Elon Musk on Texas spaceport: “We’ll probably have that site active in a couple of years.”

[TexasTowelie]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by maddezmom (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Houston Chronicle

At the tail end of a news conference today in Washington D.C. the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk, was asked whether a site had been chosen yet for much anticipated SpaceX commercial launch site.

His reply, “We’re also developing a launch pad on the south coast of Texas … We’ll probably have that site active in a couple of years.”

All he’s waiting for, Musk said, is an environmental clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration, which he expects to receive soon.

This site, if it is indeed built, would allow for launches of both the Falcon 9 (already flying) and Falcon 9 Heavy (under development) from south Texas, near Brownsville. These launches would be for commercial (i.e. satellites) as well as possibly NASA purposes.

Read more: http://blog.chron.com/sciguy/2014/04/elon-musk-on-texas-spaceport-well-probably-have-that-site-active-in-a-couple-of-years/?cmpid=bna#22787101=0

[penultimate]

1. Why do all of their rockets look like penises?

They are also so small when compared to the Russian ones.

[TexasTowelie]

2. Nature favors an aerodynamic shape.

Then remember that size doesn't matter, it's how you use it that counts.

[bananas]

5. Because they are going to impregnate Mars with life.

Here is a sci-fi dramatization of Mars colonization:

[Bosonic]

3. Elon Musk Confirms Historic Soft Landing That Could Make Space Flight Much Cheaper

Elon Musk Confirms Historic Soft Landing That Could Make Space Flight Much Cheaper

Elon Musk, a serial entrepreneur and a co-founder of PayPal and Tesla Motors, confirmed on Friday that his company SpaceX successfully executed a soft landing of its Falcon 9 rocket's first stage in the Atlantic Ocean.

The Falcon 9 rocket was used last week to launch the Dragon resupply spacecraft to the International Space Station.

It was the first time the rocket's first stage, or the bottom part of the rocket that's ignited at launch, was equipped with four "landing legs."

These legs would eventually be used to land the Falcon 9 stage on the ground so that the rocket could be recovered and reused. The first test was over the water, hence the soft landing.

http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-will-make-an-important-spacex-announcement-at-1-pm-edt-2014-4#ixzz2zvkkM4rt

[KatyaR]

4. Riiiight....

Oklahoma tried that 14 years ago and got nuthin'....

http://newsok.com/oklahoma-spaceports-blighted-buildings-rile-town-officials-in-burns-flat/article/3747448

The decaying warehouses don't belong to some slumlord. They are owned by the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority — a public body created by the Oklahoma Legislature in 1999 to lead the way in bringing the space industry to the state.

[maddezmom]

6. Locking, duplicate topic

Please feel free to add this link to the other discussion here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014788409