1. Jan. 22-28, 2016 Proudly serving Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties Vol. 16, No. 47
By Alex Kacik
Staff Writer
Many tri-county jurisdictions are banning
the commercial cultivation and delivery of
medical marijuana, a move that will upend the
industry.
Dispensariesanddeliveryservicesthrough-
outtheregionmaybeforcedtosourcethecash
cropoutsideoftheirrespectivecitiesandcoun-
tiesorshutdownaltogether.Thoseintheindus-
try argue that would hurt the local economy,
leavepatientswithoutpropermedicineandforce
more operations underground.
On Jan. 19, Santa Barbara County became
thelatestjurisdictionintheTri-Countiestoban
commercial cultivation.
Yet its ban only applies to new growers and
ones that do not follow state law. It would also
allowlaw-abidingdeliveryservicesthatarecur-
rentlyoperating.Butthatbanisoneoftheleast
restrictive in the region.
Cities and counties throughout the area
have admittedly rushed ordinances to control
how medical marijuana is sold, grown and
Tri-Counties race to control pot
Markets are quirky things.
They sail along for a while and then
wham, turbulence arrives.
Twice in the past six months we’ve
seentwomarketmeltdowns—thelat-
estputtheU.S.indicesdeepintocorrec-
tion territory.
My own takeaway is that we are
not in the middle of a full-blown finan-
cial crisis; there’s been too much capi-
tal in the banking system, there is not a
bigdebtbubbleandtheeconomyistoo
strong to fold like it did in 2008.
But the rules of the game suddenly
shifted and they are not likely to shift
back anytime soon.
Here’s a closer look:
First,profitsarecomingbackintovogue.The
prices of AppFolio of Goleta and MindBody of
San Luis Obispo — our two highly successful
IPOs — are well below their initial public of-
feringprices.Botharereallylate-stagestartups
VC Credit
Unionmaps
expansion
By Alex Kacik
Staff Writer
The Ventura County Credit Union will soon
expandintoitsnewheadquarters,continuingto
signaltheindustry’sgrowththroughouttheTri-
Counties.
Ventura County Credit Union has out-
grown its 19,000-square-foot headquarters at
6026 Telephone Road and plans to move into
2575 Vista Del Mar Drive in mid-February.
The 73,000-square-foot former Affinity Group
headquarterswillhouseabout100employees.
The credit union has grown consistently
over the past several years, adding a branch in
Moorpark in April and one in Port Hueneme
two years ago. It also looks to open its eighth
branch mid-year at The Collection in Oxnard,
said Linda Rossi, chief administrative officer.
VCCU aims to lease out the other half of its
newheadquartersthatitpurchasedin2014for
anundisclosedprice.Thecreditunionalsoplans
to maintain and expand its branch at the Tele-
phone Road location.
“We’vehadsomegoodyearsfinanciallyover
the last several years,” Rossi said. “Once the
Here’showtonavigateanotherstockmarketmeltdown
see MARIJUANA on page 19A
see CREDIT UNION on page 19A
see DUBROFF on page 17A
henry
dubroff
Editor
$1.50
Thousand Oaks’Ceres
struggles to survive
See page 3A
Small Business
Switchel comes to the
Central Coast
See page 7A
THE INDEX
THE LIST: Municipalities.... . . . . . 15A
Commentary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16A
Leads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12A
Newsmakers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5A
REAL ESTATE . . . . . . . . . 4A
Designing the Funk Zone
NONPROFITS. . . . . . . . . 6A
Children’s museum shakeup
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Vandenberg Air Force Base on Jan. 17.
Taking off
By Philip Joens
Staff Writer
With a thunderous blast, a Falcon 9
rocket launched from Vandenberg Air
Force Base on a critical mission for
SpaceX on Jan. 17.
Because it was hidden by mountain
fog and clouds, few, if any, of the thou-
sands of spectators gathered near Van-
denberg saw the rocket take off.
