Sure, some may be laughing, but you have to start somewhere.

From the passenger seat of Bill Gutman’s truck, Spaceport America looks more John Ford than Jetsons. No gleaming buildings, no space-age machinery, just a few strips of concrete, two portable office buildings and 27 square miles of scrubby cactus.

A physicist, part-time pecan farmer and the Spaceport project director, Gutman spells out what’s coming, step by step. First, regular cargo launches. Then, expensive space tourism. Next, a cluster of rocket-related cottage industries. Finally, affordable trips to space.

The rest of the world might remain skeptical — commercial space travel still seems the stuff of Hollywood and sci-fi novels — but a core group of scientists and engineers are working to turn New Mexico into the Silicon Valley of the emerging space industry.

I commend them in their effort and wish them every success.