Author Topic: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities  (Read 93622 times)

Offline RedLineTrain

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SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« on: 06/24/2016 08:01 pm »
Even though Musk said some time ago that they were growing "like the borg" in Hawthorne, I was surprised to see the following thread on Reddit (in a round-about way via a link in the FH thread).

Quote
[–]spxspxspx 3 points 1 month ago
the hawthorne facility is growing also. they are getting more and more buildings on Jack Northrop. Eventually, they will take over the triumph buildings(already took over 4-5 i believe)
permalinkembed
[–]em-powerex-SpaceX 5 points 1 month ago
they took over the triumph buildings over a year ago already, but they're not being fully utilized just yet. they have PLENTY room to grow still in that location.
permalinkembedparent
[–]spxspxspx 2 points 1 month ago
not all the triumph buildings yet. Just a few.
permalinkembedparent

Here is a collation of the subsequent research that I did on the facility.  If you have any corrections or additions, I would appreciate them.  It would be nice to see some internal pictures of the Triumph facility, if you can find them.  There are many pictures on the internet of a Triumph facility making wing sections, but I am not sure that they are of Triumph's Hawthorne facility.

According to the LA County Property Assessment Information System, there are five main Triumph buildings on the corner of Jack Northrop Ave. and Prairie Ave., comprising about one million square feet of floor space (~800,000 square feet footprint) on 34 acres of land.  The main building has about 700,000 square feet of floor space (compare to SpaceX HQ building of about 500,000 square feet before recent additions).

For decades, the facility made Boeing 747 parts (as had the SpaceX HQ building before SpaceX moved in).  In the past few years, it has made fuselage sections.  However, last year, Triumph announced that it was giving up the contract because of several reductions in 747 build rates.  See Seattle Times article.  Assuming that Triumph chooses not to produce something else at the facility, SpaceX may be able to have the use of the facility in its entirety.

I wonder whether SpaceX eventually will occupy the whole block on Jack Northrop Ave. between Prairie Ave. and Crenshaw Blvd.  It is 84 acres of land, so, with the new parking garage across the street, it could be quite a sizable campus for being in the middle of a city.  It seemed unlikely that they could build a one-mile hyperloop test track along Jack Northrop Ave., but maybe they now have rights to that whole stretch.

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #1 on: 06/25/2016 06:54 pm »
Please provide a link, not just a quote!
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Offline mlow

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #2 on: 06/25/2016 07:16 pm »

Offline gongora

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #3 on: 06/25/2016 08:39 pm »
I posted this in another thread back in March, finally went back and got an actual link for it:
Daily Breeze: Hawthorne Mayor Alex Vargas denounces city past, looks to brighter future
Quote
Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, a rocket and spacecraft manufacturing and launching company that moved to Hawthorne in 2008, is growing so quickly that it bought and rented 29 buildings in the city. SpaceX also recently opened a new parking structure across from its headquarters near the Hawthorne airport on Crenshaw Boulevard.

Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #4 on: 06/26/2016 09:39 pm »
I count about 30 buildings on the block on Jack Northrop Ave. between Prairie Ave. and Crenshaw Blvd.  29 rented would just about take up all of them, including the seating store.

Please provide a link, not just a quote!

Thanks to mlow for posting a link.  But I vaguely recall that posting links to reddit was frowned-upon by Chris.  Am I recalling incorrectly?

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #5 on: 06/27/2016 04:47 am »
I count about 30 buildings on the block on Jack Northrop Ave. between Prairie Ave. and Crenshaw Blvd.  29 rented would just about take up all of them, including the seating store.

Please provide a link, not just a quote!

Thanks to mlow for posting a link.  But I vaguely recall that posting links to reddit was frowned-upon by Chris.  Am I recalling incorrectly?
If you're quoting reddit, you might as well link to it.
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To the maximum extent practicable, the Federal Government shall plan missions to accommodate the space transportation services capabilities of United States commercial providers. US law http://goo.gl/YZYNt0

Offline catdlr

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #6 on: 07/08/2016 02:09 am »
Expansion.....

Hawthorne-based SpaceX leases office space in Irvine

http://www.dailynews.com/business/20160707/hawthorne-based-spacex-leases-office-space-in-irvine

Quote
The company has signed a five-year lease for just under 8,000 square feet of “creative” office space in a newly renovated three-story building near Jamboree Road and Barranca Parkway in Irvine, according to the property’s manager, Wind Water Realty.

Quote
It’s unclear how many people will be working at the Irvine office or what they will be doing. But SpaceX is advertising three engineering positions for the Irvine office in its online job postings.

“They were looking for a contemporary office with easy access where their engineers can work from,” Ivana Chavarria, a Wind Water Realty marketing and public relations staffer, said in an email.

Location:
Geo_Tag....

« Last Edit: 07/08/2016 07:45 am by catdlr »
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Offline docmordrid

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #7 on: 07/08/2016 06:50 am »
Irvine? Isn't that where they were going to house the Broadcom chip workers they headhunted? Sounds like 'CommX' is ramping up.

Link....
« Last Edit: 07/08/2016 06:52 am by docmordrid »
DM

Offline Jarnis

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #8 on: 07/08/2016 06:54 am »
Irvine, CA is also a site of many large game developers (notably Blizzard Entertainment), which may be ripe ground for poaching recruiting more programmers.

Offline JamesH65

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #9 on: 07/08/2016 08:06 am »
Irvine, CA is also a site of many large game developers (notably Blizzard Entertainment), which may be ripe ground for poaching recruiting more programmers.

Irvine doesn't have a huge number of tech firms, so pickings are going to be fairly meagre. Broadcom are the biggest high tech place there by far. Cheaper than Silicon valley though!

Offline sfxtd

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #10 on: 07/08/2016 08:44 am »
U.C. Irvine is a good engineering school. Perhaps this is visibility and convenience for graduates and interns ready to be assimilated.

Offline Jarnis

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #11 on: 07/08/2016 09:54 am »
Irvine, CA is also a site of many large game developers (notably Blizzard Entertainment), which may be ripe ground for poaching recruiting more programmers.

