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The three-mile wide, 4.5 billion-year-old NEOWISE comet is currently visible over Texas and has brought out observers and photographers, like Austin-based Erin Newman-Mitchell, who took this shot in Cranfills Gap, Texas and posted the image to Instagram.
<p>It was <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CClbaZmF44D/" target="_blank">not the first time</a> Newman-Mitchell shot the NEOWISE comet, which first appeared earlier this month and will remain visible until about <a href="https://www.kbtx.com/2020/07/15/how-to-spot-comet-neowise/#:~:text=It%20will%20be%20visible%20until%20mid%2DAugust&text=The%20comet's%20moniker%20is%20Neowise,toward%20the%20outer%20solar%20system." target="_blank">mid-August</a>. It won't come this close to us again <a href="https://www.space.com/comet-neowise-strange-facts.html" target="_blank">for about 6,800 years</a>.</p><p>See where the comet will be in relation to other constellations <a href="https://earthsky.org/space/how-to-see-comet-c2020-f3-neowise" target="_blank">here</a>. Read tips on how to see it over Austin <a href="https://www.kxan.com/weather/weather-blog/comet-neowise-now-visible-as-it-approaches-earth/" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="341b8ca25aea71820a8beac601f41d48" id="9c932"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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Austin will soon be home to Tesla's fourth Gigafactory. The company's other factories are in Fremont, California; Sparks, Nevada (shown here); and Buffalo, New York.
A new site plan filed by electric carmaker Tesla provides another glimpse at the company's forthcoming $1.1 billion, 2,100-acre Gigafactory in southeast Travis County.
<p>Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the plan outlines "a huge & spectacular facility," <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TexansForAbbott/posts/10164380574395088" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>in a Facebook post</u></a>. "Construction equipment (has) been hard at work for weeks at the site where Tesla will build electric vehicles & may cast an even larger vision," he wrote.</p><p>The <a href="https://abc.austintexas.gov/public-search-other?t_detail=1&t_selected_folderrsn=12520107&t_selected_propertyrsn=156696" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>document</u></a> lays out Tesla's plan for 280 acres of the site, including the construction of a massive vehicle manufacturing plant that, including parking space, will cover 7.9 million square feet. </p><p>But it remains unclear what the company plans to do with the remaining 1,820 acres.</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allowfullscreen="" aria-hidden="false" frameborder="0" height="450" src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m14!1m8!1m3!1d91499.73240710868!2d-97.69132077972772!3d30.22567775834569!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x8644b75ba3b47c31%3A0x729bb90d7d737f1!2sHarold%20Green%20Rd%2C%20Texas%2078725!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1600449459810!5m2!1sen!2sus" style="border:0;" tabindex="0" width="600"></iframe></div><p>Some analysts <a href="https://www.statesman.com/business/20200808/austin-factory-key-tool-in-teslarsquos-race-against-auto-industry-giants" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>have speculated</u></a> that, in addition to producing <a href="https://austonia.com/future/tesla-cybertruck" target="_self"><u>the Cybertruck pickup</u></a> and Model Y SUV, the Austin factory may also manufacture batteries, <a href="https://www.tesla.com/gigafactory" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>similar to the one in Nevada</u></a>.</p><p>There has also been <a href="https://www.builtinaustin.com/2020/07/23/tesla-austin-gigafactory-confirmed-hiring" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>chatter</u></a> that Tesla may consider relocating its headquarters from California, where CEO Elon Musk has <a href="https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/10/elon-musks-latest-fight-with-alameda-county-follows-familiar-path/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>clashed with county officials</u></a> over coronavirus orders, to Texas. </p><p>Musk announced Austin would be home to the next Gigafactory <a href="https://austonia.com/technology/tesla-coming-to-austin" target="_self"><u>in late July</u></a>, after a competitive selection process that saw <a href="https://austonia.com/technology/tesla-factory-austin-2646383822" target="_self"><u>Del Valle ISD</u></a> and <a href="https://austonia.com/business/austin-gigafactory" target="_self"><u>Travis County</u></a> offer the company tax rebates for building the factory in their jurisdictions.</p><p>In early August, construction supplier Martin Marietta disclosed it had sold the factory site—at the intersection of SH 130 and Harold Green Road, near the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport—to a Tesla entity for $97 million, <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2020/08/07/tesla-buys-far-east-austin-factory-site-for-97m.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>according to the Austin Business Journal</u></a>. </p><p>Prior to both announcements, however, the site was a hotbed of construction activity as Tesla began reclamation work, that <a href="https://austonia.com/future/tesla-site-austin" target="_self"><u>a city staffer said</u></a> "would be the first step in preparing the site for future development."<br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
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<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">New Tesla Gigafactory site in Austin, Texas</small>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=5w46XttA_Yw&feature=emb_logo" target="_blank">(youtube)</a></small>
</p><p>The first substantial completion, or construction milestone, is scheduled for next spring with the full factory expected to be up and running by the end of 2021, a spokesperson for the Austin Chamber of Commerce confirmed to Austonia, .</p><p>As proposed, the factory will provide at least 5,000 jobs, not including the thousands of construction workers who will build the facility.</p><p>The company currently has <a href="https://www.tesla.com/careers/search#/?region=5&country=0&city=9&state=21" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>21 Austin-based job postings</u></a> for the Gigafactory, including a construction project manager and site architect, in addition to other postings for jobs such as <a href="https://www.tesla.com/careers/job/video-gamesengineerinfotainmentsoftware-68339" target="_blank">game developers</a>. </p><p>Some of Musk's other ventures are also looking to lay down roots in the Austin area, including his <a href="https://austonia.com/elon-musk-neuralink-austin">"Fitbit in your skull" startup</a>, Neuralink, which is hiring four positions locally. </p><p><br/></p><p><strong>More on Elon Musk and Austin:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/elon-musk-neuralink-austin" target="_self">Elon Musk's brain-connected computer startup Neuralink is hiring in Austin</a></h2>
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