SpaceX Starship - Starbase, TX (Boca Chica) - Launch Viewing

[Llian Rhydderch]

My wife and I have also been looking into making this stop in a couple weeks, as part of a larger road trip. We understand that this may coincide with major access closures as we progress deeper into more advanced tests, which is totally fine, as we would also like to visit the nearby wildlife reserve.

We would like to be respectful to both the residents and to the rules around the sites, and want to clarify:

Where is it okay to stop? I'm familiar with the overview of the area, and the positions from which photos and streams are conducted. Can anybody stop in those locations, or is there a special relationship with the residents/streamers and SpaceX security?

Can you get stuck on the wrong side of a road block? Clearly, we would not want to venture in advance of a listed closure, but for example, if they are moving something to and from the pad from the build site, will they give warning to the beachgoers, or should you be prepared to wait?

Are there any businesses along the (island? isthmus? highway 4), which would appreciate patronage?

What's the deal with South Padre Island? If there is say, a vehicle heading to 20K that day, is that the place to stay? If not, is it worth an overnight there, or should we just stay in Brownsville?

What kind of snacks, supplies, or sundries would be appreciated by the people sitting out in the sun all day providing coverage?

I decided to take a little visit to Boca Chica.  Driving down; will hit the launch site and build sites tomorrow.  Beach walks, both up north, and down to the Rio Grande, on other good weather days.  Will check out South Padre Island while I'm at it, and the greater Brownsville area of the RGV. 

Thanks for the advice and ideas everyone!

How was your charging experience? Anything we should be aware of?

Hope to get to see this stuff in person.

I've written you a PM.

As for Tesla charging infrastructure that is available to the public, that is quite limited.  There are a number of destination chargers in Brownsville (Plug Share has them and is pretty up to date if you read the comments).

South Padre has a three-unit (two working) Supercharger; plus several destination chargers.

I used a little of all three of those on my trip.  If you are staying in a hotel, I'd recommend just staying at one of the locations with a Tesla destination charger.

The new Supercharger for Brownsville (slated for the HEB Plus supermarket on Reuben Torres) had not even broken ground when I checked it in late September; but Tesla is still showing it on a 2020 list of new Superchargers this year.

[Nomadd]

 Anybody visiting the site this month can have the wonderful experience of walking on a beach carpeted with thousands of dead Moon Jellyfish.

[Johnnyhinbos]

Anybody visiting the site this month can have the wonderful experience of walking on a beach carpeted with thousands of dead Moon Jellyfish.

Apropos...

[Nomadd]

Anybody visiting the site this month can have the wonderful experience of walking on a beach carpeted with thousands of dead Moon Jellyfish.

Apropos...

Why can't you be like the other kids?

[zubenelgenubi]

Title updated, moved to SS/SH sub-forum, unlocked, and bumped.

[Alvian@IDN]

[PuterSaurus]

Joined this forum for this discussion.  Thank you.

I will be in the Brownsville area on Sunday (Jan 24, 2021) and would like to do a drive to any part of the SpaceX site I can get close to for pics.  Is this possible? and what recommendations would you have?  Route/roads? 

Thanks so much in advance.

[loekf]

Joined this forum for this discussion.  Thank you.

I will be in the Brownsville area on Sunday (Jan 24, 2021) and would like to do a drive to any part of the SpaceX site I can get close to for pics.  Is this possible? and what recommendations would you have?  Route/roads? 

Thanks so much in advance.

Check the Youtube movie of Tim (everydayastronaut), which was streaming live from his Model 3 last sunday. Think you get pretty much an idea where to go and where to stop. You can only stop at one side of the road safely. It's a HW, so 55 MPH max.

Only do not drive to the beach !!!! He had an accident (minor) with an idiot in a pick-up truck who came driving up from the beach.

[quagmire]

Joined this forum for this discussion.  Thank you.

I will be in the Brownsville area on Sunday (Jan 24, 2021) and would like to do a drive to any part of the SpaceX site I can get close to for pics.  Is this possible? and what recommendations would you have?  Route/roads? 

Thanks so much in advance.

Check the Youtube movie of Tim (everydayastronaut), which was streaming live from his Model 3 last sunday. Think you get pretty much an idea where to go and where to stop. You can only stop at one side of the road safely. It's a HW, so 55 MPH max.