Irvine doesn't have a huge number of tech firms, so pickings are going to be fairly meagre. Broadcom are the biggest high tech place there by far. Cheaper than Silicon valley though!

Blizzard Entertainment Irvine, CA office = 2620 highly skilled game developers ripe for the pickings :)

Offline JamesH65

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #12 on: 07/08/2016 10:41 am »
Irvine, CA is also a site of many large game developers (notably Blizzard Entertainment), which may be ripe ground for poaching recruiting more programmers.

Irvine doesn't have a huge number of tech firms, so pickings are going to be fairly meagre. Broadcom are the biggest high tech place there by far. Cheaper than Silicon valley though!

Blizzard Entertainment Irvine, CA office = 2620 highly skilled game developers ripe for the pickings :)

Game developer != embedded RF etc software engineer.

Although there would be a tiny amount of crossover, but these are VERY different industries. Sadly, the general public seems to think that all softies do the same thing.

Offline guckyfan

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #13 on: 07/08/2016 11:10 am »

Game developer != embedded RF etc software engineer.

Although there would be a tiny amount of crossover, but these are VERY different industries. Sadly, the general public seems to think that all softies do the same thing.

It was Elon Musk who has said, I believe in his Seattle speech, that he finds the best software developers in the gaming industry.

Offline rpapo

Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #14 on: 07/08/2016 11:26 am »

Game developer != embedded RF etc software engineer.

Although there would be a tiny amount of crossover, but these are VERY different industries. Sadly, the general public seems to think that all softies do the same thing.

It was Elon Musk who has said, I believe in his Seattle speech, that he finds the best software developers in the gaming industry.
There is a huge difference between your run-of-the-mill applications programming, and the sort of programming required for real-time, high performance applications.  Games happen to be of that sort, to a point.  But there is one HUGE difference between game programming and what is needed for rockets and cars: A mistake in a game is, at worst, a black eye or a monetary loss.  A mistake in vehicle systems programming, especially in high performance vehicles, can make the difference between life and death.

Games programming can provide you with the fundamental techniques, but not the proper discipline.
Following the space program since before Apollo 8.

Offline DanseMacabre

Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #15 on: 07/08/2016 11:46 am »

Game developer != embedded RF etc software engineer.

Although there would be a tiny amount of crossover, but these are VERY different industries. Sadly, the general public seems to think that all softies do the same thing.

It was Elon Musk who has said, I believe in his Seattle speech, that he finds the best software developers in the gaming industry.
There is a huge difference between your run-of-the-mill applications programming, and the sort of programming required for real-time, high performance applications.  Games happen to be of that sort, to a point.  But there is one HUGE difference between game programming and what is needed for rockets and cars: A mistake in a game is, at worst, a black eye or a monetary loss.  A mistake in vehicle systems programming, especially in high performance vehicles, can make the difference between life and death.

Games programming can provide you with the fundamental techniques, but not the proper discipline.

Not necessarily the case.

In aviation we're striving to be more agile and flexible with regards to developing our high design assurance software in order to respond to pressure to be more cheaper, efficient and profitable.

The "proper discipline" of aviation is slow, expensive and cumbersome.

Honestly - external programmers who haven't worked in high Assurance projects are bringing THEIR proper discipline in, not the other way around.

Offline WBY1984

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #16 on: 07/08/2016 11:47 am »
Speaking as someone who has worked in the games industry (Don't do it youngsters, keep persevering with your STEM subjects!), you won't find many people, if any, who has the calibre to work in aerospace. You can discount all of the art team (where I worked), since we're generally not that academically gifted. In fact by percentage of employees, the coders don't make up a huge portion of the company, perhaps 30-40%. Most of them won't want to be poached by SpaceX, and likewise, most wouldn't be suitable.
« Last Edit: 07/08/2016 11:48 am by WBY1984 »

Offline JamesH65

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #17 on: 07/08/2016 12:33 pm »

Game developer != embedded RF etc software engineer.

Although there would be a tiny amount of crossover, but these are VERY different industries. Sadly, the general public seems to think that all softies do the same thing.

It was Elon Musk who has said, I believe in his Seattle speech, that he finds the best software developers in the gaming industry.

If this were the case (in this situation), then SpaceX would have 'poached'* from Blizzard, not Broadcom.

* I don't believe these guys were poached, since Broadcom were going to get rid of them anyway. I worked for Broadcom till about two years ago, that might be relevant!

Offline sghill

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #18 on: 07/08/2016 12:54 pm »
These may be "quality of life" software packages they are developing for the various Mars colony systems and not software packages for controlling rockets or satellites.  Game interfaces have the quality of being learnable by nearly everyone and having varying "difficulty" levels where the computer makes increasingly complex decisions on its own to accommodate newbie users.

A Mars colony cannot have a mission control-led architecture where decisions are made by experts on Earth and sent up to the various spacecraft. Because of both the time delay, and the increasing complexity of the colony and its systems over time, non-experts will have to make real time command decisions and be in on the decision-making loop (otherwise, just send robots).  Eventually, this work was  going to have to be done, and IMHO, we may be seeing the start of that effort.

Some possible applications where game designers have advantages over aerospace programmers that immediately jump to mind are:

1) The need for non subject matter experts to operate environmental control systems on the MCT and on the surface colony.
2) The need to operate vehicles and other remote devices by non-experts.
3) The need for training across various life support and ISRU production systems.
4) The need to collectively engage/entertain the colonists during their journey and while on the surface. 


All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy...
« Last Edit: 07/08/2016 05:05 pm by sghill »
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Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #19 on: 01/25/2017 02:51 pm »
I notice that in Google Maps, the building that is catercorner to HQ and South of the new parking garage is labeled as "SpaceX Tooling."  30,000 square feet.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/SpaceX/@33.920291,-118.3263875,18z/

Also, this morning Musk said on Twitter that construction would begin on a tunnel across from his office.  My guess is that is a pedestrian tunnel under Crenshaw from the parking garage to the HQ building.  I guess we will see.

