Category Archives: Boca Chica Texas

Nothing is quite as annoying as a Hollywood star attempting to lecture the masses about public policy. Whether it's Tom Hanks with his morning in America pro-Biden ad that left out inflation and supply chain problems, or Matthew McConaughey taking shots at space barons like Elon Musk, entertainment industry virtue-signaling proves how out-of-touch people with tons of money can become living in a leftist cultural bubble.

The ad that features McConaughey first ran during the Super Bowl. It depicts the actor in a spacesuit and looks like a trailer for a sequel to Interstellar, a space movie in which he once starred. The ad, run on behalf of a company called Salesforce, quickly segues into a heavy-handed message about not going to Mars. Instead, the argument goes, we should stay home on Earth and plant trees.

Ars Technica notes that the ad is replete with hypocrisy. Salesforce is just using some fashionable billionaire-bashing to burnish its image as an Earth-friendly company, even as its CEO, Marc Benioff, is an investor in SpaceX. SpaceXs CEO Elon Musk dreams of making humanity an interplanetary species by supporting NASAs Artemis return to the moon program and building a city on Mars.

McConaughey once toyed with the idea of running for governor of Texas. He probably chose wisely by declining at the last minute because bashing an increasingly important industry in the Lone Star State would not have been a good look. From NASAs Johnson Spaceflight Center south of Houston, to SpaceXs Starbase launch facility in Boca Chica, to Jeff Bezoss Blue Origin spaceport in Van Horn, space in Texas is generating a lot of revenue and creating a great many jobs.

In an interview with Variety, McConaughey admitted that he would like to meet with space billionaires such as Musk and Bezos, as well as Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg. Those meetings would have been useful before the actor cut an ad throwing shade on the idea of rich people running their own space programs. The wealthy actor might have learned a thing or two.

Musk, for instance, could take McConaughey on a tour of Starbase. He could explain to him how expanding humankind across the solar system does not constitute abandoning the Earth any more than the settlement of the Americas constituted the abandonment of Europe. Musk might also mention the carbon capture X-Prize he is financing. Carbon capture will not only help to fight climate change but will also help SpaceX manufacture rocket fuel. Incidentally, Musk also owns the electric car company, Tesla.

Bezos could do Musk one better by taking McConaughey on a ride in his New Shepard rocket. He performed the same service for another actor, William Shatner, who returned to Earth awestruck at what he saw and experienced. Bezos could also explain to McConaughey his vision of moving heavy industry off the planet and building free-flying space settlements, a concept he learned from his mentor Gerard K. ONeill.

Finally, McConaughey may want to have a chat with Jared Isaacman, a new, somewhat unlikely, space billionaire. Last year, Isaacman bought a flight on a SpaceX Crewed Dragon, called Inspiration4, that raised about a quarter of a billion dollars for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. Isaacman has bought three more flights from SpaceX, with which he intends not only to raise more funds for worthy causes but also to test useful space travel technology.

Spaceflight and helping the Earth are not mutually exclusive undertakings. The idea that they are is one of the great lies of the Space Age, promulgated by the late Sen. Walter Mondale during the Apollo program and by Sen. Bernie Sanders in the present era. From the awesome image of the Earth rising above the lunar surface taken by the Apollo 8 crew that inspired the environmental movement, to the new technologies, such as space-based solar power that could lead to a clean-energy future, the two are inevitably linked. The sooner McConaughey educates himself about this, the better it will be for him and the rest of us, as well.

Mark Whittington, who writes frequently about space and politics, has published a political study of space exploration, Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon? as well as The Moon, Mars and Beyond, and, most recently, Why is America Going Back to the Moon? He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner.

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What Matthew McConaughey got wrong about the new space age - Washington Examiner

TAMPA, Fla. SpaceX has dropped a plan to use Falcon 9 to launch the 30,000 satellites in its proposed second-generation Starlink broadband constellation, and is instead focusing on a configuration leveraging its upcoming Starship vehicle.

