"SpaceX has a contract to supply the International Space Station, and the launch site would be used for that purpose, officials have said."
"Board weighs aerospace engineering proposal," Brownsville Herald, Sept. 15, 2013
"Board weighs aerospace engineering proposal," Brownsville Herald, Sept. 15, 2013
By Juan Montoya
It doesn't matter how many times we repeat it here, but since the Brownsville Economic Development Council, United Brownsville, the City of Brownsville, the Brownsville Independent School District and repeatedly, the Brownsville Herald and the rest of the lambiscones associated with the Sunshine Boys at the Chamber of Commerce will not clarify the very limited parameters of SpaceX's project here, it falls to our lot and we again welcome the opportunity to do it.
First of all, no matter how many Herald reporters tell those who still read their rag, SpaceX's contract with NASA to ferry supplies to the International Space Station is not related to the firms' efforts to set up a satellite launch pad at Boca Chica.
We will not launch astronauts from Boca Chica, or for that matter, any manned space missions anywhere else.
SpaceX's Brownsville operation will not be related (at all) to the company's operations in Cape Canaveral or to NASA.
It is not related (at all) to the December 2008 NASA announcement that SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon Spacecraft were contracted to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The $1.6 billion contract represents a minimum of 12 flights, with an option to order additional missions for a cumulative total contract value of up to $3.1 billion."
Again, NASA has nothing to do with the local project. SpaceX will not fire NASA missions from Brownsville, despite the pipe dreams of BEDC gurus.
It also will not send manned spacecraft to the ISS, the moon, or for that matter, Mars, despite the comments of Bob Lancaster, President of the Texas Space Alliance.
The reason is simple. In order to reach the ISS whose orbit is inclined at 51.6 degrees, the launch azimuth from Brownsville would be approximately 42 degrees, which would take the craft over populated land masses, a no-no in FAA regulations.
Imagine 0 being North, 90 being East, and 45 being northeast. To launch at 42 degrees would take the rocket smack over New Orleans and over the Northeast. That simply cannot be done.
"It is exciting to think that you will be able to see the launch of a manned space mission to Mars," Lancaster said to wild applause.
Not to be.
Instead, it is to be a minor launch site where SpaceX will program launches of limited commercial payloads (communications, weather satellites, etc.) for private customers that could include foreign states or other businesses.
But try to keep people like the BEDC's vice-president of BS Gilbert Salinas repeat these endless fibs to a jobs-hungry audience in South Texas. King Canute wold have better luck stopping the waves from coming on Boca Chica Beach. Here are a few other choice lies.
1. That Brownsville's geographic position close to the equator so it can create a "slingshot" effect and save the SpaceX craft fuel to go into orbit (not space) gives it a foot up on other competitors such as Florida and Puerto Rico.
"The location is ideal for a number of reasons. It allows for a launch over a vast body of water, in this case the Gulf of Mexico. It also is near the Equator and its gravitational field, providing a faster, more efficient “slingshot” launch that conserves fuel," Salinas told the Brownsville Herald's Emma Perez-Treviño.
-1. The last time we looked at the map, the location of the competing site in Puerto Rico is closer to the equator. In fact, Cape Canaveral, the other competitor, is less than three degrees in latitude than Brownsville (25.9014 to 28.4556) , a negligible difference. So much for geographic advantage.
2. "With 12 missions that are part of a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, and, among other contracts, a recently awarded NASA contract of $75 million to prepare Dragon for transporting astronauts into space, SpaceX sits on a total of $4 billion in launch contracts." Brownsville Herald
-2. SpaceX Email Newsletter: Aug. 23, 2012
"On Thursday, August 23, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited SpaceX's main hangar at Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to announce that SpaceX has officially entered NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program.
Under this program, SpaceX is contracted for 12 cargo resupply flights to the International Space Station. The company is currently preparing its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft for the first of these official cargo resupply flights, and is targeting an October launch from Cape Canaveral."
SpaceX's Brownsville operation will not be related (at all) to the company's operations in Cape Canaveral or to NASA.It is also not related (at all) to the December 2008 NASA announcement that SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon Spacecraft were contracted to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The $1.6 billion contract represents a minimum of 12 flights, with an option to order additional missions for a cumulative total contract value of up to $3.1 billion."
In fact, NASA has nothing to do with the local project. SpaceX will not fire NASA missions from Brownsville, despite the pipe dreams of BEDC gurus.
We can only encourage the BISD will get approval from the State Board of Education to offer aerospace engineering as a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program of Study in high schools statewide. This is good and well.
We'll even grudgingly support SBOE District 2 member Ruben Cortez – a GED holder – to push for Brownsville to be one of those sites.
But keep your feet on the ground when we talk about space missions, resupplying the ISS, and going to Mars or any other moon or planet from Boca Chica. It ain't gonna happen. None other than Stephen Davis, director of Advanced Projects with SpaceX told us as much when he was here for the original cheerleading session in preparation for the Environmental Impact Statement hearings for the FAA.