Quote from: Twitter
Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk  7 hours ago
More Exciting progress on the tunnel front. Plan to start digging in a month or so. -link-
Quote from: Twitter
Clay Ellis ‏@clay_ellis  7 hours ago
 @elonmusk So you were serious? Like seriously serious? -link-
Quote from: Twitter
Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk  7 hours ago
@clay_ellis Yup -link-
Quote from: Twitter
Walter Simson ‏@_wsimson  7 hours ago
 @elonmusk where will your tunnel be? -link-
Quote from: Twitter
Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk  7 hours ago
@_wsimson Starting across from my desk at SpaceX. Crenshaw and the 105 Freeway, which is 5 mins from LAX -link-
« Last Edit: 01/25/2017 02:59 pm by RedLineTrain »

Offline mme

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #20 on: 01/25/2017 02:54 pm »
I notice that in Google Maps, the building that is catercorner to HQ and South of the new parking garage is labeled as "SpaceX Tooling."

https://www.google.com/maps/place/SpaceX/@33.920291,-118.3263875,18z/

Also, this morning Musk said on Twitter that construction would begin on a tunnel across from his office.  My guess is that is a pedestrian tunnel under Crenshaw from the parking garage to the HQ building.  I guess we will see.

Quote from: Twitter
Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk  7 hours ago
More Exciting progress on the tunnel front. Plan to start digging in a month or so.
Quote from: Twitter
Clay Ellis ‏@clay_ellis  7 hours ago
 @elonmusk So you were serious? Like seriously serious?
Quote from: Twitter
Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk  7 hours ago
@clay_ellis Yup
Quote from: Twitter
Walter Simson ‏@_wsimson  7 hours ago
 @elonmusk where will your tunnel be?
Quote from: Twitter
Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk  7 hours ago
@_wsimson Starting across from my desk at SpaceX. Crenshaw and the 105 Freeway, which is 5 mins from LAX
And I thought the whole tunnel thing was a joke.
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Offline Brovane

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #21 on: 01/25/2017 03:05 pm »
I notice that in Google Maps, the building that is catercorner to HQ and South of the new parking garage is labeled as "SpaceX Tooling."  30,000 square feet.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/SpaceX/@33.920291,-118.3263875,18z/

Also, this morning Musk said on Twitter that construction would begin on a tunnel across from his office.  My guess is that is a pedestrian tunnel under Crenshaw from the parking garage to the HQ building.  I guess we will see.

Quote from: Twitter
Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk  7 hours ago
More Exciting progress on the tunnel front. Plan to start digging in a month or so. -link-
Quote from: Twitter
Clay Ellis ‏@clay_ellis  7 hours ago
 @elonmusk So you were serious? Like seriously serious? -link-
Quote from: Twitter
Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk  7 hours ago
@clay_ellis Yup -link-
Quote from: Twitter
Walter Simson ‏@_wsimson  7 hours ago
 @elonmusk where will your tunnel be? -link-
Quote from: Twitter
Elon Musk ‏@elonmusk  7 hours ago
@_wsimson Starting across from my desk at SpaceX. Crenshaw and the 105 Freeway, which is 5 mins from LAX -link-

Well of course Musk will need a tunnel to connect to his underground HQ for world domination.   8)
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Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #22 on: 01/25/2017 03:17 pm »
Well, how otherwise would he get the big spaceship from the factory to the docks?  ;D
« Last Edit: 01/25/2017 03:17 pm by RedLineTrain »

Offline ShawnGSE

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #23 on: 01/26/2017 12:21 am »
Ironically enough I was working in the Triumph Hawthorne facility as a tooling contractor when I got my call from SpaceX.  But instead of wanting me to work next door I had to pack my family and move to Florida to start work on 39A. 

Elon definitely wants the entire facility and the Triumph footprint is still sizable.  Rumor from the guys I was working with is SpaceX actually offered a pretty substantial move bonus.  Triumph has been downsizing and closing facilities over the last few years so I have no doubt Elon will eventually get his wish. 

Offline Jdeshetler

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #24 on: 01/26/2017 03:59 am »
This photo show that the SpaceX parking structure was originally planned to have a walk bridge over Crenshaw but they may have decided that the first returned F9 1st stage is too good to passed up as a trophy so they had to settle for tunnel instead?

Offline Elvis in Space

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #25 on: 01/26/2017 02:48 pm »
This photo show that the SpaceX parking structure was originally planned to have a walk bridge over Crenshaw but they may have decided that the first returned F9 1st stage is too good to passed up as a trophy so they had to settle for tunnel instead?

Maybe as the crow flies but I'm sure it would be easier to divert an overhead walkway around the trophy rocket than dig a tunnel. I think Elon is serious about the tunnel business.
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Offline Lar

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #26 on: 01/26/2017 09:55 pm »
This photo show that the SpaceX parking structure was originally planned to have a walk bridge over Crenshaw but they may have decided that the first returned F9 1st stage is too good to passed up as a trophy so they had to settle for tunnel instead?

Maybe as the crow flies but I'm sure it would be easier to divert an overhead walkway around the trophy rocket than dig a tunnel. I think Elon is serious about the tunnel business.

See also http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=42143
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Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #27 on: 06/16/2017 10:24 pm »
Amazing what you can find while "driving around" in Google Maps.  Sometime before mid-last year, SpaceX borged a facility of about 110,000 square feet on W. El Segundo Blvd.

Offline Scylla

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #28 on: 06/16/2017 10:30 pm »
Short flight through factory from Elon on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVarZZSgfIP/
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Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #29 on: 06/16/2017 10:41 pm »
And a 95,000 square foot facilty on Cerise.

Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #30 on: 06/16/2017 11:04 pm »
Lastly, I noticed that part of the Triumph property is now signed as "SpaceX West Campus."

Triumph is now down to 300 employees at the factory...

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-747-future-20170306-story.html
« Last Edit: 06/16/2017 11:23 pm by RedLineTrain »

Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #31 on: 06/16/2017 11:15 pm »
Short flight through factory from Elon on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVarZZSgfIP/

Interesting that you can see a used booster on the factory floor.

Offline AncientU

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #32 on: 06/16/2017 11:26 pm »
Short flight through factory from Elon on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVarZZSgfIP/

Interesting that you can see a used booster on the factory floor.