The decision follows development progress that SpaceX said exceeded the companys expectations and means it could start launching the Gen2 system as early as March 2022, SpaceX lawyer William Wiltshire said in a Jan. 7 letter to the Federal Communications Commission.

Starship missions are subject to a favorable environmental review into SpaceXs launch facility at Boca Chica, Texas, which the Federal Aviation Administration expects to complete Feb. 28.

SpaceX currently has FCC approval to deploy 4,408 satellites to low Earth orbit at an altitude of around 550 kilometers, and has launched more than half of them to date. The FCC has not yet approved SpaceXs plans for the larger, second-generation constellation. SpaceX asked the FCC to expedite approval now that it has settled on the Starship-launched configuration.

Just as terrestrial wireless networks meet customer demands by operating more than one generation of technology simultaneously, SpaceX plans to use both of its networks to provide superior service, Wiltshire wrote.

SpaceX will continue to maintain its first-generation system, launching replacement satellites as appropriate to sustain the orbits in which it operates, even as it conducts the initial deployment of the Gen2 system. To be clear, operating both systems simultaneously does not mean that SpaceX will necessarily operate all of the satellites under its authorizations at all times in all areas.

He said a SpaceX customer user terminal will be able to receive service from satellites of either system.

In August, the company proposed two configurations for a follow-on network it originally submitted to the FCC in 2020, with both options designed to spread satellites more evenly across nine to 12 inclined orbits for denser and more consistent coverage without needing additional spectrum or spacecraft.

The proposed Starship configuration, which SpaceX had earlier said was its preferred option, comprises 29,988 satellites at altitudes of between 340 and 614 kilometers across nine inclined orbits.

The now-abandoned Falcon 9 configuration would have spread 29,996 satellites across 12 orbital inclinations, at altitudes between 328 and 614 kilometers.

Amazon and other SpaceX rivals had called on the FCC to dismiss the amended plan, saying requesting permission for more than one configuration encourages speculative application behavior from future constellation operators.

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SpaceX goes all-in on Starship configuration for second-gen Starlink - SpaceNews

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.Win McNamee/Getty Images

Elon Musk told Time he was not dating anyone as he and Grimes remained "semi-separated."

He's living near a SpaceX facility in Texas, which he described as "a technology monastery."

Musk and Grimes dated for three years and have an 18-month-old son, X A-Xii, together.

Elon Musk and Grimes are still "semi-separated" as they pursue their own careers, Musk said.

The Tesla billionaire discussed his split from the singer and producer in a recent interview with Time's Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, and Alejandro de la Garza for its annual "Person of the Year" issue.

"Grimes and I are, I'd say, probably semi-separated," Musk told Time. "We weren't seeing each other that much, and I think this is to some degree a long-term thing, because what she needs to do is mostly in LA or touring, and my work is mostly in remote locations like this."

Musk explained the situation similarly to Page Six in September, telling the publication that he and Grimes had decided to go their separate ways after three years of dating. He said at the time that they still loved each other and "are on great terms" as they coparented their 18-month-old son, X A-Xii.

In the interview with Time, Musk said he was single and spending most of his time around Boca Chica, Texas, near SpaceX's Starbase launch facility.

"This place is basically like a technology monastery, you know," he said. "There are some women here, but not many. And it's remote."

Musk confirmed in December last year that he had moved to Texas after a months-long spat with the state of California over pandemic lockdowns. He sold off his $100 million real-estate portfolio in California after pledging to "own no house" and said he was renting a $50,000 prefab tiny home.

Grimes, for her part, has been busy releasing music. In a new song, "Player of Games," the lyrics seem to allude to her relationship with Musk: "Baby / How can I compare / To the adventure out there? / Sail away / To the cold expanse of space / Even love / Couldn't keep you in your place."

