Humanity's greatest adventure ever may launch from Texas. At the southernmost tip of the state, Elon Musk's company, SpaceX, is building and testing giant rockets. The hope is to send them to Mars someday to colonize the red planet.
30 photos
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Brian Curtis
Sunrise at the SpaceX launch site at Boca Chica, TX
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Brian Curtis
NBC-5 Photojournalist, Mike Ortiz, captures sunrise at the SpaceX launch site at Boca Chica.
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Brian Curtis
Sunrise at Boca Chica reveals the silhouette of Starship SN20, the launch tower, and Super Heavy booster.
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Brian Curtis
The SpaceX launch site towers above the dunes at Boca Chica Beach.
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Brian Curtis
The SpaceX launch site sits at the end of Highway 4.
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Brian Curtis
Boca Chica Beach is at the southernmost tip of Texas, just a few miles from the border with Mexico. The beach remains undeveloped.
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Brian Curtis
Highway 4 ends at Boca Chica Beach, a state park popular with many local residents.
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Brian Curtis
The SpaceX launch site as seen from Boca Chica Beach.
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The SpaceX launch tower under construction at Boca Chica. A fully assembled Starship is nearly 400 feet tall. It’s the largest rocket ever built.
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Large tanks at the SpaceX launch site for holding rocket fuel.
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Workers hoist part of the mechanism that will catch Starships as they land back at Boca Chica. The StarshipSuper Heavy rocket is designed to be fully reusable.
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Brian Curtis
The launch site scene from a distance. The land in the foreground is part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.
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Brian Curtis
The SpaceX operation at Boca Chica in within sight of the popular tourist and retirement destination of South Padre Island. You can see the towers of South Padre in the distance.
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Boca Chica is an area rich in history.
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The last land battle of the Civil War was fought in the area.
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Two full-scale Starship prototypes at the SpaceX manufacturing site at Boca Chica. Starships are made of stainless steel.
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Starships are about 160 feet tall.
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Brian Curtis
The SpaceX manufacturing site at Boca Chica. It’s a short distance down Highway 4 from the launch site.
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Brian Curtis
A peek inside the SpaceX manufacturing site where Starships and Super Heavy boosters are assembled.
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Brian Curtis
The ‘Stargate’ entrance to the SpaceX manufacturing site.
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Brian Curtis
A large tank headed for SpaceX creeps down Highway 4. Traffic backups are not uncommon.
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Brian Curtis
The SpaceX manufacturing site rises over Boca Chica Village.
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Airstream trailers help house SpaceX workers at Boca Chica.
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The SpaceX complex at Boca Chica is now known as ‘Starbase.’
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A wildlife refuge marker with the SpaceX manufacturing site in the distance.
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SpaceX tracking dishes at Boca Chica.
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Environmentalists have expressed concern about how SpaceX will impact wildlife, especially birds.
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A message of support for SpaceX founder, Elon Musk, along Highway 4.
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The ‘Boca Chica to Mars’ mural in downtown Brownsville has become a local landmark.
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The SpaceX launch site at dusk. Starship SN20 (right) is expected to be the first Starship to be launched into orbit from Boca Chica.
