Would anyone be interested in creating a Space Coast Hacker House?
The idea is to assemble a small group of talented folks. Even digital nomads who want to do a short stint would be welcome. And then solicit contracts, or start New Space ventures.
Main benefit is of course proximity to rocket launches ;) For which we could host viewing parties, outdoor BBQs, photo shoots, etc.
Region is known for relatively cheap rents (compared to South Florida). Great weather. Year round golf, tennis, scuba. Not sure about high speed internet availability. And it may be a cultural backwater. But that only leaves more time for building ;)
Perspective of a current "digital nomad" that grew up in the area:
The weather is great in a sense that it's warm, but be prepared for sweltering heat and humidity for ~340 days of the year. Especially during the summer, it's hard to be outside for more than a few minutes without needing a shower.
Lots of outdoors stuff to do like you mentioned, especially water-oriented activities. If you surf, New Smyrna is the most consistent spot but even that's not nearly as consistently good as it is consistently sharky.
High speed internet would be no problem. Brevard and the surrounding areas are red but I wouldn't necessarily consider it cultural backwater. You'll be exposed to a much higher number of crusty beach people (especially in Cocoa Beach) than you will rednecks or similar.
When you say "culture backwater" are you referring the the fact that the Space Coast has the highest ratio of engineers to population in the US, or b/c it just not near a major city?
As someone who spends quite a bit of time just south of the cape in Cocoa Beach (I own a condo there), I'm not sure I would call the area a "cultural backwater", but it might be culture shock if you are coming from an urban area.
Many would be surprised by how inexpensive it is, but in my opinion (like much of the US) the area suffers from poor planning. Recently two buildings one block from the beach were torn down to make room for a parking lot. Plus there is a NIMBY / anti-development contingent which basically kills off any renewal efforts. Prime real estate has gone undeveloped because of height restrictions.
With that said, I do think it could be a good area for startups. There is a lot engineering talent, the quality of life is good compared with the cost of living. Plus there is access to a major airport in Orlando with direct flights to SF, LA, NY, etc.
Personally I'd really like to see more startup activity in the Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area.
I have a coworker with a house at the edge of a swamp. He likes to go out in his airboat and shoot alligators. He likes to set off explosions. I have another coworker, from San Francisco actually, who has sheep and can shoot his AR-15 in his yard. Trump has dropped by twice, at the MLB airport. The lines of adoring fans went for miles, and there were only about 5 protesters total. My workplace has a giant (maybe 15x7 foot) US flag in the cafeteria, and every year we hold a military-style flag folding ceremony. Everywhere you go, there are engineers who work for defense contractors. There is a stand-your-ground law, and our wonderful Sheriff Wayne Ivey has some great videos on youtube about the need for armed citizens prepared to shoot all kinds of bad people.
For those of you who aren't horrified, we're hiring for low-level hacker stuff... but the rest of you need to stay right where you are. You'd be unhappy, and you'd make us unhappy.
The next few years are going to be interesting. Assuming it all goes according to plan, this along with BFR/BFS will signal an end to the scrappy duct tape stage of SpaceX’s existence.
Is there any concern regarding the damage these frequent and big rocket launches are doing to the upper atmosphere? Are people aware of such a thing? Because I have seen very few discussion around the same....
They pay range fees, but may not pay much for the facilities themselves. It's not uncommon in things like this for the lease to be offset by the improvements built or simply for taking maintenance of the government's hands.
Whatever happened with their Brownsville TX facility? They put in some antennas, brought in a crane, and put in some solar panels, but not much more than that.
They spent a long time stabilizing the soil there.
Some of the delay could possibly be attributed to the Amos-6 incident. Now that they've rebuilt that pad, they can continue at Boca Chica, which explains the recent activity there.
It's likely to be where the first BFR-related tests happen in the first half of 2019.
I wonder how much is Elon vs. the team he put in place, seems like Gwynne Shotwell is definitely front and center. Not familiar w/ the other executives/operations/engineering folks
So good! Very thrilled -- SpaceX is a model giant, but also: the emergence of qualities MUST be due to underlying levels of Need and Demand in our human economy/ecology/world. Success that has great potential pushing behind it can soar. It's important now that we follow this example and harness the gathered beam of human intelligence as a laser or light beam would be harnessed and benefit the planet with strong focii of knowledge and need satisfaction.
edit: i'm very interested in any possible objections to what has been stated. i'm an avid observer and although i have no weight in the topic, i am of this genuine opinion.