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Elon Musk says he's single and basically living in a 'technology monastery' following his split with Grimes - Yahoo Movies Canada

Elon Musk needs methane to launch his Starship into orbit from South Texas in early 2022. Hes looking to the atmosphere to get it.

To get through an orbital test phase beginning soon and on to the moon and Mars in coming years, Musk has been searching for supplies of the hydrocarbon, which is found in natural gas. Its why he said earlier this year that he wants to drill for gas near his SpaceX launch site at Boca Chica.

And its at least partly why he now wants to create a program to remove carbon dioxide from the Earths atmosphere.

The SpaceX Starship SN10 rocket explodes Wednesday, March 3, 2021, after landing at the Boca Chica landing pad. The rocket landed and stood at an angle before catching fire and exploding.

SpaceX is starting a program to take CO2 out of atmosphere & turn it into rocket fuel, Musk, the companys founder and CEO, tweeted late Monday. Please join if interested.

He added: The process will also be important for Mars.

On ExpressNews.com: Elon Musk says SpaceXs first Starship launch from Boca Chica expected in early 2022

The billionaires tweets, which came shortly after he was named Person of the Year by Time magazine, received a mixed reaction from his Twitter followers and others.

Heres a potential source of methane for Starship launches in South Texas. (They need a lot.), Eric Berger, author of Liftoff: Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days That Launched SpaceX and senior space editor at Ars Technica, tweeted that evening. This would also address the growing concern of climate impacts from rocket launches. Big test will be making it financially sustainable.

Thousands of tons of methane are needed for each Starship launch, and SpaceX is planning dozens for 2022.

Its Super Heavy rockets 32 massive Raptor engines run on methalox, a fuel cocktail of super-cooled liquid methane and oxygen. At launch, the rocket will be filled with about 6.8 million pounds of the mixture.

The SpaceX Starship SN10 rocket takes off Wednesday, March 3, 2021, at the Boca Chica launch pad. The rocket landed and stood at an angle before catching fire and exploding.

A supply of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere would provide SpaceX with a raw material for methane.

In San Antonio, Eloy Flores, a research scientist in the chemical engineering department at Southwest Research Institute, said Musk apparently switched from kerosene to methane as the Starships fuel because of its simplicity and efficiency for reusable engine operations a key to SpaceXs plans.

Earlier this year, Musk announced a $100 million Carbon Removal XPrize challenge to generate ideas from inventors to develop ways to capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or oceans.

Ultimately, the goal here is to take the CO2 out of the atmosphere to reduce climate change and if we can turn the CO2 into fuel, it can be burned and we recycle that CO2, Flores said. Not all of it, but enough of it so the net emission is lower than it wouldve been.

Musks idea to convert carbon dioxide into fuel isnt new.

Flores manages labs here using carbon capture technology not for methane but for jet fuels and gasolines, he said. There are processes that have been proven to convert CO2 to methane.

Theres a possible problem: If you end up emitting more CO2 when you produce the fuel, then youre still a net CO2 producer. A possible solution: Using renewable energies like solar and wind to convert CO2 into another form like methane, then its possible you could have a net reduction in emissions.

Flores said using methane as fuel is ideal for Musks plans for Mars. He described how the SpaceX CEO wants to use the Sabatier reaction a chemical process to synthesize methane from the red planets atmospheric CO2 and subsurface water. The process would help meet the Starships refueling needs to get back to Earth.

eric.killelea@express-news.net

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Elon Musk looks to Earths atmosphere as a source of SpaceX rocket fuel made from CO2 - San Antonio Express-News

Perhaps Elon Musk decided his appearance before the National Academies needed an X factor. When it was time for the SpaceX founder and chief executive to speak at a virtual meeting of the Space Studies Board and Board on Physics and Astronomy on Nov. 17, he appeared on the screen with his youngest son, X (short for X AE A-XII), sitting on his lap. Musk said nothing about why his son was with him, immediately launching a video about SpaceXs Starship.

