TribCast: How long til there’s a Buc-ee’s on Mars?

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It’s Space Day at the Capitol, and TribCast is going intergalactic. Matthew and Eleanor are joined by Glenn Hamer, president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business, to talk about Texas’ long history with space exploration, what the aeronautics industry wants from the Legislature and whether Elon Musk’s outsized role in the federal government will impact his space enterprise. Matthew also defends his opposition to using “Houston, we have a problem,” in Tribune stories, and the gang contemplates how quickly we’d get on a commercial spaceflight to Mars.

Watch the video above. Or you can subscribe to the TribCast on on iTunes, Spotify, or RSS.

This week’s episode is sponsored by Texas State Technical College.

Disclosure: Texas Association of Business has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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We can’t wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas’ breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more.

Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025.

TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.