[+] [-] chiph|7 years ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink_(satellite_constellat...
[+] [-] indescions_2018|7 years ago|reply
The idea is to assemble a small group of talented folks. Even digital nomads who want to do a short stint would be welcome. And then solicit contracts, or start New Space ventures.
Main benefit is of course proximity to rocket launches ;) For which we could host viewing parties, outdoor BBQs, photo shoots, etc.
Region is known for relatively cheap rents (compared to South Florida). Great weather. Year round golf, tennis, scuba. Not sure about high speed internet availability. And it may be a cultural backwater. But that only leaves more time for building ;)
[+] [-] balindenberg|7 years ago|reply
The weather is great in a sense that it's warm, but be prepared for sweltering heat and humidity for ~340 days of the year. Especially during the summer, it's hard to be outside for more than a few minutes without needing a shower.
Lots of outdoors stuff to do like you mentioned, especially water-oriented activities. If you surf, New Smyrna is the most consistent spot but even that's not nearly as consistently good as it is consistently sharky.
High speed internet would be no problem. Brevard and the surrounding areas are red but I wouldn't necessarily consider it cultural backwater. You'll be exposed to a much higher number of crusty beach people (especially in Cocoa Beach) than you will rednecks or similar.
[+] [-] jonwachob91|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] baus|7 years ago|reply
Many would be surprised by how inexpensive it is, but in my opinion (like much of the US) the area suffers from poor planning. Recently two buildings one block from the beach were torn down to make room for a parking lot. Plus there is a NIMBY / anti-development contingent which basically kills off any renewal efforts. Prime real estate has gone undeveloped because of height restrictions.
With that said, I do think it could be a good area for startups. There is a lot engineering talent, the quality of life is good compared with the cost of living. Plus there is access to a major airport in Orlando with direct flights to SF, LA, NY, etc.
Personally I'd really like to see more startup activity in the Cape Canaveral/Cocoa Beach area.
[+] [-] souprock|7 years ago|reply
I have a coworker with a house at the edge of a swamp. He likes to go out in his airboat and shoot alligators. He likes to set off explosions. I have another coworker, from San Francisco actually, who has sheep and can shoot his AR-15 in his yard. Trump has dropped by twice, at the MLB airport. The lines of adoring fans went for miles, and there were only about 5 protesters total. My workplace has a giant (maybe 15x7 foot) US flag in the cafeteria, and every year we hold a military-style flag folding ceremony. Everywhere you go, there are engineers who work for defense contractors. There is a stand-your-ground law, and our wonderful Sheriff Wayne Ivey has some great videos on youtube about the need for armed citizens prepared to shoot all kinds of bad people.
For those of you who aren't horrified, we're hiring for low-level hacker stuff... but the rest of you need to stay right where you are. You'd be unhappy, and you'd make us unhappy.
[+] [-] mrfusion|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mixmastamyk|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] walrus01|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kitsunesoba|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] buvanshak|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mikece|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] skriticos2|7 years ago|reply
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/spacex-signs-20-year-l...
edit: looking at the article map, this is patch of farmland a bit further away from the launch pad, so they probably acquired it for development.
[+] [-] greglindahl|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jccooper|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Animats|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] agildehaus|7 years ago|reply
Some of the delay could possibly be attributed to the Amos-6 incident. Now that they've rebuilt that pad, they can continue at Boca Chica, which explains the recent activity there.
It's likely to be where the first BFR-related tests happen in the first half of 2019.
[+] [-] nickik|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] caycep|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|7 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] throwaway2048|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sova|7 years ago|reply
edit: i'm very interested in any possible objections to what has been stated. i'm an avid observer and although i have no weight in the topic, i am of this genuine opinion.
[+] [-] AnimalMuppet|7 years ago|reply
[+] [-] vvkmnn|7 years ago|reply