"ELON, WANTS TO GO TO MARS, LEAVE BOCA CHICA FAR..."

By Juan Montoya

Well, what started out as a bit of far-fetched speculation by a representative of something called the Texas Space Alliance during the cheerleading session (the FAA hearing on the EIS) for SpaceX oh so

long ago has spun out of control into Elon Musk's Explore-Mars-From Boca Chica-Pie-in-the -Sky.

Bob Lamcaster, the president of the Alliance said during that hearing that Musk will send men to the moon from Boca Chica, to Mars and beyond, to quote Buzz Lightyear.
"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.

In fact, the space launches that were set to begin in 2013 have been delayed going on four years now. In between we've seen the stop-and-start efforts of Musk's SpaceX to become a dependable launch and delivery vehicle just to resupply the International Space Station.

But SpaceX isn't using the Boca Chica site for any of that. In fact, all the launches envisioned from there are limited commercial payloads (communications, weather satellites, etc.) for private customers that could include foreign states or other businesses, not for NASA.

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.

Is this why the land development company associated with SpaceX is called Dogleg LTD, because of the engineering maneuver needed to get it at the right angle?

This did not stop Brownsville Economic Development Council's VP Gilbert Salinas from repeating this impossibility as an opportunity for Brownsville to send off astronauts from Boca Chica.
"Musk," a Herald article at the time stated, "whose dreams of space flight were inspired by the 'Star Wars'films, is not content to merely shoot satellites into space and supply space stations. His goal, according to the company, is to “revolutionize space transportation and ultimately make it possible for people to live on other planets.”
"Now that the shuttle program is history and the way has been cleared for private space transport — with SpaceX leading the way — NASA has more time to spend on exploring Mars and beyond.
“What’s funny is that Elon Musk wants to do the same thing,” Salinas said. “It’s just a matter of who you think is going to get there first. Imagine, if we could do that from here.”

From Boca Chica Beach to Mars? Please explain how. If and when their EIS is approved, the 12 launches noted above for NASA and the ISS will not take off from here. In fact, SpaceX has repeated its plans for those 12 flights more than once.

Musk, in a presentation Tuesday at the International Aeronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, laid out plans for development of a space vehicle capable of getting humans to the red planet in sufficient numbers to colonize it, build a city and create a self-sustaining civilization.

“Ultimately I suspect that you’d see Mars transit times as little as 30 days in the more distant future,” he said. “That’s fairly manageable, considering in the old days people used to routinely take sailing voyages of six months or more.”

Well, let's take one claim at a time.
With the coming of SpaceX, hundreds of papita-paying jobs will rain from the sky.
Fernando Del Valle
Valley Morning Star
"The company’s decision to launch from Boca Chica would create as many as 600 jobs, largely engineering positions with an average annual salary of $70,000. And spinoff development could create some 400 jobs in construction and logistics."
Brownsville Herald
"If SpaceX does locate in Cameron County, the base $80 million capital investment also would bring about 600 jobs, with a minimum annual salary of $55,000, according to BEDC. It is not certain how many of those jobs would be hired locally, but estimates have ranged from 200 to 300."
"BEDC cites a potential annual payroll here of about $71 million".

EIS SpaceX submitted to the FAA:
Approximately 30 full-time SpaceX employees/contractors would be present at the vertical launch area and/or control center area in 2013 (2015? now?)... During a launch campaign, an additional 100 local or transient workers would be working at the vertical launch area and/or control center area. During launch campaigns, the additional workers could work extended hours; however, 2 days prior to launch, full-time SpaceX employees/contractors and the local or transient workers would need to be on-site for up to 24 hours per day. Staffing on-site would return to normal levels (approximately 30 full-time SpaceX employees/contractors) within a day or two after the actual launch. 
Table 2.1-2 shows the number of full-time SpaceX employees/contractors working on site plus the local/transient workers necessary during launch campaigns that would be present between 2013 and 2022.
Table 2.1-2. Personnel for Proposed SpaceX Texas Launch Site Operations

Year                      Full-time SpaceX                                   Full-time SpaceX
                            Employees/Contractors                           Employees/Contractors plus
                               Working On-Site                           Additional Local/Transient Workers
                                                                                         during Launch Campaigns

2013                                          30                                                       130
2014                                          75                                                       175
2015                                         100                                                      200
2016                                         100                                                      200
2017                                         110                                                      210
2018                                         130                                                      230
2019                                         150                                                      250
2020                                         150                                                      250
2021                                         150                                                      250
2022                                         150                                                      250

"Optimistically, Musk says, we could be sending the first humans to Mars in a decade. In reality, SpaceX has not yet sent a single human into orbit or a single robotic spacecraft to Mars. Its rockets are still blowing up occasionally for reasons unknown, and its CEO is notoriously bad at meeting deadlines."

http://gizmodo.com/how-crazy-is-elon-musk-s-mission-to-mars-1787146369

SpaceX promised to start launching from Boca Chica in 2013. We're well into the end of 2016 and nothing yet. Now Musk is hyping manned space travel to Mars when not one measly communication satellite has ever taken off from the beach. The red planet seems to be father and father away.