Think it might be being modified to be a FH side booster.
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Offline Zucal

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #33 on: 06/16/2017 11:45 pm »
Footage is old - several months at least. Flown core is 1023 back when it was being refurbed for a Falcon Heavy side core. That's why the octaweb is missing.

Offline BobHk

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #34 on: 06/17/2017 01:49 am »
Well, how otherwise would he get the big spaceship from the factory to the docks?  ;D

To serve man, you mean?

Has anyone been farming the CAD (county tax) files for purchases of land around the facilities?

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #35 on: 06/17/2017 05:39 am »
Short flight through factory from Elon on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVarZZSgfIP/

Video attached.

Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #36 on: 06/17/2017 04:18 pm »
Has anyone been farming the CAD (county tax) files for purchases of land around the facilities?

The county tax information is available online.  However, as I understand it, the county ownership information is not online.  You would have to go to the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's office in Norwalk.

Edit:  Rather, the database is online.  How about that. I had searched for it several times before but did not find it until today.  Lots of fascinating stuff, such as an easement (first three pages) from the City of Hawthorne for a pedestrian bridge over Crenshaw Blvd.  But it is hit-and-miss on the actual ownership information.
« Last Edit: 06/19/2017 02:07 pm by RedLineTrain »

Offline intrepidpursuit

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #37 on: 06/18/2017 03:59 pm »
Couldn't that be CRS-9 being retrofitted? We haven't seen it being transported but it must be in work already.

Offline old_sellsword

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #38 on: 06/18/2017 04:50 pm »
Couldn't that be CRS-9 being retrofitted? We haven't seen it being transported but it must be in work already.

No, CRS-9 stayed at the Cape.

Offline deruch

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #39 on: 06/18/2017 11:50 pm »
Is there any chance that one of the more graphically gifted NSFers would be willing to create a map of SpaceX's Hawthorne footprint similar to what DaveG has done for Boca Chica properties in TX? 
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Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #40 on: 06/19/2017 02:47 am »
Is there any chance that one of the more graphically gifted NSFers would be willing to create a map of SpaceX's Hawthorne footprint similar to what DaveG has done for Boca Chica properties in TX?

Incidentally, @Raul here at NSF has put together a Google Maps of SpaceX facilities.  It has the two facilities that I mentioned above, so it's probably pretty comprehensive.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1wvgFIPuOmI8da9EIB88tHo9vamo&hl

Offline Roy_H

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #41 on: 06/19/2017 08:20 pm »
This photo show that the SpaceX parking structure was originally planned to have a walk bridge over Crenshaw but they may have decided that the first returned F9 1st stage is too good to passed up as a trophy so they had to settle for tunnel instead?

AIUI SpaceX applied for a permit to build the overhead walkway but it was denied by the city.
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Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #42 on: 06/19/2017 09:27 pm »
This photo show that the SpaceX parking structure was originally planned to have a walk bridge over Crenshaw but they may have decided that the first returned F9 1st stage is too good to passed up as a trophy so they had to settle for tunnel instead?

AIUI SpaceX applied for a permit to build the overhead walkway but it was denied by the city.

That's odd.  Why would Hawthorne grant the easement and then not issue a permit?

Offline CuddlyRocket

Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #43 on: 06/20/2017 03:52 am »
That's odd.  Why would Hawthorne grant the easement and then not issue a permit?

Concerns over the precise design (including materials, appearance, height above the ground); positioning; method of construction (including length of any road closures) or objections from third parties for some reason. Etc, etc.

Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #44 on: 08/16/2017 07:46 pm »
The Boring Company moving from Hawthorne to Torrance?  SpaceX satellite division?

Quote
One longtime Torrance defense contractor is shedding almost 100 jobs, while a SpaceX spin-off that could create up to 300 jobs within three years is in talks to move to the South Bay’s largest city, company and municipal officials have confirmed.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/20170815/torrance-aerospace-company-cuts-nearly-100-jobs-spacex-startup-could-bring-200-workers-to-city

Offline Roy_H

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #45 on: 08/20/2017 03:05 pm »
The Boring Company moving from Hawthorne to Torrance?  SpaceX satellite division?

Quote
One longtime Torrance defense contractor is shedding almost 100 jobs, while a SpaceX spin-off that could create up to 300 jobs within three years is in talks to move to the South Bay’s largest city, company and municipal officials have confirmed.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/20170815/torrance-aerospace-company-cuts-nearly-100-jobs-spacex-startup-could-bring-200-workers-to-city

The article does not say it is a SpaceX spin-off, but a new start-up company founded by a former SpaceX employee.
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Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #46 on: 08/20/2017 08:15 pm »
The Boring Company moving from Hawthorne to Torrance?  SpaceX satellite division?

Quote
One longtime Torrance defense contractor is shedding almost 100 jobs, while a SpaceX spin-off that could create up to 300 jobs within three years is in talks to move to the South Bay’s largest city, company and municipal officials have confirmed.

http://www.dailybreeze.com/business/20170815/torrance-aerospace-company-cuts-nearly-100-jobs-spacex-startup-could-bring-200-workers-to-city

The article does not say it is a SpaceX spin-off, but a new start-up company founded by a former SpaceX employee.

The article was revised after I posted it.

Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #47 on: 03/22/2018 07:46 pm »
Quote
At its home base in Hawthorne, the rocket maker’s footprint has expanded to more than 30 buildings over nearly 1.7 million square feet.

Daily Breeze article about Ring moving to Hawthorne

Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #48 on: 05/09/2018 07:17 pm »
The Real Deal is reporting that SpaceX currently leases 350,000 square feet of the 1.4 million square-foot Triumph facility and that it will take over the remainder starting in 2020 on a 10-year lease.

Offline AncientU

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #49 on: 05/09/2018 08:38 pm »
So, with 1.7M ft2 already in Hawthorne, this additional million at Triumph facility and 200,000 at the port, SpaceX will have about 3M ft2 total in LA in 2020.  This is about the present size of Gigafactory 1 -- so we'll have a Rocket Gigafactory.  Michaud Facility is 1.87M ft2 BTW.
Impressive.
« Last Edit: 05/09/2018 08:49 pm by AncientU »
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Offline Cheapchips

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #50 on: 05/10/2018 02:38 pm »
So, with 1.7M ft2 already in Hawthorne, this additional million at Triumph facility and 200,000 at the port, SpaceX will have about 3M ft2 total in LA in 2020.  This is about the present size of Gigafactory 1 -- so we'll have a Rocket Gigafactory.  Michaud Facility is 1.87M ft2 BTW.
Impressive.

