.

Pilots chatted together, families and kids took a close-up look at the planes and everyone enjoyed free breakfast burritos and Spaceport goodies funded by a grant from the Wyoming Aeronautics Division. The free hats, t-shirts and stickers featured a 48U logo - the spaceport's federal designation. Some designs also included an alien spaceship. 

"We try not to take ourselves too seriously," Westenskow said. 

The airstrip outside of Green River was opened in 1963, but its official designation as a spaceport wasn't until the summer of 1994.

At that time, a comet was expected to collide with Jupiter and the Green River City Council passed a resolution stating "a spirit of neighborly sympathy motivates us to tender an offer of sanctuary to our possible fellow residents of this solar system," offering the "emergency aircraft landing field" for use by any residents of Jupiter displaced by the comet. This resolution stated the airstrip should be officially designated as the "Greater Green River Intergalactic Spaceport," and was signed by the mayor at the time, George A. Eckman.

Continuing the spirit of having fun, the city has embraced some of the attention having an officially designated "spaceport" can bring. Westenskow said people from all over come by because they're curious what the spaceport is. Recent visitors included people from Florida and Oregon and a man who works for NASA. The city has started to discover the tourist aspect of the spaceport and make changes, like adding a new sign with the spaceport's name that people can use for selfies. 

Despite the fun aspects, the work being done to improve the airstrip is taken seriously. Because the spaceport is officially recognized as an aviation facility, it was decided it should be safe, according to Westenskow.

The airstrip provides an alternative for local pilots, a spot for anyone needing to make an emergency landing and a training ground for groups including military, first responders and aviation groups. 

With the benefits the spaceport adds to the community, the goal is to continually make it more safe and usable for anyone who wants or needs to land there, Westenskow said. The projects at the spaceport are usually small, but gradual improvements continue to be made.

"Last year we had quite a lot of work done," Westenskow said. The biggest improvements in 2020 occurred when the Wyoming National Guard came to the spaceport to do training that included work on the airstrip. Westenskow said it was a "great mutual benefit project."

The city also received a grant from the Wyoming Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division last year to help buy edge markers for the airstrip, which was an important safety improvement, according to Westenskow. Smaller projects have continued this year, including adding a navigational aid, a new windsock and a new segmented circle that pilots can see more easily from the air. 

Most of the projects done at the spaceport are funded by grants from the Wyoming Aeronautics Capital Improvement Plan, Westenskow explained. Although the facility doesn't qualify for federal funding, it does qualify for state funding, and most of the grants provide a 90-10 or 80-20 match because they're related to navigation or safety. Most of the projects can also be completed with a local match and labor from city staff members so little to no money is spent, according to Westenskow.

Future project ideas at the spaceport include putting a better fence around the facility. Westenskow is also hopeful the National Guard will be able to return and do more training projects. 

"We'll make little improvements to it to make it more safe and more viable," Westenskow said.