(S. Padre Island, Texas) Starship launched on 18 November out of Starbase and I joined thousands of people as the sun rose to reveal Starship across the bay. We all witnessed the fierce determination of an incredible launch test. I will share with you the inspiring thoughts of 4 people I met. 

Visitors and residents of all ages, woke up before dawn to walk in the dark to the beach to better grasp the magnitude of Starship. Everyone I spoke with came away feeling more hopeful than before about a future where we will make it to Mars. 

A CHILD INSPIRED BY A GIFT FROM SPACEX

Six-year-old Grayson from Missouri was excited to show me a piece of tile from the heat shield of Starship. His Dad was in awe that SpaceX employees shared this with his family. The family let me open the plastic case up, take out the tile piece, and hold it. It was also emotional for me because I love those tiles so much. Grayson looked amazed too, then after a while, he said, “Can I give you one of my glow sticks?” 

There is a certain love that comes from the heart of the mission of SpaceX that rubs off on people when they see a launch. Grayson had that. When I asked him what he thought about the launch, he said he “loved all of it!”

NASA EMPLOYEES AT THE LAUNCH

I met several NASA employees at Isla Blanca, from lead engineers to a man who works in the warehouse. I talked with many, or rather, I listened to them. I walked away with the knowledge that they admire the speed of which SpaceX operates.

Gynn Shotwell, President and COO of SpaceX explains it this way,

“I do want to make something clear: SpaceX does have a lot of government business, but we execute in a commercial fashion.”

One NASA employee, Mike Pantaleo, brought his long lens camera, and told me, “I am capturing history.” Pantaleo admires the hard work of SpaceX employees, he explained to me that he deeply respects their valuable work. 

A TOAST TO STARSHIP ON SOUTH PADRE

“Here, here, take a picture of this,” the bartender at Josephine’s on S. Padre was injecting liquid smoke into a cup of ice and mixing a drink, as he placed a rocket pop on top, he said, “I created this myself, I wanted it to look like Starship!”  I loved the enthusiasm and laughter over breakfast on Saturday morning right after the launch. The restaurant was buzzing with excited people and the bartender added “Elon is cool!” I shared my just-taken video of the launch with a family from San Antonio who had arrived after the launch thinking it would happen later in the morning. Starship launched right on time, just moments after sunrise.  

SHARING ENTHUSIASM IS PRICELESS

David, an engineer from Dallas, told me he was drawn to the people at the launch because of the shared enthusiasm for discussing details about Starship and genuine support for Elon Musk. He said, “when I’m at work, my colleagues are great people and they also do not share my level of excitement, it is so nice to be with others who do!“

David had the ability to paint a picture with his words, and when he talked about the day when Starships would launch at the rate of 2-3 per day, I could see that future. That’s the future we need.

“With Starship, actually, more profound than the size, is the fact that it is designed to be fully and rapidly reusable. The reason for the absurd size is that we are trying to build something that is capable of creating a permanent base on the moon and a city on Mars. That’s why it’s so large. Otherwise, we could make it much smaller.” – Elon Musk, IAC Space Conference 2023

GROK’S TAKE: IMPRESSIVE AMBITION, WOBBLY IN EXECUTION

Grok (the new AI from xAI) chimed in about the launch, humorously saying that the launch was, impressive in its ambition, but somewhat wobbly in execution. Grok added “The success of the launch brings us one step closer to the dream of making humanity a multi-planetary species. Just imagine, in a few centuries, we could have humans colonizing Mars, living in biodomes and eating space-grown potatoes. It’s enough to make one wonder if Elon Musk has a secret stash of Douglas Adams novels tucked away in his office.”

MY THOUGHTS 

The images in my mind of the starry morning dawn giving way to a bright sunrise, the warm waters on the beach, and the T-30-second countdown are part of what gives people of all ages immense hope for the future. The very sight of Starship pushing up, with so much mass, is both beautiful and fearsome. Leaving Starbase, I met over 40 Tesla owners at Superchargers in Alice who had been to the launch. This was no ordinary day, and we all knew it. The joy that comes with sharing the excitement of watching Starship launch is unlike anything else. I hope that you felt that joy in the live streams and the people you know here on X. This is the next best thing to being physically present at a launch! 

Space is big. Really big

“Space is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space.” – Hitchhiker’s Guide

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Article by Gail Alfar, please credit accordingly. Thanks to @SpaceX and @elonmusk

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