I hope we gain some insight into how the site is divided up as it grows.  Hawthorne is going to be an interesting mix of the F9 line and BFR components over the next decade.

Offline AncientU

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #51 on: 05/10/2018 03:01 pm »
So, with 1.7M ft2 already in Hawthorne, this additional million at Triumph facility and 200,000 at the port, SpaceX will have about 3M ft2 total in LA in 2020.  This is about the present size of Gigafactory 1 -- so we'll have a Rocket Gigafactory.  Michaud Facility is 1.87M ft2 BTW.
Impressive.

I hope we gain some insight into how the site is divided up as it grows.  Hawthorne is going to be an interesting mix of the F9 line and BFR components over the next decade.

This would be an excellent line of questioning for an article... facilities, functions, and staffing across the SpaceX complex (Hawthorne, the Port, Seattle, McGregor, the Cape, Vandenberg, Boca Chica, Bay Area, Washington DC, other?).  They are still hiring at a robust pace, and haven't gotten into the production flow on Starlink and its launch campaign yet. 
8,000 is approximate payroll IIRC; must have upwards of 3M ft2 overall already, with >1.2M ft2 being added over next couple years as discussed above.
« Last Edit: 05/10/2018 03:04 pm by AncientU »
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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #52 on: 05/10/2018 04:39 pm »
To help visualize posting these images. SpaceX has 3 facilities at Hawthorne, PLUS the Triumph Factory, which adds a huge capability to produce what ever it wants... or store whatever it wants... being next to an airport, can't hurt either...
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Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #53 on: 05/10/2018 05:54 pm »

Offline cro-magnon gramps

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #54 on: 05/10/2018 06:03 pm »
SpaceX has 3 facilities at Hawthorne

Actually, Space has 7 or 8 Hawthorne facilities, as Raul's awesome map shows.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1wvgFIPuOmI8da9EIB88tHo9vamo&hl&ll=33.91947680489818%2C-118.32983894988917&z=16
Thank you so very much for posting this... I had looked at his previous version up thread, but this is so much more detailed... excellent... Thank you to Raul for all his work in keeping this up to date...

Gramps...
Gramps "Earthling by Birth, Martian by the grace of The Elon." ~ "Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but it has not solved one yet." Maya Angelou ~ Tony Benn: "Hope is the fuel of progress and fear is the prison in which you put yourself."

Offline edkyle99

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #55 on: 09/14/2018 03:58 pm »
Visiting LA soon, and thought I might drop by to gawk at the displayed first stage.  Has anyone made this visit and might have some suggestions re:  parking, etc.?  I'll be there on a weekday afternoon.

Thanks!

Offline catdlr

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #56 on: 09/14/2018 04:00 pm »
Visiting LA soon, and thought I might drop by to gawk at the displayed first stage.  Has anyone made this visit and might have some suggestions re:  parking, etc.?  I'll be there on a weekday afternoon.

Thanks!

Depending on the time of day and day of the week, there's some street parking nearby, but I usually just park at Lowes and walkover.
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Offline tater

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #57 on: 09/14/2018 04:04 pm »
Visiting LA soon, and thought I might drop by to gawk at the displayed first stage.  Has anyone made this visit and might have some suggestions re:  parking, etc.?  I'll be there on a weekday afternoon.

Thanks!

I'll second the post just above. I rented a car at LAX a couple months ago, and stopped on the way out from the airport. I parked on the street just down the block (side street, not Crenshaw), and Lowes was literally across the street if that's too much trouble.

Totally worth the 5 minute side trip (there's an exit right there).

Offline whitelancer64

Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #58 on: 09/14/2018 04:18 pm »
Visiting LA soon, and thought I might drop by to gawk at the displayed first stage.  Has anyone made this visit and might have some suggestions re:  parking, etc.?  I'll be there on a weekday afternoon.

Thanks!

I went there randomly on a weekday and there was plenty of street parking just around the corner from it.

Pictures do not do it justice. It's well worth the experience seeing it in person!
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Offline edkyle99

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #59 on: 09/14/2018 04:21 pm »
Thanks everyone!  I'll try to take a few pics.

 - Ed Kyle

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #60 on: 09/14/2018 08:13 pm »
Thanks everyone!  I'll try to take a few pics.

 - Ed Kyle
Go down to the Port of LA to check out the BFS. I missed my opportunity to do that a couple days ago and regret it.

Also, you can see the Boring Company sort of from the Starbucks there. You can also check out the prototype hyperloop track.
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Offline edkyle99

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #61 on: 09/19/2018 03:52 pm »
B1019, the first landed orbital booster, stands at the corner of Crenshaw and Northrop in Hawthorne, California, two years and nine months after that landing.  They've landed 20 more stages since then, six of those twice.  It is hard for a space enthusiast to stand calmly at this intersection. 

I couldn't visit the Port, but I saw it from my window on my return flight.  If you know where to look, I think you can see JRTI, the BFR site, the Sea Launch fleet, and maybe even SpaceX Hawthorne in the distance.  And downtown LA, etc..

 - Ed Kyle

Offline oiorionsbelt

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #62 on: 09/19/2018 03:55 pm »
  It is hard for a space enthusiast to stand calmly at this intersection. 

 - Ed Kyle
I like this quote. :)

Offline gongora

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #63 on: 09/19/2018 04:01 pm »
  It is hard for a space enthusiast to stand calmly at this intersection. 

 - Ed Kyle

And this is a good reminder that just because one of your fellow space enthusiasts occasionally voices doubts about the SpaceX schedule announcements or is cautious about believing SpaceX has licked a problem before actually seeing proof that's true, it doesn't mean they hate SpaceX.
« Last Edit: 09/19/2018 04:02 pm by gongora »

Offline kevinof

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #64 on: 09/19/2018 04:19 pm »
yeah I had to read the post twice to make sure it was from Ed.

