SpaceX prepares for "historic" sixth launch

BOCA CHICA, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The sixth SpaceX launch is expected to happen Tuesday and hundreds of people are in the area ready for the historic event.

Louis Balderas from LabPadre Space said people who witnessed last month’s launch can expect a similar show. For first-timers, he said expect to feel the sonic boom.

“Expect to have your chest shake for a few minutes and then as this super heavy comes back down we are going to have a huge sonic boom that is going to pierce you like you wouldn’t believe," Balderas said.

The launch aims to test the landing capture system of the booster while the upper stage continues to splash down in the Indian Ocean. The afternoon launch window is also no coincidence.

“They are doing it in the afternoon because by the time the starship reaches the Indian Ocean, it is dark over there with morning ones, so they want to get better video for their research and their data," Balderas said.

Hundreds of people lined up on Boca Chica Road early Monday. Many believe like Austinite Minto Tsai that this is the first true step to Mars.

"At some point, we will be able to land rockets on Mars," Tsai said. "Probably put robots and build a whole city and stuff like that and then maybe send some wild people to go and build up a base over there.”

Tasi also believes that more frequent launches will speed up the process of developing the perfect rocket to reach the Red Planet. He and others say they will not leave even if the launch is once again postponed like in the case of Javed Rehman, who comes from Houston.

“I was initially going to fly out on Tuesday morning," Rehman said. "Now, it is Tuesday night. And, my flight is in Harlingen, and it's at seven, so I hope there are not of delays that I am going to have to come back.”

Rehman said he would not miss the "historic" launch and would like to be part of more launches as well.

News about President-Elect Donald Trump’s visit to the Rio Grande Valley also broke while many people were in Boca Chica. Many are excited and see it as a way for the president-elect to pay back the support that Elon Musk provided him during the campaign.

“Elon made a big bet," Tsai said. "He went in all on Trump to get someone voted in that is going to help him cut regulations and unnecessary rules and make things go faster.”