February '21 - Arctic Blast in Texas & Starship SN10 launch

February began with an epic flight of Starship SN9, then tested our abilities with a record-breaking arctic blast.

Starship SN9 launched on the 2nd. But I snuck that story onto the end of last month's post because I couldn't wait to share it. Just like I'm including SN10 (launched March 3rd) on the end of this one :)

We spent the month of February at Falcon County Park in Falcon Heights. FCP was the first free campsite we found that had no stay limit, and we were so thankful to have a safe place to settle down for a bit while we waited out the cold weather. 

We'd been warned when we arrived that there were javelinas around, but in almost two months of looking we had yet to see any. Javelinas, aka collared peccary due to a lighter-colored ring around their necks, are like wild boar but cuter. They live in the deserts of the southwest US, southward through Central America, and even into northern Argentina. When fully grown they're around 2 feet tall, up to 4 feet long, and weigh between 35 - 55 pounds. They live to be about 10 years old in the wild, and can reach over 20 in captivity. Javelinas are classified as herbivores but they will also eat lizards, dead birds, and rodents if the opportunity presents itself.

During a walk one evening we finally saw them! A small javelina popped out of the nearby bushes and ran across the path we were on, heading to join a herd of 8 or so rooting through a pile of brush. Fun fact: A group of javelinas is actually called a squadron!

We hid behind a nearby brush pile to watch them

Mid-month we saw there was some serious cold weather approaching and made sure to stock up on water, food, and propane. Water and food were not a problem, but propane was difficult to find. The businesses with tanks to swap hadn't been refilled in at least a month, and though we can almost always rely on Tractor Supply to fill our tanks, they were out too! Even Walmart was out of the small green tanks and any kind of heater. We ended up having to drive about an hour away to find propane but really had no choice - no propane meant no heat, no cooking, no fridge! 

While we were out Kyle suggested we get some tacos to celebrate since it was Valentine's Day, and of course I couldn't resist! The restaurant was right near the border and about as authentic as we could get without crossing, and the tacos were muy deliciouso.

As we prepared for the cold we couldn't help but reminisce about last winter back in Florida enjoying the tropical weather, the Everglades, and quality time with family. Finding somewhere that will consistently stay above freezing is important to our lifestyle, and Florida is a safe-haven in the winter. We've spent most of this winter in Texas, specifically southern Texas, and had good luck with the weather so far. A typical desert environment, daily high temps were mostly in the 80s with cooler evenings and occasional chilly nights. Not so bad when you consider what the rest of the country deals with in winter.

That night though, we had snow flurries and received a winter storm warning calling for freezing rain, significant icing, and a dangerous wind chill between 25 and 10 degrees. To my family up north that had a blanket of snow at the time, that may not seem too bad. But in south Texas, they were not prepared to handle this.

We readied ourselves for the cold by putting reflective insulation panels on all of our windows and disconnecting the water hose from the camper so it wouldn't burst. We put extra blankets down on the floor for insulation and moved the truck to block the wind from the camper. We do have a heater but it takes a ton of power, so we mostly just wore layers and stayed bundled up in bed. I used the oven for our food more than I usually would when trying to conserve propane, and in such a small space that extra heat helped a lot!

Made some delicious curry to warm us up

There were 5 nights in a row where it dropped below freezing, sometimes up to 8 hours at a time. Though we were chilly and could see our breath in the mornings, we were safe and (mostly) comfortable. The morning after the worst had passed, we found our truck had iced over. Our water line had frozen too, so our pump didn't work and we couldn't access the water in our tank, but it thawed out fairly quickly and without causing damage.

During the arctic blast, over 3,000 daily cold records were set across the country, with around 80 all-time record cold readings. Some places saw the coldest temps in 30 years, and it was the first time all 254 Texas counties were under a winter storm warning. According to Weather.com, 73% of the Lower 48 States was covered in snow as of midnight Feb 16th, the greatest extent on record.

Leesi didn't mind the extra cuddle time

There were tent campers at FCP that had no choice but to find a hotel room. Unfortunately, the power grid failed, which meant hotels had no power and took away that back-up option for many who would have sheltered there. Even gas stations were closed, and those who desperately needed gas for their generators for heat or power were out of luck. All across the state water pipes were bursting, flooding homes and businesses. This caused a water shortage, and 'boil water' notices when many didn't even have the power necessary to boil their water. It was a huge disaster.

