Starship Flight 6

Today is the day! The sixth test flight is scheduled for 4 PM this afternoon and we will have great seats for the launch. Yesterday we drove out to Boca Chica Boulevard (Hwy 4) all the way to the state beach next to the launch tower with the complete stacked rocket literally a football field's distance from where we stood.

The road to the Star Base comes from the Port of Brownsville and eventually passes the Mega Bay and High Bay of the factory and assembly facilities of Space X. We drove to the launch tower facilities and parked the truck on the north side of the highway opposite the fuel tank farm. This is a county road and is only closed from 8 AM to 10 PM on the launch day. From there we walked to the beach to get even closer to the launch towers.

We couldn't believe how many people were out there. The road ends at the beach where some folks with four-wheel drive drove right on to the sand, parked and set up camping equipment. Many of the people are serious rocket geeks like me but we met people from all over the world who were just curious.

While we were out at the launch tower site we could see SpaceX workers up on the orbital launch mount (OLM) where the booster sits continuing the last minute preparations for this flight. It truly gave me a scale of the massive size of the space vehicle. Trust me when I say it is bigger than the Saturn V we saw at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The vibe here is surprisingly layed back. Nothing like the uptight government security at a NASA venue. It's more like a big block party with people hanging out around this giant rocket. They do have security around but they're very low key. There were some creative vendors selling water and snacks but no big concessions. It was a very family friendly environment with kids running around the surrounding sand dunes and playing in the ocean. This is a bit unexpected for this massive engineering facility and the seriousness of the project. I wonder how long they will continue to allow this community access to continue?

While we were near the SpaceX Star Base we drove through the living quarters area which is the only area open to the public. There are some permanent homes, both new and old, but many of the living quarters are manufactured homes or Airstream trailers. They all had Starlink antennas, of course!

This was an amazing opportunity to see this incredible venue up close and personal. I'm glad we took the effort to drive the hour from South Padre Island (SPI) to see this place in person. After our visit we drove back to SPI but first had to stop at the Hopper Haus in Port Isabel, a space geek watering hole, for a couple of micro brews and an appetizer. We met even more rocket geeks there of course. Karen was so supportive and even admitted to having a new appreciation of this subject.

Tuesday, November 19 is Starship Flight 6 launch day. This morning the weather has improved. There were partly cloudy skies, with the winds lighter and out of the NNE at 10 to 15 MPH. The temperature is 85º F with humidity dropping down to 41% by launch time.

At 10 AM Karen and I walked down to the viewing area and were surprised at the number of people already there. Most of these folks are probably here in Isla Blanca Park for the day use only and didn't want to miss out on getting in. The park has limited day use parking and I'm sure if you wait too close to the launch time you wouldn't get in.

We got in a mile walk and dropped off the RV trash before heading back to the air conditioning in Trinity. I took the time to wash the RV and truck. The last time I washed the rig was in September while we were in Washington, so it needed a quick spray down with water to get off some of the dust.

At 2 PM we rode our E-bikes to our selected spot and waited for 4 PM and the "Big Event". WE WERE READY TO RUMBLE!!! Literally!