It doesn't matter how many times we repeat it here, but since the Brownsville Economic Development Council, United Brownsville, the City of Brownsville, the Brownsville Independent School District and repeatedly, the Brownsville Herald and the rest of the lambiscones associated with the Sunshine Boys at the Chamber of Commerce will not clarify the very limited parameters of SpaceX's project here, it falls to our lot and we again welcome the opportunity to do it.
First of all, no matter how many Herald reporters tell those who still read their rag, SpaceX's contract with NASA to ferry supplies to the International Space Station is not related to the firms' efforts to set up a satellite launch pad at Boca Chica.
We will not launch astronauts from Boca Chica, or for that matter, any manned space missions anywhere else.
SpaceX's Brownsville operation will not be related (at all) to the company's operations in Cape Canaveral or to NASA.
It is not related (at all) to the December 2008 NASA announcement that SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon Spacecraft were contracted to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The $1.6 billion contract represents a minimum of 12 flights, with an option to order additional missions for a cumulative total contract value of up to $3.1 billion."
Again, NASA has nothing to do with the local project. SpaceX will not fire NASA missions from Brownsville, despite the pipe dreams of BEDC gurus.It also will not send manned spacecraft to the ISS, the moon, or for that matter, Mars, despite the comments of Bob Lancaster, President of the Texas Space Alliance.
The reason is simple. In order to reach the ISS whose orbit is inclined at 51.6 degrees, the launch azimuth from Brownsville would be approximately 42 degrees, which would take the craft over populated land masses, a no-no in FAA regulations.
Imagine 0 being North, 90 being East, and 45 being northeast. To launch at 42 degrees would take the rocket smack over New Orleans and over the Northeast. That simply cannot be done.
"It is exciting to think that you will be able to see the launch of a manned space mission to Mars," Lancaster said to wild applause.
Not to be.
Instead, it is to be a minor launch site where SpaceX will program launches of limited commercial payloads (communications, weather satellites, etc.) for private customers that could include foreign states or other businesses.
But try to keep people like the BEDC's vice-president of BS Gilbert Salinas repeat these endless fibs to a jobs-hungry audience in South Texas. King Canute wold have better luck stopping the waves from coming on Boca Chica Beach. Here are a few other choice lies.
1. That Brownsville's geographic position close to the equator so it can create a "slingshot" effect and save the SpaceX craft fuel to go into orbit (not space) gives it a foot up on other competitors such as Florida and Puerto Rico.
"The location is ideal for a number of reasons. It allows for a launch over a vast body of water, in this case the Gulf of Mexico. It also is near the Equator and its gravitational field, providing a faster, more efficient “slingshot” launch that conserves fuel," Salinas told the Brownsville Herald's Emma Perez-Treviño.
-1. The last time we looked at the map, the location of the competing site in Puerto Rico is closer to the equator. In fact, Cape Canaveral, the other competitor, is less than three degrees in latitude than Brownsville (25.9014 to 28.4556) , a negligible difference. So much for geographic advantage.
2. "With 12 missions that are part of a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, and, among other contracts, a recently awarded NASA contract of $75 million to prepare Dragon for transporting astronauts into space, SpaceX sits on a total of $4 billion in launch contracts." Brownsville Herald
-2. SpaceX Email Newsletter: Aug. 23, 2012
"On Thursday, August 23, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden visited SpaceX's main hangar at Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral, Fla., to announce that SpaceX has officially entered NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) program.
Under this program, SpaceX is contracted for 12 cargo resupply flights to the International Space Station. The company is currently preparing its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft for the first of these official cargo resupply flights, and is targeting an October launch from Cape Canaveral."
SpaceX's Brownsville operation will not be related (at all) to the company's operations in Cape Canaveral or to NASA.It is also not related (at all) to the December 2008 NASA announcement that SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon Spacecraft were contracted to resupply the International Space Station (ISS). The $1.6 billion contract represents a minimum of 12 flights, with an option to order additional missions for a cumulative total contract value of up to $3.1 billion."
In fact, NASA has nothing to do with the local project. SpaceX will not fire NASA missions from Brownsville, despite the pipe dreams of BEDC gurus.
We can only encourage the BISD will get approval from the State Board of Education to offer aerospace engineering as a Career and Technical Education (CTE) Program of Study in high schools statewide. This is good and well.
We'll even grudgingly support SBOE District 2 member Ruben Cortez – a GED holder – to push for Brownsville to be one of those sites.
But keep your feet on the ground when we talk about space missions, resupplying the ISS, and going to Mars or any other moon or planet from Boca Chica. It ain't gonna happen. None other than Stephen Davis, director of Advanced Projects with SpaceX told us as much when he was here for the original cheerleading session in preparation for the Environmental Impact Statement hearings for the FAA.
3 comments:
My 0.2cents says they will play the market and capture the prime real estate at all final bid locations and own the rights to launch wherever they desire after all the concessions and rights are snuggly secured .
They'll throw a bone wherever they seem fit
Another big lie is that this will not affect the Boca Chica environment.
Speaking of geography, if Boca Chica were on the Florida coast, it would look like Miami.ny
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