We felt very lucky but were concerned about others who weren't prepared, and for the animals who were stuck out in the cold. Sea turtles become cold-stunned when the water temperature drops below 50 degrees. The cold-blooded reptiles become lethargic and can't swim. Over 12,000 sea turtles were found floating motionless in the frigid water and were scooped up by fishermen, turtle rescues, and local volunteers. This was the largest cold-stunning event in the U.S. since the network started keeping records in 1980.

Sea Turtle Inc., one of the main rescues in the area, had so many turtles coming in that they had to move them to the South Padre Island convention center. SPI was also affected by the power outage and the rescue couldn't keep the turtles warm enough. Nearby SpaceX heard about their issue and loaned them a special generator to help! My heart broke when I learned that even with such a huge effort from so many, only 35% of those 12,000 sea turtles survived. This was a staggering loss, especially for an endangered species, but without help from the humans it would have been much worse. There are many sea turtle rescues all along the coast working hard every day, and I'm so grateful to know that even during this crazy cold snap they were out there working hard to save lives.

The water was shut off at camp for a few days after the worst temps passed, and I heard another camper saying "If you have water, you're lucky!". There were power grid issues all over the state for a week or so afterwards. That didn't affect us much, other than the camp bathroom/showers being closed, and the local stores being slow to reopen and restock.

Saw this cute little guy crossing the road at camp near the end of the month

On March 3rd, we left at sunrise heading down to South Padre Island one last time to see Starship SN10 launch.

View from the Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge

We made it to Isla Blanca Park around 10am and headed to the beach area. We watched dolphins and sea turtles swimming in the Brazos Santiago Pass that flows between South Padre Island and Boca Chica. Finally, around 2pm they were fueling up and ready to launch. We saw the engines light and a cloud of exhaust form, but the rocket stayed in place. 

At the last second, the onboard flight computer saw one of the engines was producing more thrust than anticipated, and aborted the flight. Musk said it was caused by a "slightly conservative high thrust limit" that could be reset, and that they would refuel & try again in about 2 hours. That was great news to us since we didn't think it was possible to try to launch again so quickly after lighting the engines. We were also getting hungry, so we left for lunch and came back about an hour later. 

Finally SN10 was fully fueled and ready to try again. Most of the flight was just like the last two we saw (SN8 & SN9). The rocket lifted off with a loud earth-shaking rumble and slowly climbed into the sky. About 4 minutes and 20 seconds into flight, it reached 10km (almost 33k feet) and cut off the engines while flipping over into a belly-flop. It's hard to tell from the (amazing) SpaceX footage, but the towering rocket is literally on its side free falling through the sky for over a minute and a half! 

Then, just above the landing pad they lit all 3 engines again, flipping the ship back vertically. We all cheered and watched in disbelief as it slowly descended to the pad. At this point the last two flights had become fiery explosions, so when the dust cleared and we saw SN10 standing tall on the landing pad, we couldn't believe our eyes. The crowd went WILD!! 

A few minutes later, we left the beach and headed toward the truck. We were ecstatic, and talking about driving over to see it as soon as the road opened. We'd almost made it out of the park when we heard a very loud BOOM followed a few seconds later by another. We looked at each other wide-eyed and watched as everyone started running back toward the beach. It could only be one thing, SN10 had blown up. 

Musk tweeted “SN10 engine was low on thrust due (probably) to partial helium ingestion from fuel header tank,” & “Impact of 10m/s crushed legs & part of skirt."

Turns out the landing wasn't quite as gentle as it looked, which we could definitely tell later when we watched the SpaceX video. It actually bounced a little bit, and there was also an issue with a few of the landing legs not locking into place as it came down. This caused some damage, and just after landing we could see a small fire burning at the base. About 8 minutes later, SN10 lifted off again (this time propelled by an explosion), before crumpling to the ground shortly after. 

In the end we got to see a successful test flight, the first Starship to actually land in one piece, and a huge fiery explosion. They got tons of much needed data and are already applying what they learned to improve the next Starship in line, SN11, which rolled out to the launch pad just days later.

sunset on the drive back to camp after launch

After the launch we packed up camp and left Falcon County Park, following the TX/Mexico border northwest. We'd been at FCP the longest of any of our stops so far (87 days!!) and were itching to get back on the road. Spring is in the air and we have big adventures ahead!