But the tourists had a big impact on
the Lompoc area economy.
The region around Vandenberg was
frenetic in the hours leading up to the
launch. Cars buzzed around normally
tranquil roads like bees in a beehive,
creating rare traffic jams. In the Van-
denberg Visitor’s Center, guests packed
the small building, occupying all chairs
SPACEXCOURTESYPHOTO
see SPACE on page 19A
SpaceXlaunchhelpsLompocgaintourists

2. 18A Pacific Coast Business Times Jan. 22-28, 2016 Jan. 22-28, 2016 Pacific Coast Business Times 19A
CERES
Continued from page 3A
TOURISM
Continued from page 3A
STREET SMARTS
Continued from page 3A
MARIJUANA
Continued from page 1A
CREDIT UNION
Continued from page 1A
SPACE
Continued from page 1A
Ceres has worked for years to develop sorghum as a biofuel crop.
COURTESYPHOTO
transported. If they didn’t act by March 1,
they fear, more lax state laws would go into
effect. Most jurisdictions are buying some
timetoseethestate’snextplayandeventu-
ally craft better ordinances.
Yet,abillmovingthroughthelegislature
may render all their efforts moot.
If AB 21 passes, it may extend or remove
the March 1 deadline altogether, which As-
semblyman Jim Wood (D-Healdsburg)
called an “inadvertent drafting error.”
Wood’s AB 21 would also strip the power
from local authorities to regulate medical
marijuana operations.
A representative of Assemblymember
Das Williams (D-Santa Barbara) said that
there’s a 99 percent chance that the March
deadline will be extended or eliminated.
“Creatingandpassingarushedordinance
under time constraints would likely cause
more problems than it would solve,” said
Williams’representativeCameronSchunkat
the Jan. 19 Santa Barbara County Board of
Supervisors meeting.
Someofthoseunintendedconsequences
wouldbedenyingpatientslife-savingmedi-
cineandlosingoutontaxrevenue,manyof
thepubliccommentersatthemeetingargued.
Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande and Pismo
Beachhavedecidedtobanmedicalmarijua-
na cultivation and delivery completely.
“We use the growers in our area, now I
have to deal with people in LA and Hum-
bolt,” Paso Robles-based delivery service
Dubs Green Garden owner Ernest Hall told
theBusinessTimes.“Thecityhasbeenmak-
ing money off these growers for 20 years.
Nowthey’retryingtooverturnsomethingthe
whole state voted on.”
Two decades ago, California voters ap-
proved a ballot measure that legalized the
sale of medical marijuana to licensed Cali-
forniapatients,butittookthestateuntilOc-
tober2015toregulatethepracticesystemati-
cally.
Whilethepoliticalandpunitivelandscape
isshifting,growingandsellingmedicalmar-
ijuana is still a felony under federal law.
Unlike the cities of Goleta and Santa
Barbara, which allow five dispensaries col-
lectively,VenturaCountyoutlawsbrick-and-
mortardispensaries.CitiesinVenturaCoun-
ty allowed delivery services until recently.
Simi Valley, Fillmore, Ventura and Thou-
sandOaksareamongthecitiesthatbanned
delivery of medical marijuana. Camarillo
also prohibits the delivery of medical mari-
juana,exceptthosemadebyaprimarycare-
giver to a licensed patient.
This leaves Ventura-based delivery ser-
vice Sespe Creek Collective in limbo.
“Wearesuchanagriculturalcountyhere,”
Sespe owner Chelsea Sutula said. “There’s
noreasonweshouldn’tbetakingadvantage
of the biggest cash crop in the world.”
Growers and distributors in Ventura
County are collecting signatures for a peti-
tion to implement a placeholder ordinance
rather than an outright ban, Sutula added.
A similar movement is forming in San Luis
Obispo County, Hall said.
“There are too many people relying on
me for their cancer treatment, migraines,
chronicpain,suicidalthoughts,”Sutulasaid.
