Author Topic: Supporters and opponents of SpaceX launch site air their concerns  (Read 229 times)

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Offline Elderberry

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ARS Technica by Eric Ralph 10/19/2021

"This is a project that is profoundly going to change our area."

The Federal Aviation Administration convened the first of two virtual public hearings on Monday evening to solicit public comments on SpaceX's plan to launch its Starship rocket from South Texas.

The hearing, which lasted nearly four hours, drew both passionate support for SpaceX's plans to expand its Starbase facility as well as heated opposition. Limited to comments of three minutes or less, nearly five dozen people spoke during the hearing over Zoom.

By my informal counting, the comments tallied 39 in favor of the project and 18 against. The comments in favor of SpaceX were more likely to come from out of state, from people generally appreciative of the company's efforts to make humanity a "multiplanetary species." However, there were plenty of local supporters as well.

Most of those who spoke against the project said they lived near Brownsville, or in the state of Texas. They cited a mix of environmental concerns, including wildlife habitat destruction, as well as impacts on the South Texas community, such as gentrification.

For SpaceX

Several proponents of SpaceX said they had grown up near Cape Canaveral, in Florida, or other launch sites around the planet and had not seen environmental degradation in the vicinity. Rohan Joseph, who identified himself as an aerospace engineer, "lifelong environmentalist," and birder, cited the protection of sea turtles at launch sites in India as an example of the positive effects of a launch site on an area.

He also wondered why SpaceX appeared to be receiving so much scrutiny for its launch site when there was a former oil drilling site in the vicinity, or, if the environment was so pristine, why nearby South Padre Island had been allowed to be built up. "If SpaceX were an oil exploration company, there would be no questions asked," Joseph said.

More: https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/10/faa-conducts-hearing-on-spacex-launch-site-hears-pro-and-con-views/

Quote
My son from Boca Chica was home this weekend and he says that Bezos, Boeing, and ULA have people trying to get Elon's site shut down. I should have thought they'd be part of it.

My son had stopped by after going to the "Gesellen Fechten" Annual sword fighting event. He said he decimated an opponent in the "Sword and Buckler" event that rated #6 in the world. And my son took the Silver in the Longsword.

GF21 will have the following events this year:
•   Longsword (multiple skill divisions and sub categories)
•   Sword and Buckler (Side sword/arming sword and round buckler only.)
•   Rapier (Cut and Thrust.)
•   Messer
•   HarnessFechten
•   Dagger

« Last Edit: October 19, 2021, 06:11:21 pm by Elderberry »