X-Prize Draws Hundreds To Las Cruces

Hundreds of people crowded the Las Cruces Airport Friday for the first day of the X-Prize Cup.

Dozens of students from nearby elementary schools toured the event site, looking wide eyed as rockets launched into space. Space enthusiasts seemed to enjoy the variety of space challenges. Some of them even caught a glimpse of "Rocketman," a man propelled into the sky with a rocketbelt.

"I'm amazed," said Avelonia Quarrie, of Socorro, New Mexico. "How real can you get right? When you see that right up close," she said of Rocketman. "It's pretty great."

Some space enthusiasts traveled from as far away as the United Kindgom, Canada, and even Japan.

"I think everybody's interested in the possibility of exploring the universe," said Andrew Price of Canada.

The X-Prize Cup drew hundreds more visitors on Saturday, the second day of the event.

For anyone who missed the event, X-Prize Cup organizers said the event would expand over the next few years with more rockets, rocket races with Grand Prix in the sky, and possibly even races into outer space.