January '21 - Texas desert camping & Starship SN9 launch

For months we'd dreamt of seeing a Starship flight, and now that our dream had come true, we were hooked! In December's post, I covered our experience of SN8's flight. At that time, SN9 was already assembled waiting for her turn to fly. But, the exact timing of the flight would be so unpredictable. Spaceflight is complicated and so many things have to go right for progress to be made. 

On December 11th, SN9 hit the first setback when a transport mount collapsed in the high bay causing the Starship to tip over. We didn't know at that time if it had been damaged, how long it would take to solve, or even if it would still fly.

SN9 - Taken the night before she tipped over

Isla Blanca Park was perfect for watching the launch, but not ideal for a long term stay. It was crowded, the entire campground was full of sharp grass burrs, and the site was costing $30 a day. We've been on the road for over a year now and have rarely had to pay for camping, so each day at IBP meant spending more money we could have saved.

Beach camping on South Padre Island was awesome! We'd been looking forward to it for months, and thoroughly enjoyed our time on the beach before SN8's flight. But, rising tides and high winds blowing sand everywhere made the environment volatile, and we were ready for something more reliable. 

I found a listing on freecampsites.net for Falcon County Park (about 3 hours west of South Padre Island) that seemed promising. The most recent reviews (from a year ago) weren't great - claiming the campsite looked abandoned, and the listing even warned about a murder that occurred on the nearby lake that crosses the border into Mexico. Older reviews looked good though, claiming they'd come back year after year and calling the site "the best kept secret in Texas". Many said they felt perfectly safe and that law enforcement patrols regularly. It would be a 3 hour drive before we knew which reviews were right.

Falcon County Park is just outside of Falcon State Park, both in Falcon Heights, Texas.

We camped in area P, bottom left of the map.

Luckily for us, we found a boondocker's paradise! Fantastic free camping with plenty of wide open space, water hookups, hot showers, a dump station, and the best part - no stay limit if you behave. They even have a community pavilion with a microwave, give-away shelf, outlets for charging, and a washing machine! Shortly after pulling in we were greeted by the camp host, Dan. He welcomed us, confirming there was no stay limit, and mentioned we should watch out for coyotes & javelinas (similar to a wild boar).

We got a true taste of Texas desert life with 80 degree weather, plenty of sun for our solar panels, and long dusty walking trails lined with countless cacti to admire.

This plant smelled AMAZING, almost like honeysuckle

There's even a big open area where they burn brush that dogs can run off-leash!

Lots of spines and prickly plants

Google says this is a Sun Spider aka Wind Scorpion

Spiny lizard hanging out in the bathroom

The camp give-away shelf with two of my hoops <3 :D

Wonder where these are hanging now...

Another shelf contribution

Border Patrol Blimp

We explored nearby Falcon State Park and caught a beautiful sunset over the lake.

Sunset over the Sierra de Picachos mountain range in Mexico

Brown and crispy plants now green after some rare rainfall.

The damaged flaps on SN9's nosecone were replaced near the end of December, and it was finally rolled out to the launch pad on the 22nd. January 6th was SN9's first static fire, followed by 3 more back to back on the 13th. After the trio of static fires, 2 of 3 engines had to be swapped out.

Near the end of January, the engines had been replaced and it looked like everything was finally coming together for a flight. The 25th was the first shot at a launch, and we made the 3 hour drive out to SPI to see it. Due to high winds, the flight attempt was cancelled, but they planned to try again the next day. So, we took the opportunity to see SN9 up close (possibly for the last time) once the road closure was lifted.

During this sunset we met Maria Pointer (StarshipBoca on Twitter). She's a local who used to live just down the road from the launch site in Boca Chica Village. She told us about her chats with Elon and how she'd been documenting SpaceX's progress here since the beginning. She even gave us some Starship themed stickers! :)

The pace of progress was mind-blowing. It'd been just over two months since we'd been to the launch site and so much had changed in that time. 

That night, we set up a tent and camped on Boca Chica Beach. Heavy fog was rolling in, adding to the surreal sci-fi vibe. I never imagined we'd be able to camp so close to a Starship, and we could almost feel SN9's looming presence as we laid down to sleep.

We woke up early the next morning to pack up. The road closure would start at 8am and by 730am a law enforcement vehicle was clearing the beach. We were loading everything in the truck when he rolled by.

We could barely see SN9 through the fog as we drove right past the launch site, headed to SPI. How would we be able to see it from 5 miles away?

We waded out into the bay near Isla Blanca Park to explore while we waited to hear if the launch would happen. The thick fog wrapped around us like a misty blanket.

Since we wouldn't be able to see much, we were actually relieved when we saw the launch was called off. We made the long drive (3 hours each way) back out twice after that, and both of those launch attempts were cancelled. SpaceX was ready and wanted to launch, but had to wait on approval from the FAA.

We got news on the 29th that SN10 was rolling out to join SN9! For the first time, TWO Starships were at the launch site. It was a risk to bring SN10 out before SN9's flight, since the landing would likely be similar to SN8's fireball. But, I think it shows that SpaceX is willing to take risks to make progress, and to push the limit of what has been done before.

Around 10:30am on the morning of February 2nd, we saw on Twitter that Boca Chica residents had been evacuated, and the launch pad was being cleared. We hit the road by 11, keeping an eye on the progress via livestream, and hoping to make it on time. We parked at the entrance of Isla Blanca Park right at 2pm, and rushed on foot to the beach.

There were easily twice the amount of spectators there compared to SN8's flight, just under two months ago.

While we were rushing in, law enforcement over at the launch site was chasing down a truck who hadn't yet cleared the site, which gave us just enough time to find a spot to watch from and get settled. We could easily see both Starships on their pads.

SN10 on the left, SN9 on the right.

At 2:25 pm, Starship SN9 lifted off!

The first two minutes and last 30 seconds of the flight - including explosive landing

The sound reached us almost 20 seconds after liftoff, loud and crackly. SN9 roared up to 10 km, hovered for a few moments, then gently flipped over onto it's belly for a controlled freefall. It was unbelievable that something so massive could be falling from the sky almost seeming to be in slow motion. Similar to SN8, everything looked great during the flight, until the landing burn. 

Beautiful belly flop

Coming in hot

So close

Oops

Rest in pieces, SN9

Watch SpaceX's epic video of the entire flight here!

We came down to the southernmost tip of Texas specifically to witness a Starship launch, and because we found a free site that had no stay limit, we've been able to extend our stay and see two flights!

We planned to head north as soon as SN9 launched, but with an arctic cold front moving in, we may be stuck here for another week or two until it's warm enough to move. It seems like SN10 was unharmed in the explosion, so we may even get lucky and catch a THIRD Starship flight while we wait out the cold weather!