Xs appearance was brief the toddler was whisked away a few minutes later but he charmed the thousands of people who tuned in to watch. (Car! Car? he said when a picture of a Starship vehicle rolling out to the pad appeared. Its a rocket on a big car, Musk said.) Even the worlds richest man must juggle work and family for Zoom meetings.

Whether or not X played any role, Musk got a positive reception from the two committees. What was scheduled to be a half-hour presentation on Starship stretched on for more than an hour, as the scientists and engineers on the panels peppered him with questions ranging from technical details on the design of Starship to almost philosophical ones about the threats facing humanity. He spent 10 minutes alone answering one question about the use of stainless steel in Starships design: Obviously, you can tell Im a huge fan of stainless steel.

The lack of sharply critical questions, about Starship or SpaceX, suggests Musk won over the committees. SpaceX has legions of fans worldwide cheering every minor development. And yet, at times, it can seem like the whole world is taking on SpaceX as the company expands from launch vehicles to satellite broadband to lunar landers.

The scope of SpaceXs competition has grown with its ambitions. When the company started nearly 20 years ago, it focused on small launch, pitting the Falcon 1 against other small launch vehicle developers, including Russian companies marketing converted ICBMs. The medium-lift Falcon 9 aimed at larger commercial and government customers, putting SpaceX into fierce competition with United Launch Alliance for U.S. government business and Arianespace for commercial contracts.

Today, its hard to imagine a launch company that does not consider itself a competitor to SpaceX. Even the small launch vehicle industry watches SpaceX warily: while SpaceX long ago abandoned the Falcon 1, its rideshare services on Falcon 9 offer smallsats far lower prices to get to orbit than dedicated small launchers. Those companies now have to explain how their vehicles, if not cheaper than SpaceXs rideshare services, can offer a quality of service that justifies a premium price.

SpaceXs move into satellite broadband with Starlink opened up a second front of global competition. It now competes with conventional geostationary satellite operators and companies such as Amazon, OneWeb, and Telesat proposing rival satellite constellations. While those systems are still in development, the competition has played out in filings before the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, where Starlink rivals have often vociferously sought to block efforts by SpaceX to modify its license, with SpaceX countering with equal vigor.

That competition creates thorny conflicts for companies that might be open to doing business with SpaceX as a launch provider if it didnt mean supporting a company developing a competing constellation. SpaceX, at least publicly, says it has no problem launching satellites for Starlink competitors.

But those companies have, for now, found alternatives, likely at higher costs than Falcon 9. OneWeb is using Soyuz rockets to launch its constellation while Amazons Project Kuiper will start deploying its satellites using some of the last Atlas 5 rockets ULA flies before retiring the vehicle in favor of Vulcan Centaur.

NASAs selection of SpaceXs Starship as the basis of the lunar lander that will transport Artemis astronauts to the moon created yet another arena for competition. Both Blue Origin and Dynetics filed protests with the U.S. Government Accountability Office when NASA selected SpaceX (and only SpaceX) for the Human Landing System (HLS) program. The GAO rejected both protests.

Blue Origin then filed suit in the Court of Federal Claims. A Blue Origin executive said that NASAs treatment of SpaceXs flight readiness reviews, a key point of contention in the suit, presented serious safety issues and put it at a disadvantage.

The court dismissed the suit Nov. 4, concluding that Blue Origin had no standing in the case and, even if it had, it would have lost on the merits. Blue Origin conceded and SpaceX was finally able to start its HLS work with NASA.

Its not just other businesses that are doing battle with SpaceX. When SpaceX launched its first batch of Starlink satellites in May 2019, astronomers were startled by how bright the train of satellites appeared in the night sky. With SpaceX planning tens of thousands of satellites, the company soon became public enemy No. 1 to astronomers, who feared the satellites would ruin their research.

Two years and 1,800 satellites later, many astronomers still complain about Starlink, but others acknowledge that the company has taken some steps to mitigate the problem, making changes to its satellites to reduce the light they reflect. It hasnt completely resolved the problem, particularly for sensitive instruments at major observatories, but it kept the problem from getting worse.

