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Readers!

 

My July fund-raising campaign to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black is now over. I want to thank all those who so generously donated or subscribed, especially those who have become regular supporters. I can't do this without your help. I also find it increasingly hard to express how much your support means to me. God bless you all!

 

The donations during this year's campaign were sadly less than previous years, but for this I blame myself. I am tired of begging for money, and so I put up the campaign announcement at the start of the month but had no desire to update it weekly to encourage more donations, as I have done in past years. This lack of begging likely contributed to the drop in donations.

 

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SpaceX donates $4.4 million to upgrade beach access at Boca Chica

Even as leftist politicians and anti-Musk haters rage incoherently against SpaceX’s growing facility at Boca Chica, the company this week donated $4.4 million to upgrade the beach access and facilities at South Padre Island, near Starbase at Boca Chica.

Beachgoers visiting South Padre Island will soon be able to enjoy a surfside park with a smorgasbord of family-friendly amenities paid for by a $4.4 million contribution from Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Previously, MySA reported that the project was expected to cost $4.5 million, according to Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records.

Cameron County Beach Access #3, a currently undeveloped pedestrian beach access located just outside the South Padre Island city limits, will soon begin construction on the latest phase of a multimillion-dollar improvement project that will transform it into a destination beach access. To that end, Cameron County leaders celebrated with a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, August 11, at the access, located at 28495 State Park Road 100-North, on South Padre Island.

In other words, SpaceX is paying almost the entire bill for this work. It might now have the power to close these beaches when necessary, but it is also acting like a good citizen, improving those beaches for everyone when they are open.

It is expected this work will be completed by next year.

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

3 comments

  • mkent

    This is a bit off-topic for this article, but I’m hearing that the California Coastal Commission unanimously rejected a request to allow SpaceX to increase its launch cadence at Vandenberg Space Force Base to 100 launches per year, to allow SpaceX to launch Falcon Heavy from Vandenberg, to allow the modification of SLC-6 for Falcon launches, and to allow the construction of landing pads for returning Falcon stages.

    I haven’t been able to confirm this from official sources, so perhaps this is premature, but it sounds like it could be the basis of another article on Behind the Black. :-)

  • Milt

    This kind of goes back to the idea that Commercial Space (aka Capitalism) is one of the next important sunrise industries — part and parcel of the reindustrialization of this country — and its growth and profits will help to fund and create the infrastructure of the future. (As of this moment, has anyone figured out what percentage of our GDP comes from this sector? Likewise, its projected contribution in the future.)

    What SpaceX is doing in Boca Chica is a perfect example of how our traditional system works to the benefit of everyone, even if nobody in California, Washington State, or New York City has a glimmer. Instead, they seem to believe that “free stuff” like beach access improvements (or low cost housing and groceries) just happens, and there need be nothing in the way of creating the real wealth of actual goods and services to generate a surplus that can then be used in such a fashion. “Wealth without productive work.” Wouldn’t it be nice.

  • mkent: The commission had its meeting today to address the Space Force/SpaceX proposal. I expect we shall see reports by tomorrow, which I am definitely planning to post and comment on. All evidence suggests the commission was going to reject the proposal, though it has no power to impose its will.

    More to come tomorrow.

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