Only do not drive to the beach !!!! He had an accident (minor) with an idiot in a pick-up truck who came driving up from the beach.

That video was super helpful since I was in the area today as well. Though when I got to the parking area by the entrance to the launch site where he parked, there was a security guy that was staring at us when we parked and began to radio someone so decided to drive off.

But it was an incredible experience to see SN9, Hoppy, SN10, and SN5.

[Mandella]

Going to post a link since, even with all the 3D models and pictures and videos, watching Tim's short drive is the first time it all came together for me. I hope to get out there and see it for myself sometime before it all blows up.*



Due warning in that the video is really choppy due to the bad cell coverage. I think he intends to clean it up and repost it, but has had a bit of a busy week and hasn't gotten around to it yet.

*Er, I mean "blows up" as in too popular and busy to have a casual drive through, not in the explody sense...

[Zed_Noir]

Update on the 8 stall V3 (250kW) Supercharger located at the HEB + grocery store at 2155 Paredes Line Road.

Apparently the Brownsville Supercharger is operational according to the supercharger dot info website.

There is a post on the supercharger-brownsville-tx thread on the teslamotorsclub dot com website with photo of Teslas charging at the Brownsville Supercharger. See post #86.

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/supercharger-brownsville-tx.185875/page-5

[brianmat]

I had asked this on Discord and searched the forums and I couldn't find a good list of tips/info for first-time visitors to Starbase.  We're headed there in November and I want to get some things planned out.

Hopefully, others who have visited and current area residents can drop some sone info in here.

Particularly I am looking for things such as:

- Best viewing spots for SN15/SN16.  How close can you expect to get?

- Tips to be respectful of SpaceX - good parking areas, things to avoid, etc.  I don't want to park somewhere just because I see other cars.  I'd rather be in a good spot that doesn't get in the way.  I want to make sure I'm a good space tourist since this level of access with SpaceX isn't something you can get with any other company.

- Places to eat.  Where are the best tacos (obviously) and where is a good spot where the locals hang out? 

- Places to stay
It seems The Pearl is the best place to stay if you want a view of the launch complex, but what are some other recommendations for the space nerds?

- Car rental.  Hertz is closed on Sundays and Budget, Enterprise close at 5 on Sunday.

- Other things to see in the area.  I am traveling with my SO, so what other things are there to do for our more than patient but not nearly as nerdy as us companions?  We're looking at a few day cruises and would like some suggestions.

Tripadvisor is a good option, but I would like to get more thoughts from the like-minded space community.

If I am missing a current thread please slap my hand and point me in the right direction.  I sure couldn't find it if it's there.

[sanman]

I'd been reading about the Rocket Ranch, which started as a campsite and has been growing and evolving for the past year-and-a-half:




I wonder what its total capacity is now? It's interesting to see these sites spontaneously popping up, and hopefully Boca Chica will remain a spaceport for a long time to come, even after the offshore launch platforms have been operationalized.

[Elvis in Space]

I'd been reading about the Rocket Ranch, which started as a campsite and has been growing and evolving for the past year-and-a-half:




I wonder what its total capacity is now? It's interesting to see these sites spontaneously popping up, and hopefully Boca Chica will remain a spaceport for a long time to come, even after the offshore launch platforms have been operationalized.

I studied their website for a while and I don't have a problem with Spartan accommodation so it looks worth a visit. Time permitting I may at least check it out. Thanks.

[Elvis in Space]

I finally made it to Boca Chica today. Not much of a technical nature that I can discuss that hasn't been brought up in other forums many times. Best thing I have to offer is a little mention of the atmosphere which is kind of a "wild west frontier shipyard of the future." I was running up and down the road taking pictures and chatting with folks out there doing much the same. It was great to be able to get the actual layout right in front of me so all the photos and maps now make a lot more sense.

The biggest activity I could see was a relentless stream of tankers unloading LOX and liquid nitrogen. I probably saw two dozen during my time there and as many as five trucks unloading at one time. It appeared that they also were near complete with the rigging of Elon's new crane. I work in a chemical plant and I'm not unaccustomed to work like this going on but level of activity was ten times greater than anything I've seen before.