SpaceXs willingness to cooperate has been welcomed by astronomers. SpaceX has been a role model for other companies developing constellations, said Connie Walker of the National Science Foundations National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory, one of the leaders in efforts to study the effect of satellite constellations on astronomy.

In Texas, SpaceXs plans to launch its Starship from Boca Chica face opposition from residents. Environmentalists worry about the effect launches, and launch failures, will have on endangered species and other wildlife along the Gulf of Mexico coast. They raised their concerns at two public meetings in October held by the Federal Aviation Administration about an environmental assessment of SpaceXs launch plans there, calling for a more rigorous environmental impact statement.

The stakes are simply too high not to invest in a thorough EIS, said Sharon Wilcox, senior Texas representative for one environmental group, Defenders of Wildlife, at one of the public meetings.

SpaceXs investment in the region has also generated opposition from residents who fear the company is driving up housing costs and changing the nature of the community. SpaceX is just something that is directly destructive and another example of colonization of our community that we just dont need, said one activist, Rebekah Hinojosa.

However, those public hearings included many people, both locals and those participating from across the country, singing the praises of SpaceX and calling on the FAA to allow the company to proceed with Starship orbital launches. In mid-November, the FAA said it expects to complete its environmental assessment by the end of the year. Musk, at the National Academies meeting, said he expected to get an FAA launch license at that time and be ready for orbital launches as soon as January.

Its not uncommon for large aerospace companies with a wide range of products to deal with many potential competitors and other critics. Why, though, does it feel different with SpaceX?

One reason is that SpaceX often goes it alone on major projects rather than partnering with other companies. They dont play well with others, said one industry official, speaking on background, concluding the ability to go quickly on its own outweighs any benefits of joining forces.

In aerospace, shifting allegiances are common: two companies may be competitors on one program but partners on another. For NASAs HLS program, for example, Blue Origin partnered with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. At the same time, Dynetics led another team whose partners included Sierra Nevada Corp.s space division, now called Sierra Space. But for the agencys effort to develop commercial space stations, Blue Origin went with Boeing and Sierra Space, while Northrop and Dynetics partnered on a separate concept, and Lockheed turned to Nanoracks and its corporate parent, Voyager Space, for a third proposal.

SpaceX, by contrast, went it alone on HLS, and won. It did not disclose if it bid on NASAs commercial space station program, although only the Blue Origin, Lockheed and Northrop teams won $415 million in contract awards NASA announced Dec. 2.

Its hard to criticize SpaceXs go-it-alone approach, though, given the successes the company has racked up. Falcon 9, with its reusable first stage, is launching more often than any other rocket, flying 26 times in 2020 and 27 times through early December 2021. SpaceX is launching not only more often than any other company, its beating every country but China. Starlink is up and running, serving 140,000 users across 20 countries with an additional 750,000 preorders worldwide. Crew Dragon is transporting NASA and commercial astronauts to orbit, launching five crewed missions since May 2020, while Boeing is still struggling to achieve a successful uncrewed test of its rival capsule. Starship beat all comers to win a contract to develop a lander to carry astronauts to the surface of the moon. Its working for them, that industry official acknowledged.

SpaceXs biggest threat to its plans might be itself. The company requires billions of dollars of capital to develop Starship and build out Starlink, whose next generation of satellites will rely on Starship for launch. Problems increasing production of the Raptor engines on Starship led Musk to send an email to SpaceX employees on Black Friday, warning that we face genuine risk of bankruptcy if SpaceX cant launch Starship at a rate of once every two weeks next year. Musk, in later tweets, backed off that threat, saying bankruptcy was unlikely but not impossible.