  It is hard for a space enthusiast to stand calmly at this intersection. 

 - Ed Kyle

And this is a good reminder that just because one of your fellow space enthusiasts occasionally voices doubts about the SpaceX schedule announcements or is cautious about believing SpaceX has licked a problem before actually seeing proof that's true, it doesn't mean they hate SpaceX.

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #65 on: 08/20/2019 05:28 pm »
Three years ago today:



Quote
First landed SpaceX Falcon 9 placed on display - August 20, 2016
Pauline Acalin

Published on 20 Aug 2019

The Falcon 9 B1019 launched on Dec 21, 2015 from Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex 40 in Florida, successfully delivering 11 ORBCOMM communications satellites to low-earth orbit. The first stage booster returned about 9 minutes 45 seconds after liftoff, landing triumphantly at SpaceX’s Landing Zone 1 (LZ-1) about 6 miles from the launch site, making it the world’s first orbital rocket to land back on Earth. On August 20, 2016, the booster was placed on permanent display at the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, CA.

This is a compilation of footage I captured that day.

Offline lonestriker

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #66 on: 08/26/2019 01:21 pm »
In the future, they'll have to make room to display the first SS that returns from the Moon or Mars  :)

Offline Zed_Noir

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #67 on: 08/26/2019 06:04 pm »
In the future, they'll have to make room to display the first SS that returns from the Moon or Mars  :)

After the fight to see who get to display SS and it's tourist dollars. Smithsonian, Kennedy visitor center, LAX, etc.

note - LAX display option since Hawthorne is a few kilometers from there.



Slightly OT. But don't want to start a new thread.

Wonder where they going to display the #dearmoon flyby SS? Guessing somewhere in the Greater Tokyo area.

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #68 on: 11/20/2019 06:03 am »
https://twitter.com/astrobehnken/status/1197027233501609984

Quote
Not the best picture, but still pretty cool to capture a double rainbow over the walkway to @SpaceX's parking garage (which looks suspiciously like the crew access arm on 39A at @NASAKennedy...)

Offline enbandi

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #69 on: 01/06/2020 08:19 am »
Mary's latest video clips!



An interesting cover picture in this vid from Boca Chica. The crate labeled HT17 which is the Hawthorne Cerise facility, we can assume now that is the Starship manufacturing site in Hawthorne.
Or one of the sites. The Jack Northrop 3301 (XBox) have some interesting equipment, (wax burnoff and iconel related furnaces) based on what I think Raptor production located there.
And If you chech the map, these two are quite close (opposite sides of Jack Northrop).

Edit: Regarding equipment, search here for "Space Exploration": https://xappprod.aqmd.gov/find//facility
« Last Edit: 01/06/2020 08:35 am by enbandi »

Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #70 on: 01/30/2020 08:31 pm »
Following up on this, on December 6, Triumph ceased operations in their Hawthorne facility.

On November 20, they held an auction of machinery from the plant, that included a lot of basic manufacturing items.  Wouldn't be surprised to learn that these were purchased by SpaceX.  For instance, seems possible that the Cincinnati press brake being delivered this month to Boca Chica was part of the auction.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/equipment--machinery-from-boeing-747-fuselage-manufacturing-facility-to-be-sold-in-auction-300950290.html

I assume that SpaceX is moving in shortly, if it has not already done so.  This is about 1 million square feet of additional factory space for SpaceX (the company already occupied about 350,000 square feet from this 1.4 million square foot property).  An enormous addition.
« Last Edit: 01/30/2020 08:36 pm by RedLineTrain »

Offline RedLineTrain

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #71 on: 01/30/2020 08:53 pm »
Here's an article from November that details the Boeing angle.  Bloomberg didn't mention the bigger news, that this was an underused facility by a Boeing supplier and that SpaceX was taking over the facility and presumably will use it fully.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-20/boeing-747-nears-end-of-line-as-triumph-shutters-storied-factory

And here's some background from 2018 on the sale of the property with the SpaceX 10-year lease.

https://therealdeal.com/la/2018/05/08/spacex-leased-industrial-complex-in-hawthorne-hitting-the-market-sources/
« Last Edit: 01/30/2020 08:55 pm by RedLineTrain »

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #72 on: 02/06/2020 06:59 am »
These were posted on Flickr years ago (2012) but just found them. Don’t recall seeing them on NSF before?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/49494866357/

Caption for first image attached:

Quote
The Apollo Astronauts Tribute to SpaceX and a Mars Mission
I gathered personalized tributes and signatures from the Apollo astronauts for a birthday gift to Elon back in 2012, just after SpaceX’s first successful mission to the ISS. But I worked on two posters in parallel — this smaller one faces me in my office (a highlight of the space collection at Future Ventures).
 
I just noticed that the original messages of congratulations from each astronaut differ across the posters, in a meaningful way!
 
Most presciently, David Scott — Commander of Apollo 15, and first to drive an EV on the moon — riffs on Neil Armstrong’s One Giant Leap with an eye to SpaceX leading us to Mars:
 
“The first leap of many giant steps to Mars!!! Onward!!!
— Dave Scott, Apollo 9 CMP, Apollo 15 Cmdr”
 
“CONGRATULATIONS
— Buzz Aldrin, Apollo XI”
 
“The beginning of an entirely new era.
— Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 LMP”
 
“A big first step and much luck on many more ahead!
— Fred Haise, Apollo 13 LMP”
 
“Congratulations on your success!
— Al Worden, Apollo 15”
 
“A big dream completed! Way to go!
— Charlie Duke, Apollo 16 LMP”
 
“We are excited to see your great success.
— Alan Bean, Apollo 12 LMP”
 
“Congratulations on a job well done…
— Gene Cernan, Apollo 17 & Apollo X
 
Charlie Duke and Al Bean, were effusive in their praise of SpaceX and the next generation of space explorers. Charlie Duke and Dave Scott were excited about a future mission to Mars.
 
Here is the larger one I gave to Elon for his birthday, and the backstory as to why.

Caption for second image attached:

Quote
The Apollo Astronauts Tribute to SpaceX
When I saw Elon Musk tear up on 60 Minutes facing the verbal assault from one of his heroes — Apollo astronaut Gene Cernan — I knew what I had to do.
 