[gemmy0I]

The biggest activity I could see was a relentless stream of tankers unloading LOX and liquid nitrogen. I probably saw two dozen during my time there and as many as five trucks unloading at one time. It appeared that they also were near complete with the rigging of Elon's new crane. I work in a chemical plant and I'm not unaccustomed to work like this going on but level of activity was ten times greater than anything I've seen before.

I've noticed (both in these pictures and others) that the trucks pulling the cryo tanker trailers are invariably outfitted with sleeper cabs rather than day cabs. Does anyone know how far away they're bringing the cryogenics in from?

Given the widespread demand for LOX and LN2 in e.g. hospitals, industrial settings, etc., I'd have expected both to be sourceable locally from Brownsville. Ditto for LNG; from what I've read, it's not super common to have any liquid/gas petroleum products trucked long-distance because pipelines are far, far cheaper, so the trucks are just doing "last-mile" delivery. (Even when a pipeline isn't available, usually rail transport is used to get it as close as possible to the destination, because it's still massively cheaper than driving it one truckload at a time.) Given that the area has a long history of oil and gas development it would very much surprise me if there wasn't a pipeline/storage point in Brownsville that the trucks could pick up from and do short hauls to Starbase. (I know there was talk about a big LNG terminal going in at the Port of Brownsville, but I don't recall if it's operational yet.) Anywhere in the Brownsville area should surely be close enough that drivers based there could be home by end of shift, i.e. not need sleeper cabs for deliveries to Starbase.

Perhaps others with more knowledge of the industry and its norms can shed some light on this?

[danneely]

The biggest activity I could see was a relentless stream of tankers unloading LOX and liquid nitrogen. I probably saw two dozen during my time there and as many as five trucks unloading at one time. It appeared that they also were near complete with the rigging of Elon's new crane. I work in a chemical plant and I'm not unaccustomed to work like this going on but level of activity was ten times greater than anything I've seen before.

I've noticed (both in these pictures and others) that the trucks pulling the cryo tanker trailers are invariably outfitted with sleeper cabs rather than day cabs. Does anyone know how far away they're bringing the cryogenics in from?

Given the widespread demand for LOX and LN2 in e.g. hospitals, industrial settings, etc., I'd have expected both to be sourceable locally from Brownsville. Ditto for LNG; from what I've read, it's not super common to have any liquid/gas petroleum products trucked long-distance because pipelines are far, far cheaper, so the trucks are just doing "last-mile" delivery. (Even when a pipeline isn't available, usually rail transport is used to get it as close as possible to the destination, because it's still massively cheaper than driving it one truckload at a time.) Given that the area has a long history of oil and gas development it would very much surprise me if there wasn't a pipeline/storage point in Brownsville that the trucks could pick up from and do short hauls to Starbase. (I know there was talk about a big LNG terminal going in at the Port of Brownsville, but I don't recall if it's operational yet.) Anywhere in the Brownsville area should surely be close enough that drivers based there could be home by end of shift, i.e. not need sleeper cabs for deliveries to Starbase.

Perhaps others with more knowledge of the industry and its norms can shed some light on this?

Liquid gas is widely available so I'd be surprised if it's being hauled very long distances.  If Starship needs purer methane than the chemical industry does that might need to be long haul from a specialty supplier; but the image above is LOX trucks.  The only thing that occurs to me is that since the tankers normally only drive short distances and spend a lot of time parked un/loading the operators might buy used trucks that have been used long enough that they're not up to doing a thousand miles/day anymore but 100-200/day is still doable without pushing the maintenance too hard.

[Tywin]

Hi, sorry to open this thread, if it's not the right place you can move it, but I would like advice from people who have been to Starbase, to know what they recommend, places to stay, where to watch a launch, etc...

[CorvusCorax]

With the upcoming launch, it seems there are increasing question where and how to best view launches in Texas. Maybe it's time to start a dedicated thread for this, now that there will be missions from there soon.

From what I heard, the best viewing will be from South Padre Island.

Boca Chica Village and Starbase will be within the evacuation zone, and viewing from the facilities there (Stargate, etc..) won't be possible for visitors (or even residents). The best view should be from across the water, especially with launches of vehicles the size of Starship.

[russianhalo117]

This thread should probably remain locked until SpaceX has a launch site in Texas.

Title updated, moved to SS/SH sub-forum, unlocked, and bumped.

This thread has now met the requirements previously imposed in 2018. The thread title has been updated to reflect the sites current company town name.