Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Kwajalein and Rockets


Hi Everyone,

I am officially in the middle of nowhere, writing a blog from Kwajalein Atholl, where Spacex, my brother's company, is launching their first rocket in a few days.

First of all, if you think you've been to a place that is fairly remote, then you should consider comparing it to Kwaj. For most of you, the best way to summarize it is that neither Fedex nor UPS deliver here. Now that's crazy.

Some Kwaj facts:
Guam is closest at 1,400 miles away, Hawaii is 2,100 miles away
It's the largest Atholl in the world
Population 2,500
It has a runway and a small military base.

Not much else to say actually. But it's perfect for launching rockets!


Kwajalein is in the middle of nowhere.


On the way in, we did a fly-by of the island where the rocket will launch from. It's about five miles from Kwajalein.
Spacex's Island



Just your basic rocket island.


Directions from the Kwajalein Airport.


The Houston of SpaceX.

All rocket management happens in this Control Room. No one is allowed within three miles of the rocket when it launches. There are no windows in this room. It's freaky.


The main view of the rocket from Control Room.


The ocean as seen from Kwaj.



The beaches aren't the big draw here.



Spacex's headquarters. Can anyone say Dr. Evil?

I don't know what the HUUUUGGGE structure is above the Spacex Control Room, but it's scary looking. You don't get a warm and fuzzy feeling when you walk outside. I feel like they should be handing out lead underwear.

That's it for today. I'm excited about trying the local restaurant. It's actually the military cafeteria, but people here like to call it the local restaurant. That should make for an interesting blog tomorrow.

Have a good one.

Kimbal

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25 comments:

Pedro SOUSA said...

A historic blog post like this and no comments? What's up with that??

Alvian said...

Maybe when BFR/Starship landed on Mars, this will get a lot of attention, just wait & see ;D

David Rafael Interian Maza said...

3rd comment really ? Wow I can wait to see starship flys

Unknown said...

4th comment, and 4th Falcon made it to orbit;)

Yeah lets hope for a successfull Starship development:)

WillyWonka said...

IFA for Dragon soon... Falcon's long road to safely transporting humans into space.

Manson Thomas said...

I love the paradise island and Doctor Evil headquater !

I wonder if it's still there and open for visiting !

Daniel Ely Rankin said...

Thanks for the time capsule link Kimbal!

TED said...

love this stuff. landed here from thirdrowteslapodcast


💙

Bo said...

I can see a whole bunch of historic stuff getting commented on a decade plus after being recorded after that podcast :D

Kris Swaim said...

4:10

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Vlad said...

It's very cool to see where it all began ... a wonderful story that is not over yet! We are waiting for the Starship and the journey to Mars! Thanks, youtube chanel "Илон Маск" (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCZBv-FBNdxoE87xae9eC6g) and Third Row Tesla Podcast!

Привет из Украины! Ukraine is rooting for Elon!

Michael Connolly said...

Cool blog Kimbal!

guillemcaballe said...

I'm leaving this comment here to tell my grandkids I commented before they reached Mars

Ahdam said...

this blog is amazing :)

Srishti Verma said...

I will think on it again, nice post, and keep posting

Alexa echo dot

GabeGilliam said...

This was truly amazing reading through these old blog posts. I hope Google continues to keep this alive. Looking forward to watching SpaceX launch their first crewed Dragon this Saturday.

fab.mancino said...

I cannot believe here's the history, wild and pristine like the atoll. Uncle Elon (as I like to call him) will forever be the inspiration for me as for my generation (and who knows how many beyond our one). This blog should be data crystallised in space beside Starman.

Ken said...

Just want to be part of history. Thank you Kimbal for recording it!

Unknown said...

Really cool , to think that this all happened in the 2000's. Feels like it has been around forever. Technology really has grown exponentially in the past 2 decades or so , the Smartphones , the Internet , digital financing , the self landing rockets ,etc.
AI is potentially the next big thing in the next 15-20 years . Awesome .This stuff is going to be written in the history books.

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Unknown said...

Part of Space History is this Blog. 17/03/2021 We re about to witness the SN11 Starship Prototype to fly in the following days. crew is healthy and waiting for further i structions. Time capsule in the making ..zzzaaap

Akhmat Draxler/Kabylbekov said...

Чёт все на английском пишут, но да ладно.
Спасибо каналу Илон Маск за перевод подкаста, с удовольствием прочитаю этот блог и посмотрю как всё начиналось :)

Akhmat Draxler/Kabylbekov said...

И да, здесь был Ахмат)))