It has taken a bit of effort over the past months, but today I gave this to Elon and all of the SpaceX team, and it was very well received. =)
 
This is the last photo, with my colleague Mohanjit Jolly, just before we gift-wrapped it.
 
The Apollo astronauts composed and signed the following tributes:
 
“And now, a giant leap for commercial space! Buzz Aldrin, Apollo XI”
 
“A real breakthrtough – much success on many flights to come! Fred Haise, Apollo 13 LMP”
 
“Congratulations! A big dream fulfilled! Charlie Duke, Apollo 16 LMP”
 
“We are so excited to see your great success in an endeavor that demands the very best from each member of the SpaceX team ☆ Alan Bean, Apollo 12 LMP”
 
“Congratuatlons on a job well done – now the challenge begins. Gene Cernan, Apollo 17 & Apollo X
 
“The first of the next giant leap… Dave Scott, Apollo 9 CMP”
 
“The beginning of an entirely new era! Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 LMP”
 
“Keep up the good work – Walt Cunningham, Apollo 7”
 
“Congratulations on your success! Al Worden, Apollo 15”
 
When I saw 60 Minutes, my first thought was to get Gene Cernan (the last man to walk on the moon) to visit SpaceX as Elon had implored. I have been buying space artifacts from Gene over the past year and knew how to reach him. I tried to encourage him to visit SpaceX, but to no avail. So I flew out to talk to him face to face. I waited until SpaceX became the first private company to bring a spacecraft back from orbit, and the first to bring cargo to the space station, and the first to bring science experiments back. I also gathered signatures and congratulatory sentiments from the other Apollo heroes first.
 
Some, like Charlie Duke and Al Bean, were effusive in their praise of SpaceX and the next generation of space explorers. Charlie Duke was excited about a future mission to Mars. Al Bean spent 20 minutes writing rough drafts and crafting each word of his message with the SpaceX team in mind.
 
Then I approached Gene Cernan, and held my breath. I figured it would be a bit more difficult to break from the social proof of his esteemed colleagues. And so he listened. As with every Apollo astronaut who signed this photo, I was able to talk about SpaceX and answer his questions. Gene was interested in who financed SpaceX — what big money interests got it going. I told him that Elon Musk personally financed the company for all of its first $100 million, when no one else would bet on the venture, and he saw it through thick and thin, including the first three launches of the Falcon 1, all of which failed spectacularly. As I told him these stories of heroic entrepreneurship, I could see his mind turning. He found a reconciliation: “I never read any of this in the news. Why doesn’t the press report on this?”
 
Cernan was the last hold out. Neil Armstrong wrote a strongly worded letter to 60 Minutes saying that he was taken out of context. The program editor agreed: "Armstrong wrote us to say we had not been complete in our description of his testimony. He's right.
 
Armstrong is, arguably, the greatest explorer of the 20th Century. I suspect he has admiration for anyone in science or business who sees new possibilities. He may not be confident in a particular federal policy, but I imagine Neil Armstrong stands squarely on the side of those who dare to dream."
— from the CBS Editors Blog
 
Well, it’s Nikola Tesla’s birthday today, and Elon Musk’s was a few days ago. It seems like a good time to raise a glass to those who think different.

Caption for third image attached:

Quote
and here it is near the entrance at SpaceX HQ

Offline enbandi

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #73 on: 05/21/2020 10:52 am »
Cross post from the Raptor production discussion: some new equipment in the X--Box for Raptor casting.

Who are intetested in, can found a similar equipment list for each HT facilities on the same page. And also a solid collection of the SpaceX Hawthorne facilities. (Search for facility, "Space Exploration")

Finally, I found what I waited for: they startrd to fill new registrations and apply for permits related to Raptor production equipment.

Based on that it seems like they started production scale up this march (building the equipment part, so actual Raptors from those are yet to come).

Source is this: https://xappprod.aqmd.gov/find//facility/AQMDsearch?facilityID=184509

Under the equipment, there is one new electric furnace and 3 wax burn off ovens. Those are for Raptor iconel casting. They started with one furnace and one oven in 2017, and gathered a new oven in 2018. This 1+3 are the only new units since than. (So no interim capacity enhancements, based on equipment)

Based on the adress the facility is the X-Box in Hawthorne. Minor details about equipment (type an manufacturer) should be in the documents, but those are a bit more tricky to obtain (not from mobile, I will add later if somebody interested in).

Edit to add: the Public Document search page for this agency is this. The F.I.N.D interface have an option to view permits also, but do not shows everything. Search for "permits to construct", "permits to operate" where facility name is "Space Exploration*".
« Last Edit: 05/21/2020 01:56 pm by enbandi »

Offline enbandi

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #74 on: 09/22/2020 03:40 pm »
The Cerise facility have been expanded to the South, with 2 more buildings (source: California SMARTS).
« Last Edit: 09/22/2020 03:52 pm by enbandi »

Offline su27k

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #75 on: 11/20/2020 04:46 am »
Some insider comments about SpaceX mission control room from reddit user kring44

Quote from: kring44
OK, I'm sure no one cares, but since you mentioned the control room...

* Elon didn't want to see computers, so we had to use mini desktops that are mounted on the underside of the table. Watch your knees.
* Wired keyboard and mice since you don't want to deal with dead batteries during a launch.
* We needed to use half-height PNY video cards to drive three monitors. Required weird breakout cables. (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/625342-REG/PNY_Technologies_030_0230_000_VHDCI_to_4x_DVI_D.html)
* Elon picked those monitors based on about 5 different ones I ordered. He picked the one with a weird resolution (I don't remember exactly). That resolution was different from just about every other monitor at SpaceX that ran the same software. Since the software doesn't resize with resolution we occasionally had to change the GUI to work in that room.
* The ceiling of this room is the floor of the 3rd floor. The 3rd floor used to be the garage, so every time someone drove their car the projectors would wobble.

Quote from: kring44
Quote from: NighthawkCP
AV/IT guy here. What projector(s) did ya'll use? One enormous one or several with edge blending? Are you using a commercial switching system to route video signals to it?

I don't know the models, I wasn't that involved.

