SpaceX Founder Comment Sparks Outrage with Boca Chica Reside
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NEAR BROWNSVILLE – Controversial comments from SpaceX founder Elon Musk has Boca Chica Village residents upset.
The launch of the Falcon Heavy in Florida Wednesday went off without a hitch.
It's the comments Musk made afterward that has people in the area upset.
"It's just ridiculous," said Boca Chica Village resident Gale McConaughey said. "Either he's not very well informed by his people or he's got his head in the clouds."
When asked how soon flights would be going to the moon or Mars, Musk talked about the necessary test flights that would need to take place first.
"Most likely it's going to happen at our Brownsville location because we've got a lot of land with nobody around, and so if it blows up, it's cool," he replied.
His comment is not sitting well with McConaughey.
"He's been out here before. He damn sure ought to know that he's seen the village. He ought to know it's not a ghost town," he said.
McConaughey and his wife have been living at Boca Chica Village every winter for the past 11 years. He said he's offended that he and the other residents are considered "nobody."
It also raises questions, he adds, about how safe the launches will be.
"A rocket that size or any size, that would go up and who knows what might happen? It might start tipping the wrong direction, who knows," McConaughey said, "if something happens to the engines and it explodes, that's cool? When you are talking about there's lives here, that's a mile and a half away?"
CHANNEL 5 NEWS decided to check how far the launch site is from Boca Chica Village. A quick drive from one point to the other revealed McConaughey's estimations are on point.
The village is 1.5 miles from the launch pad.
McConaughey said, for him, Musk's comments reveal even more about the future of this small community.
"We don't think that they are going to want us here. Eventually, they're going to want everybody out. Apparently, nobody lives here now,” he said.
SpaceX has already purchased several homes at Boca Chica Village but the McConaugheys have no plans of selling their home.
We reached out to SpaceX for comment on Musk's remarks but they had not returned our request as of news time Thursday.
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