31–40 of 91 posts
u/RGVaerial on r/SpaceXLounge has overlayed these plans onto an aerial photo [1]. It looks a lot smaller than one might expect. [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/SpaceXLounge/comments/lzf9z7/propos...
If you add the massive Starship+SuperHeavy in for scale, it looks even smaller. https://twitter.com/Caspar_Stanley/status/136834862870895001...
They'll have to pay their engineers pretty well to live down there. Nearby South Padre Island is a decent vacation spot, but not many people want to live on the land that close to the border with Mexico. I know a lot of folks who haven't been to Brownsville will reflexively think that's a racist comment or something, but it isn't. The area is extremely poor with police/border checkpoints everywhere, the land is ugly,…
Just curious as a Canadian.
And why not? At the rate SpaceX is moving at, they may have the world's largest orbital launch system by the end of the year. That's not even "Elon-time" anymore, it's totally within reason that they could have their first orbital Starship launch this year. When Starship becomes commercially viable, things are going to change fast for the space industry. And that little Starbase in Boca Chica is going to be a busy pl…
To be fair, "Elon time" for the first orbital Starship launch was 2020. Shotwell was saying that she would bet yes on an orbital Starship in 2021. I think "Shotwell" time is generally much closer to 1:1 time than Elon time. But I agree, Starship has a fairly plausible path to being orbital by the end of the year.
Quick question - since it's South Texas and I can see the Gulf of Mexico in the screenshot... isn't that a little close to the water? Not just maybe global warming + sea level rises but storm surge from hurricanes. Or is that not a concern? Anyone with more knowledge on the topic could share?
Closeness to the water is a requirement so that if a rocket fails it doesn't land on people. And you don't want to launch to the West so that you can take advantage of the Earth's rotation rather than fighting it. (Launch sites on the West coast are for polar orbits which launch either North or South). Given those requirements, there's no location that isn't vulnerable to hurricanes. Boca Chica actually doesn't get m…
Not if you're Russia/China.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/26/chinese-rocket-crushes-house...
They'll have to pay their engineers pretty well to live down there. Nearby South Padre Island is a decent vacation spot, but not many people want to live on the land that close to the border with Mexico. I know a lot of folks who haven't been to Brownsville will reflexively think that's a racist comment or something, but it isn't. The area is extremely poor with police/border checkpoints everywhere, the land is ugly,…
South Padre may be 4 miles away as the crow flies, but it's a one hour drive due to the lack of bridges over the Brownsville harbour.
They'll have to pay their engineers pretty well to live down there. Nearby South Padre Island is a decent vacation spot, but not many people want to live on the land that close to the border with Mexico. I know a lot of folks who haven't been to Brownsville will reflexively think that's a racist comment or something, but it isn't. The area is extremely poor with police/border checkpoints everywhere, the land is ugly,…
Quick question - since it's South Texas and I can see the Gulf of Mexico in the screenshot... isn't that a little close to the water? Not just maybe global warming + sea level rises but storm surge from hurricanes. Or is that not a concern? Anyone with more knowledge on the topic could share?
They'll have to pay their engineers pretty well to live down there. Nearby South Padre Island is a decent vacation spot, but not many people want to live on the land that close to the border with Mexico. I know a lot of folks who haven't been to Brownsville will reflexively think that's a racist comment or something, but it isn't. The area is extremely poor with police/border checkpoints everywhere, the land is ugly,…
I know this is a digression, but can you expand on the checkpoints a bit? Are there actually random roadblocks within 100 miles of the border where you get stopped and need to provide proof of residency or citizenship? Just curious as a Canadian.
Check out the term "constitution free zone" if you want to learn more.
They'll have to pay their engineers pretty well to live down there. Nearby South Padre Island is a decent vacation spot, but not many people want to live on the land that close to the border with Mexico. I know a lot of folks who haven't been to Brownsville will reflexively think that's a racist comment or something, but it isn't. The area is extremely poor with police/border checkpoints everywhere, the land is ugly,…
I know this is a digression, but can you expand on the checkpoints a bit? Are there actually random roadblocks within 100 miles of the border where you get stopped and need to provide proof of residency or citizenship? Just curious as a Canadian.
Yes, there's a combination of established locations and "surprise" locations where Border Patrol stops every car on the interstate.
> you...need to provide proof of residency or citizenship?
I don't think they can legally make you produce this unless they have reasonable suspension of a crime. Every time I've been through they have you roll down your window and ask if everyone in the car is a US citizen. Usually there are dogs on both sides of your vehicle while you're asked. I've never had any trouble or had to produce my license.
In this conversation, I only bring it up because I assume when most people see a large police presence, they're nervous that (a) there's probably a reason to need that many police, and (b) what if the police mistakenly believe I'm a criminal? It's just not a pleasant environment, even though I haven't ever been personally hassled at a checkpoint.