“I can’t tell those people ‘no.’ I’m going to
keepdoingwhatI’mdoinguntilthere’sabet-
tersolutiononthetableorthesheriffserves
us a warrant.”
Joe Allen, a Santa Barbara attorney who
alsoaimstoopenadispensaryat3627State
St., said that some of his clients are looking
into converting their greenhouses to grow
medical marijuana.
“It’sahigherprofitmodelthantulips,”he
previously told the Business Times.
Those who oppose medical marijuana
cultivationarguethatthedrugposesnegative
healthandsafetyimpactsandisadetriment
to the community. While Second District
SantaBarbaraCountySupervisorJanetWolf
said her constituents complain about the
smell,lightingandsecurityissues,ThirdDis-
trict Supervisor Doreen Farr said she hasn’t
heard anything from her district.
“I don’t want to take what seems to be a
pretty viable industry and make it illegal,”
Santa Barbara County Planning Commis-
sionerDanielBloughsaidataJan.7meeting.
Some jurisdictions have permitted per-
sonalcultivationinlieuofcommercialgrow-
ing. But the people who often need it the
mostdonothavethespace,means,abilityor
expertise to grow it, officials said.
“People are still going to grow, they
will just go underground with it,” Hall said.
“This is something that’s never going to be
stopped.”
won’t displace food crops. For years, Ceres
hasworkedtodevelopbiofuelsusingplants
likesorghum,switchgrassandmiscanthus.
Most trials take place in Brazil, though Ce-
res also conducts trials in places like China
and Puerto Rico.
Sugarcane ethanol is a popular fuel
sourceinBrazilandCereswantedsorghum
fuel to replace sugarcane ethanol after the
200-daysugarcanegrowingseasonended.
In2011,thecompanysuccessfullyplant-
ed sweet sorghum plants in Brazil after
growingtheplantsandproducingbiofuels
in itslab.ThecompanypartneredwithBoa
Vista/Nova Fronteira — a massive Brazil-
ianbiofuelsjointventure—toplant,harvest
andprocessacommercial-scalecropusing
existing infrastructure and equipment.
The success virtually doubled the value
ofthecompanyovernight,accordingtose-
curities filings, and made an initial public
offering feasible. Ceres also staffed up in
Brazil.
SIGNS OF TROUBLE
Ceres’futuremayhavebeenforetoldby
a fiasco surrounding its IPO in February
2012.Quickaccesstocapitalwasoneofthe
primaryreasonsCereswentpublic,butthe
result was nothing like the comeback vic-
tories engineered by the famed Green Bay
Packer quarterback.
Ceres planned to go public on Feb. 9,
2012, raise $132 million and sell shares be-
tween $21 and $23. The IPO was pushed
back a week and the price dropped to be-
tween $16 and $17. After being delayed
again, Ceres finally went public on Feb. 22,
2012, when 5 million shares sold for $13
and raised $65 million. At the time, it was
seen as a liquidity move because the offer-
ing made up just 20 percent of Ceres’ com-
mon stock.
Ceres held another offering in March
2014 and raised another $23 million, which
itpromptlyinvestedinmoresorghumtests
in Brazil. In October 2014, the NASDAQ
delisted Ceres’ stock. It now trades on the
NASDAQ Capital Market.
Vista Del Mar space is all leased out, it will
be a break-even proposition for us.”
Bank Transfer Day in 2011, an initiative
callingforavoluntaryswitchfromcommer-
cial banks to nonprofit credit unions, was a
shot in the arm for VCCU, Rossi said. It tout-
editstax-exemptstatusthatcanallowcredit
unionstoofferlowerfeesandbetterratesto
itsmembers—allofwhomhaveanowner-
shipstake.Rossisaidthatsearch-engineop-
timizationandonlinemarketinghelpeddraw
a younger crowd.