The other big threat is the clock, because Musk is in a hurry. At the National Academies meeting, he reiterated his long-stated desire to make humanity multiplanetary, starting with Mars. The window of this opportunity is open now for the first time in the four-and-a-half-billion-year history of Earth. It may be open for a long time or it may be open for only a short time, he said. I think we should be hasty just in case its open for a short time.

This article originally appeared in the December 2021 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

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SpaceX vs. the world - SpaceNews

Whoever follows in the footsteps of state Sen. Eddie Lucio will be walking in a shadow that will be long and wide. Sen. Lucio has a long legacy of representing his community, championing the cause of the less fortunate, advocating for economic development and job creation, creating access to healthcare, standing up for our veterans and protecting our children.

He has accomplished all of this while simultaneously working across party lines with his fellow senators to get funding for the many programs, services and initiatives that continue to serve the Rio Grande Valley as well as the rest of the state. No matter who fills this seat, and despite their work ethic and accomplishments, they are most likely going to be measured against the legislative, leadership and humanitarian record of Sen. Lucio. The bar is high, both in Lucios accomplishments and, perhaps more importantly, in our expectations of his successor.

When Sen. Lucio was elected to the Texas Senate, the Valley was suffering from double-digit unemployment. Many residents were living in poverty and our corner of the state was suffering from lack of economic opportunities. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) made great strides to increase trade, jobs and economic prosperity, but there was much more to do on the state level, and Lucio wasted no time getting to work.

He had a vision back then that was rooted in the universal truth that as a community, we cant move forward unless we move together. That is a very valuable piece of advice we I share with all the candidates that seek to be the next senator from Senate District 27.

His life and struggles formed the foundation of what he would champion as a senator. He was one of many siblings who lived in public housing that inspired him to fight for more affordable housing. He was often told that college was not for him, but found a way to attend what was then known as Pan American University. Realizing that access was important for those who couldnt afford to attend college out of town or for those who preferred not to be far away from home, he fought for more higher educational opportunities right here in the Valley. When a judge ruled that insufficient educational opportunities existed in South Texas, Lucio co-authored a bill to tie schools in South Texas to the U.T. and A&M systems, putting them on equal footing with the rest of the state.

He fought for clean water and proper wastewater treatment in colonias. He championed the economic development opportunities that brought Space X to Boca Chica and helped forge the higher education ties to produce a new generation of aeronautical engineers, programmers and astronauts from our region. To Sen. Lucio, even reaching for the stars was a worthy goal.

Its difficult to think of moving on without him, but we take comfort in knowing that he leaves many monuments to his years of leadership. Those monuments are the many students who are taking advantage of undergraduate and graduate programs available here in our region; the veterans who no longer need to travel to San Antonio for healthcare; those less fortunate who can successfully find affordable housing; and the job creators seeking to create and enhance economic opportunities.

So, to Democrats, Republicans and Independents who seek to succeed him, we ask that like Sen. Eddie Lucio, you put community over party. Cross party lines when it helps your constituents, and work with leadership to get things done. Remember, those of us back home are counting on you to advocate, champion and, when its called for, fight for us.

Yes, hes a hard act follow, but if you have the ganas, then we can do great things together.

Editors Note: The above guest column was penned jointly by Al Villarreal (pictured right, above), president of IBC Bank-Brownsville, and Adrian Villarreal (pictured left, above), president of IBC Bank-McAllen. The column appears in The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with the approval of the authors. They can be reached by email via: [emailprotected]

Producing quality journalism is not cheap. The coronavirus has resulted in falling revenues across the newsrooms of the United States. However, The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service is committed to producing quality news reporting on the issues that matter to border residents. The support of our members is vital in ensuring our mission gets fulfilled.

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Villarreal & Villarreal: Sen. Lucio is going to be a hard act to follow - Rio Grande Guardian

Tesla's endeavors in Texas are poised to bring more economic growth and jobs.

TEXAS, USA Elon Musk can add one more title to his portfolio alongside "innovator," "CEO," "Texas resident" and "billionaire" -- TIME's 2021 Person of the Year.

