SpaceX’s Starbase project has inspired fans from around the country to move to a small town in Texas just to live close to the facility. In April 2022, the Verge went down to Brownsville, Texas to meet some of Elon Musk’s most ardent fans and to try and understand the magnetism behind this project.
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This… almost feels like a cult, it’s a little creepy to watch.
The only negative thing about this video is including that weird egg lady instead of Mary (@BocaChicaGal), who has been there since the beginning giving us updates on a regular basis.
Don't trust a guy who's dad was a blood gem mine owner in apartheid South Africa. The same guy that publicly supported the US backed coup in Bolivia because of their lithium mine.
Whoa beautiful, beautiful content. But wtf the dude is doing at 19:27? Is that normal in the US?
WARP SPEED or NOTHING
Of course NASA is sending their intel truck to have live feeds of what is going on there.
Very cool mini-docu.
Please please change the verge website back to the old, its really awful, like really bad. Its as if Mash potatoes + Tumblers + Twitter + really bad art attack mashed into one.
more of this, verge
Awesome video! It’s great to see the people that I follow on a regular basis. Thank You!
It seems strange to me that a LOT of people are still of the opinion that Elon Musk is just another greedy billionaire and that he is only interested in making more money. At the time SpaceX began it was probably the least attractive investment in the world, bordering on crazy.
I can understand the superfans wanting to see even faster progress with Starship but unlike the relatively cheap testing and launch of the SN prototypes, the sucessful launch of a fulll stack booster + Starship, first attaining orbit AND recovery, is crucial for the project to continue. I expect that people would give a pass to 1 failed attempt if it wasn't majorly catstrophic, but SpaceX absolutely need to get some kind of win by the 3rd try or the whole project will be in danger. Fingers crossed that fortune really does favour the brave.
The moment the bird lady said "I don't have anything against space travel, space exploration" You just knew what her next sentence was gonna be lol. NIMBYism alive and well in Boca Chica
These are my people
I'm actually in this. They did interview a few more people but I don't see those interviews. It was awesome to see Starbase up close and be able to get up close to some of the rockets
Somehow saving a few birds and rodents has become more important than making humans multi-planetary. How did we get here?
Impressive you already have the new font and style in the video too. Amazing relaunch of a brand Verge. Good job.
Really well produced documentary. I like this long-form video, I hope The Verge does more of this. If I had but one complaint it's that at least with Starbase things have changed and ramped up a lot since all that filming took place – tho it's so fast paced I totally understand that something like this is going to be at least somewhat dated by the time the editing, etc has been finished and that since this was filmed Loren has moved to Bloomberg. I just wish this had been posted in July or August is all.
Thanks for providing a different perspective of things going on down in South Texas.
The environmental protection is necessary; but the tree-huggers should expand their scope a little and see that the progress at the Starbase is for the good of life in general. Don't become the victim of your own morality.
Great work by Verge.
Awesome documentary. Beautifully done. Good job!!!
This "documentary"'s goal is to be as spicy as possible.
Amazing storytelling. Love it Loren.
Wow 💜💜💜 i loved this documentary so much. I wish you are planning to do this more often please
Really well done
Great video
I’m a techno-optimist but I’d still be shocked if we had a colony on mars in the next 50 years. These people are out to lunch.
Happy to include myself as one of the many who have been spurred to pack up and move down to Brownsville to be near this epic endeavor. My boss and the channel I work for can be seen at the 3:35 mark and I spot glimpses of me in a few spots during the episode. I had very little chance to talk to the Verge team, so let me chime in and drop my two cents now. For me, its much more about this new era of space exploration and the drive to continue what we started with the Apollo program 50+ years ago and then let fall to the wayside. I think what's lost in this video is that every person you spoke with and literally every other person I ever meet down here is totally TEAM SPACE. Sure we think that SpaceX and the Starship program are at the forefront and well worth everything we do to be down here to observe or in some way be a small part of it, but we regularly watch other space companies launches, cheer for them, and wish to see them succeed every bit as much as SpaceX. In the end, when I think of who else could pull off what SpaceX has and will soon be doing, then that's what sets this apart, in a league of its own.
What a bunch of enthusiasts
Great
"The Lost children's of Starbase.."
Professionally well done. Camera, sound, narration all top notch. Kudos.
the rocket cowboys taking about preserving humanity feel like out of a science fiction movie
Space X and Tesla are more interesting than Apple that added couple of more pixels to its iPhone.
Gun culture, fast-food culture and other "American cultures" may not be very good but rocket culture is definitely awesome.
Awe poor guy 4:29
Excellence in everyway. I feel like I was there for a moment. You have captured the spirit of these people.
Great content
Nice one Nic and all
I just got back from Rocket Ranch and Starbase, and this Verge video is great! Wonderfully shot, great sound… all and all, this is the mini-documentary of Rocket Ranch you've been looking for. Anthony and Louis are terrific.
There were a lot of establishing shots and transition footage, but I would've liked more time spent on letting "The Bird lady" and Anthony talk. Especially the bird lady. I think it's important to shed a light on the fact Space X is taking up that land in particular (it's optimal placement in terms of orbital mechanics for one), why it's potentially harmful to the environment, and how Space X is mitigating it's effects.
I think it would've been an interesting point to discuss if the sacrifice of such land is worth it in the long run, for the testing and development of the most powerful transportation technology in the history of the world. COuld it have been moved somewhere else? Could there be better protections made? These are questions that can be potentially used to paint the push for space exploration in a bad light that I think have legitimate answers that could save the movement.
I would’ve sworn I was watching a 2014 VICE documentary, very well done
This is a fascinating document of a time and place.