I do know that the first projector setup was a single huge projector. It did not fill up the whole wall. See the first picture on this page. If I remember correctly, that projector was just a monitor connected to a machine in the closet somewhere. One of the operators would RDP into it and set up the windows before launch.

After that it was a set of four projectors with edge blending. I think they came with a PC as part of the package. I'm not sure how that one was controlled. I remember it has a video camera and would project patterns from the 4 projectors and then automatically adjust them to get a good image. As someone who isn't involved with video projectors, that seemed pretty cool.

edit: Just realized that you can see all 5 projectors in one of the images on that same page. The big one in the middle is still there, but not used. You can see the other four turned on.

Quote from: kring44
Quote from: yellekc
Quote from: kring44
That resolution was different from just about every other monitor at SpaceX that ran the same software. Since the software doesn't resize with resolution we occasionally had to change the GUI to work in that room.

Seems to follow some of the ISA 101 guidelines, using muted color pallets to prevent sensory overload.

Just curious, does SpsceX use an off the shelf commerical HMI system for the control room graphical displays or was that all custom software?

Look at some of the displays on this page and you might change your mind about following ISA 101 :)

Personally I wanted blacks & greys with dark greens/blues for nominal values. Yellow/orange/red for alerts. Basically, I wanted to be across the room and glance at a display and know that everything was OK if I didn't see yellow/orange/red. But we deferred a lot of decisions to the users who sometimes wanted a rainbow of colors.

We had standard display widgets, but I don't think anyone spent a lot of time looking at industrial standards. It was more a back and forth with the users. The developers of that software (Ground Software, GSW) were actually part of the launch/mission group and not the software group (Flight Software, FSW) for a long time. GSW was also one of the positions in the launch room and was manned by one of the GSW developers on launch day. They were heavy users of their own software so any bad GUI decisions affected them directly. Eat your own dogfood.

When I left there were over 100 instances of GSW running at SpaceX. Everything from small systems controlling an air conditioner from a single laptop to huge systems with dozens of redundant servers in multiple locations to control 39A. There was a lot of use and feedback, not just on launch days.

The majority of the displays in the control room were custom made by the GSW group in LabVIEW. There is a little bit on info in the old SpaceX Software AMA.

Quote from: kring44
Quote from: Astroteuthis
I can also guarantee you those desks are not cheap. Designing a control room and coming out with something that looks as clean as SpaceX’s is neither cheap nor easy.

I'm going to disagree. The legs were IKEA Galant T-Legs. The tabletops were custom built, but they were just particle board with a fiberboard white top. As cheap as you could get. If you look at the first picture from OP you can see a bunch of chips taken out of the front of the table by the chair arms. I think all the money for the control room was for the glass walls and the projectors.

Offline gsa

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #76 on: 11/25/2020 08:22 pm »
Hi. See attached images, red lines. What's that, just outside control room? Apparently, it's the same thing in motion.
Footage from Sentinel 6a launch.

Offline Kang54

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #77 on: 11/25/2020 08:35 pm »
It's a leg from a Falcon 9. There are a couple images of it here and here.
« Last Edit: 11/25/2020 08:38 pm by Kang54 »

Offline gsa

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #78 on: 11/25/2020 08:43 pm »
It's a leg from a Falcon 9. There are a couple images of it here and here.
Yes, I understand it's a leg. You imply, it's not attached to anything? Just a free-hanging leg?

Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #79 on: 11/25/2020 08:49 pm »
It's a leg from a Falcon 9. There are a couple images of it here and here.
Yes, I understand it's a leg. You imply, it's not attached to anything? Just a free-hanging leg?
That's the big question, a self closing leg would reduce a lot of time in processing. Odd place to test it though.

Offline dragon44

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #80 on: 11/25/2020 10:02 pm »
You can see a better image of the leg below. It's just attached to the wall as a display leg. I believe they can pull it up when they expect bunch of people to be outside the control room like launch day, etc.

[zubenelgenubi: Attach images.  Do not embed them.]
« Last Edit: 11/26/2020 12:25 am by zubenelgenubi »

Offline gsa

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #81 on: 11/26/2020 06:59 am »
You can see a better image of the leg below. It's just attached to the wall as a display leg. I believe they can pull it up when they expect bunch of people to be outside the control room like launch day, etc.
Oh, this image explains everything. Thanks!

Offline gongora

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Offline Crispy

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #83 on: 10/08/2021 07:48 am »
Looks like they're using it to make the cooling channels in Raptor nozzles, going by the picture in the press release.

Offline alugobi

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #84 on: 10/08/2021 03:49 pm »
From that article:

"Beaumont has built equipment as small as a phone booth..."

I'll bet that there are readers here who have never seen a phone booth. 

Offline Zed_Noir

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #85 on: 10/08/2021 11:50 pm »
From that article:

"Beaumont has built equipment as small as a phone booth..."

I'll bet that there are readers here who have never seen a phone booth.


But everyone has seen a Blue Tardis, which is based on a slightly oversize phone booth.  ;)

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #86 on: 02/11/2023 05:53 pm »
https://twitter.com/sciguyspace/status/1624470499404161025

Quote
A remarkable look inside SpaceX's (then relatively new) factory in Hawthorne in Nov. 2008, about two months after the first successful Falcon 1 launch. Photos by Dave Bullock, then shooting for Wired.

https://eecue.com/collections/albums_spacex

Photos can be downloaded for free for personal (non-commercial) use. Includes posting on social media. Licence details:

https://eecue.com/d/licensing-and-usage

A small subset of the images attached
« Last Edit: 02/11/2023 05:54 pm by FutureSpaceTourist »

Online FutureSpaceTourist

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #87 on: 07/09/2023 05:22 am »
https://twitter.com/w00ki33/status/1677817708543623169

Quote
Fresh coat in progress for the Hawthorne monument.

Offline catdlr

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Re: SpaceX Hawthorne Facilities
« Reply #88 on: 02/11/2024 03:11 am »
https://twitter.com/spacesudoer/status/1756313462202941475

Quote
Chinese New Year Celebration At SpaceX
It's Tony De La Rosa, ...I don't create this stuff, I just report it.

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