Musk has made plenty of moves in the Lone Star State over the past year, developing properties, moving his businesses and creating new ventures.

Gov. Greg Abbott welcomed Tesla to Texas, calling it "one of the top innovators in the entire world." He said it would spur economic grown and an "even brighter future" for the state.

"Elon Musk and I have been discussing this relocation and the unmatched competitive advantages our state can offer," Abbott said.

Tesla's endeavors in Texas are poised to bring more economic growth and jobs.

Texas has been a focal point in the new era "space race" with Jeff Bezos and his Blue Origin flights earlier this year from Van Horn. Musk's SpaceX also made its first private voyage in September from south Texas.

Here's where Musk has made his mark.

Angleton

About 40 miles south of Houston, a Tesla subsidiary Gambit Energy Storage LLC is building a mega-battery in Angleton, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The 100-megawatt energy storage project in Angleton would have the capability to power about 20,000 homes on a hot summer day.

The same battery technology used to power cars is what Tesla wants to use to power homes. The benefit to being in Angleton is a substation that forms a critical entry point to Texas energy grid.

Musk has another energy-related project, called Tesla Energy Ventures. It'snow officially licensed to sell electricity to retail customers across the state.

The approval of Musk's license comes months after Bloomberg reported about Gambit Energy. At this time, however, it is unclear if either project is connected to one another or how they might be connected if they are.

Boca Chica

Starbase is the rocket production facility and test site for SpaceX in Boca Chica, just 20 miles east of Brownsville along the coast and near the border with Mexico. In June, Musk tweeted that he was living in a $50,000 tiny home near SpaceX at the time.

Starbase is home to tests of new prototypes and other launches, leaving the small town's residents with entertainment or slight nuisances, depending on who you ask.

Any time I doubt anything SpaceX says theyre going to do, they do it. So I should just stop doubting, saidspace exploration aficionado Tom Hawes.

It's where Musk unveiled the spacecraft designed to carry a crew and cargo to the moon and Mars (or anywhere else) back in 2019.

Central Texas

Tesla officially moved its headquarters to Austin earlier this month -- just one of many California companies moving to Texas.

Tesla is working on its Gigafactory just east of Austin city limits. The $1.1 billion factory will produce the Model Y electric SUVs as well as the Cybertruck. Production is expected by the end of the year.

Tesla is planning to employ more than 10,000 people for that location. The company plans to work with local colleges to recruit students.

"This is Austins seminal moment: we are now the hub of the tech industry, and we arent going anywhere, the Austin Chamber of Commercesaid in October.

Tesla's latest factory isn't the only project Musk has under his belt in the Austin area. The Boring Company is developing properties in both Pflugerville and Bastrop, and Neuralink also recently posted jobs in the area.

There are also plans to expand a new plant in McGregor, just outside of Waco, to focus on producing Raptor 2 rocket engines.

SpaceX already has one campus in McGregor that employs around 500 people.

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From Waco to Boca Chica: Elon Musk - TIME's 2021 Person of the Year - and his impact in Texas - WFAA.com

The penthouse at Las Costas is for sale for $3 million. Furcron Realtors

I came across this six-bedroom, six-and-a-half-bathroom, beachfront penthouse apartment spread over two floors. The property features a wrap-around balcony, staff quarters, premium appliances, a garage, and comes fully furnished.

There are only 7 units within the property, compared to other penthouses on the island in much larger buildings.

Mickey Furcron, the agent representing the home, has been selling real estate on SPI since 1990. He told Insider he's witnessed a tremendous increase in real estate sales on the island in the past 18 months.

"It was like the doors were blown open," he said by phone. "Everyone who didn't know about SPI discovered we were here."

Furcron said that in years past, a property would be on the market for approximately nine months or longer. "Now," he said, "within a couple of days you have multiple offers of more than the list price."

