BernieToday I'm flying to Boca Chica TX to visit the #SpaceX construction site 🚀
These NASASpaceflight videos with no voice over speak for themselves:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtSCwYRMq7c
#spacex #starship
LR 11350 "Frankencrane" Extended Boom Raised for Next Launch Tower Lift | SpaceX Boca Chica
In the foreground, East Cut Jetties.
There's a huge wind farm... in South Texas!
👺💨
👺💨
I spotted another one of those Peace Poles outside Valley International Airport, Harlingen. ☮️
cc: @benoit
The #starship on the left should be #SN15, so far the only landing survivor. She was scheduled for a second flight, but then they removed all three engines (presumably because they were damaged) and eventually it was moved back to the construction site.
On the right, the "high bay", which seems to contains #SN16 and pieces of the #BN2 booster (the first one which is expected to fly).
All the sections of #BN2 have already been spotted on the site, an a good number of them are already stacked.
#SpaceX South Texas Ground Tracking Station.
I believe this was here before #Starship construction began.
In sequence:
- Historic Starhopper prototype which flew in July 2019
- Blast wall
- Sections of the orbital launch tower waiting to be stacked,
- The giant crane "Frankenzilla" which is building the 130m launch tower
- Historic Starhopper prototype which flew in July 2019
- Blast wall
- Sections of the orbital launch tower waiting to be stacked,
- The giant crane "Frankenzilla" which is building the 130m launch tower
The cryogenic fuel farm uses steel tanks very similar to #Starship, but they will be enclosed in thermal insulating shells (like the one on the right) to store superchilled O2 and methane more efficiently.
This is the access road to Boca Chica Beach. It's Saturday, and families are coming to enjoy the sea, mostly ignoring the #Starship in the background.
(the car on the right got stuck in the sand; another car is trying to toe it out of it)
People nonchalantly bathing in Boca Chica Beach.
Marcus House gives an update on #SpaceX #Starship and #SuperHeavy development:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iFg4wvp5gw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iFg4wvp5gw
SpaceX Starship and Super Heavy Development Continues, SXM8 Launch, Terran R Reveal
Today I went to South Padre Island, a resort island situated north of the #SpaceX launch complex.
I'm not interested in the beach, so I took a walk along the jetty...
It's the #SpaceX construction site! 🤩
Bit it's too far to observe their activity. Even with a telescope, there would be too much atmospheric haze.
Today I wasted my afternoon at the stupid South Padre Island while Frankenzilla was stacking section 4 of the orbital launch tower 😓
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0AZIvjXjZc
#spacex #starship
Lift of Starship Orbital Launch Tower Section #4
In the evening, I went back to Boca Chica and decided to walk through the swamps around the
launch site...
This should be Suborbital Pad B, which carried the unfortunate SN11.
Behind and to the right, the BN2.1 test tank, which was cryo-proofed last week. Since it didn't blow up, we believe the test was successful.
Crossing a quagmire filled with hungry mosquitoes, towards Frankenzilla at the opposite end of the site...
Along the way, I spot several holes in the sand; some are the size of an arm. What creatures live in these holes? 😨
#spacex starship
Panning from the Starship construction site in the distance through a sunset obscured by BN2.1, the historic Starhopper prototype, section 5 of the Orbital Launch Tower waiting to be stacked, and finally... 🥁... the massive, mismatched body of Frankenzilla, still holding section 4 after lifting it in place this afternoon.
With my best Russian accent, I should have asked back: "Excuse me sir, can you direct me to the Amerikan Nuclear Wessels?"
Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home (3/10) Movie CLIP - Nuclear Wessels (1986) HD
I decided stay a few more days to check what's happening during the scheduled road closures:
https://www.cameroncounty.us/spacex/
#spacex #starship
https://www.cameroncounty.us/spacex/
#spacex #starship
The Boca Chica Road Closures twitter bot says they'll be testing BN2.1 again. Too boring!
Boca Chica Road Closures on Twitter
“Planned closures this week as of Monday, 10:30 AM CDT: Tuesday - Primary (Noon-8PM CDT) Wednesday - Secondary (same times) Thursday - Secondary (same times) Likely: Further BN2.1 testing. While they may be used to move equipment, beach closures are typically testing related.”
I bought one of those scopes with a smartphone mount for bird watching... I've got a *huge* bird to watch! 🤓
Knowing almost nothing about tele lenses, I ordered the cheapest product with a high user rating. And then I'll figure out whether I needed better optics.
LIVE: Lift of Starship Orbital Launch Tower Section #5
Note to self: next time the cop at the roadblock asks you "are you a SpaceX employee?", the right answer is "yes" 😠
Yesterday the road to Boca Chica was open, and I was able to walk around the #SpaceX launch facility:
#SN16 was moved out of the High Bay and parked next to #SN15, offering a rare view of twin Starships.
#SpaceX #Starship
#SpaceX #Starship
Hopefully, soon we'll have a whole fleet of Starships rolling out of the production facility.
Ah, looks like Remedios Street and Joanna Street, two roads cutting through the #SpaceX #Starship construction site, should remain open to the public:
https://www.valleycentral.com/spacex/district-attorney-warns-spacex-about-unauthorized-road-closures-security-personnel/
https://www.valleycentral.com/spacex/district-attorney-warns-spacex-about-unauthorized-road-closures-security-personnel/