The tiny desert town in the US that could be the gateway into space

It has everything, says Megan Eaves, but the tourists

Spaceport America is where Virgin Galactic is taking off (Images by Megan Eaves)

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.