Pre-pandemic, Furcron said home buyers came to SPI from the US, Canada, and Mexico, but now are mostly from the United States in places like Austin, Dallas, Houston, the Midwest, East Coast, and Colorado.

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What it's like to visit South Padre Island in Texas - Insider

The Inspiration4 crew in space.Image: Inspiration4

In September, astronauts participating in the first all-private mission to space, the Inspiration4 mission, had to keep their cool after an alarm went off, indicating a significant but unknown problem. The alarm was eventually traced to mechanical problems having to do with Crew Dragons waste management system, specifically its fans, which pull human waste away from the body. Mercifully, the Inspiration4 crew, with help from SpaceX ground controllers, were able to bring the toilet back online. Elon Musk tweeted that upgrades to the Crew Dragon toilet would be necessary.

SpaceX provided more information later, saying a tube in the tank got loose, preventing urine from entering the storage tank and causing it to spill beneath the Crew Dragon floor. A similar issue was detected in Endeavour, a Crew Dragon parked outside ISS. SpaceX apparently remedied the problem by October, with Endurance being the first Crew Dragon to feature the upgraded toilets.

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2021 Was the Weirdest Year in Space Ever - Gizmodo

ELON Musk's primary home in Texas is reportedly a box worth $50,000 after the Tesla billionaire sold off the majority of his California mansions.

The SpaceX founder, 50, recently relocated from California to Texas where Tesla is setting up its new factory and base.

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He revealed earlier this month that he now owns only one house in the Bay Area which he described as an "events house."

AS he left, Musk blasted California lawmakers for allegedly creating an unwelcoming environment for businesses.

Yet while the second richest man in the world, Musk didn't snap up any new Austin mansions when he relocated to Starbase.

Instead, he is living in a small box house that he is renting from SpaceX while he works at Boca Chica.

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"My primary home is literally a ~$50k house in Boca Chica / Starbase that I rent from SpaceX," he wrote in a tweet on June 7.

"Its kinda awesome though. Only house I own is the events house in the Bay Area.

"If I sold it, the house would see less use, unless bought by a big family, which might happen someday.

"Now that I have made some improvements, Im pretty sure its worth $69k haha," he joked of the "box" in a seperate tweet.

The house Musk is renting in Texas isa mass-produced, 20 feet x 20 feet "foldable, prefabricated home" from Boxabl, a housing start-up company, according to the Houston Chronicle.

The "BoxablCasita" looks like a studio apartment and consists of one large room partitioned into a living room and bedroom area, with a fully equipped kitchen.

It also has a bathroom with a tub shower.

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The company had teased that Musk would be living in one of its homes last November when it posted a video claiming that it had a "high-profile" and "top secret" customer in Boca Chica.

However, it is still remaining tight-lipped about who the customer is, despite Musk saying the house is "kinda awesome."

"No comment," the company said in a tweet on Sunday.

Musk's girlfriend Grimes has also said that she is living in Austin but it is not clear if she and their one-year-old son, X A-Xii, are staying in the box.

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Musk officially announced he was ditching "entitled" California last year as he put seven of his mansions on the market.

He previously told palshe planned to leave as his feud with California lawmakersover theircoronavirusrules continued.

The billionaire saidCalifornia"has been winning for a long time" in the area of innovation but has also been "taking it for granted a little bit."

"They do tend to get a little complacent, a little entitled, and then they don't win the championship anymore," said Musk, who has resided in the Golden State for nearly two decades.

At the start of summer 2020, he put an array of his impressive homes up for sale after vowing to sell all of his possessions including his six mansions in the exclusive Bel Air neighborhood in Los Angeles.

These included a $30million seven-bed mansion and a a ranch house across the street once owned by comedic actor Gene Wilder,which he has turned into a private school for his own kids.

Speaking to Vogue in 2015, he described it as "like a little schoolhouse on the prairie, except in Bel-Air on a golf course."

Musk also listed four other homes valued at $62.5million, as well as his "Boomerang" pad, which he sold in 2019.

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