SpaceX close to testing Starship prototype in first step toward interplanetary flight
SpaceX could start testing its Starship prototype, a space vehicle it says will take humans to Mars, this week at Boca Chica Beach near Brownsville.
The Starship vehicle could one day carry travelers to Mars atop a powerful rocket. The Starship integrated with the Super Heavy Rocket, previously called BFR, is expected to be more powerful than the Saturn V rocket that NASA used to propel astronauts to the moon.
And it’s not the first SpaceX test vehicle to be in Texas. In McGregor, where SpaceX tests its rocket engines, the Grasshopper reusable rocket prototype was used to perfect the guidance, navigation and control systems for landing a rocket booster vertically. The prototype’s namesake comes from its large, insectlike landing gear. The Grasshopper started with hops of only a matter of inches, but ultimately it flew half a mile into the air.
Texans embrace online services for groceries
About 24 percent of Texans have used an online grocery pickup service, according to a national survey of 2,000 online shoppers by Offers.com. Nationally, 23 percent of Americans have used a grocery pickup service, according to the online couponing website.
Texans lag when it comes to online grocery delivery services, the survey found. About 15 percent of Texans have used a grocery delivery service while 19 percent nationally have used the service.
Walmart is the top choice for Texans using grocery pickup services, followed by grocery chains such as H-E-B and Kroger, according to Offers.com. Instacart is the top pick for Texans using grocery delivery services, followed by other delivery services such as Amazon and ShipIt.
The majority of Texans and Americans have yet to try online grocery ordering, according to Offers.com. The top concerns Texans have about the service are the potential for extra fees, followed by the freshness of the produce.
WeWork Labs is bringing incubator to local market
WeWork Labs, a business incubator catering to early-stage companies, has entered the Houston market.
With about 80 desks in the Jones on Main building, at 708 Main downtown, WeWork Labs said it will provide work spaces, programming, mentorship and connections startups need to succeed.
It's a newer service from WeWork, the coworking company that started in New York City in 2010 and quickly grew into a unicorn, the term used for a private company valued at more than $1 billion (WeWork has been rumored to be eyeing an IPO). The parent company has 425 locations across 27 countries, including 12 Texas locations spread across Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and Plano. It plans to make San Antonio its sixth Texas city.
Compensation by hour for employees down in December
Hourly compensation, including salaries and benefits, dropped in the Southwestern U.S. in December compared to the period a year prior.
The cost to employers of compensating workers in the region averaged $31.72 an hour in the last month of the year, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week, down about 29 cents from the year earlier. Nationally, average hourly compensation rose year-overyear by 45 cents.
Wages accounted for $22.90 of the total compensation, and benefits for $8.82 in December in the Southwest region, which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.
Nationally, total hourly compensation averaged $36.32. Of that, benefits averaged $11.41 in December, and accounted for a little more than 30 percent of the total compensation cost per hour.