The $690 million-asset institution also
rampedupitscommunityinvolvementand
hiredsomedevelopmentmanagers.Ithasex-
periencedsignificantgrowthinitsrealestate,
credit card and auto loans, Rossi said.
“Since2014,ourloangrowthforusacross
theboardhasbeenoffthecharts,”Rossisaid.
VCCU also recently started a founda-
tionthataimstohelpothernonprofitsgrow.
Rossi said she hopes it fills the void left by
thedownsizingoftheVenturaCountyCom-
munityFoundation,whichcloseditsCenter
for Nonprofit Leadership in September.
VCCU along with SESLOC Federal
Credit Union and CoastHills Credit Union
are continuing to expand their presence in
the region.
SESLOC, which has more than $700 mil-
lioninassets,planstoopenitsfirstbranchin
Santa Barbara County at 2506 S. Broadway
in Santa Maria in February.
Tri-countycreditunionscontinuetogain
marketshareastheyfillthevoidleftbybank
consolidations, SESLOC President and CEO
Geri LaChance said.
“Giventhemergersandacquisitionsofthe
banksinthearea,thenumberofconvenient
branches and affordable offerings like free
checking accounts are limited,” LaChance
previously said. “There’s definitely room for
us to expand our services (in Santa Maria)
and give its residents more choice.”
CoastHills, which has more than
$850millioninassets,hiredseveralnewem-
ployees last year to facilitate its expansion.
It hired Suzanne Leedale, former chief
executive officer of SLO Credit Union, as its
vicepresidentofbranchoperations.Leedale,
along with several other employees it hired
in 2015, will facilitate its expansion into new
territories, the company said.
Tri-countycreditunionsloanedoutmore
than $2 billion in the third quarter of 2015,
themostsince2005.Thatwasa19.8percent
increase from 2014, according to data from
the National Credit Union Administration.
The majority stemmed from new car
loans, which surged 71.6 percent in 2015.
“This was one of the most significant
years for auto loan growth in the tri-county
area,” LaChance previously said.
Used auto loans jumped 36.4 percent,
business loans grew 28.2 percent and first
mortgage loans increased 14.5 percent.
The region’s credit unions spent
$147.9milliononemployeesandoperations
fromthirdquarter2014tothirdquarter2015.
They grew their workforce almost 10
percentto663employees,accordingtothe
NCUA.
Yet, many banks are wary of the uneven
regulatory field. The Independent Commu-
nityBankersofAmerica,anadvocacygroup
for community banks, has urged Congress
to review the federal tax subsidy for credit
unions.Creditunionsaren’tnearlyasheavily
regulated as banks, said Chris Myers, presi-
dent and CEO of Citizens Business Bank.
“There is a lot of support for standard-
izing the regulation for credit unions and
banks,” Myers previously said.
As for VCCU, it’s full steam ahead. It
looks to expand into Santa Barbara next.
“We agreed that additional expansion in
VenturaCountymadesensebeforelooking
to Santa Barbara to grow,” Rossi said.
received$150,000ingrantsfromtheWalmart
Foundation to bolster its program in Santa
Maria and North Santa Barbara County.
The money will help families enroll in the
SNAP program and reduce food insecurity
throughout Santa Barbara County.
• Kudos to President-elect Jason Diani
and other members of the Santa Maria Ro-
tarywhoraised$21,200insupportofthepe-
diatricintensivecareunitatMarianRegional
Medical Center.
• Actor Jamie Foxx saved a man from a
burningcaroutsideFoxx’shomenearThou-
sand Oaks on Jan. 18. The Good Samaritan
said he is “not a hero.” We disagree.
QUITE A CAREER
Santa Ynez Valley Cottage Hospital cel-
ebrated the 62-year nursing career of Fran-
ces Carricaburu, RN, who spent a total of
27 years at the Cottage Hospital unit before
retiring in December.
She also worked at the now-closed St.
Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara.
FINAL SCENES
• IN POLITICS: Influential San Luis
Obispo attorney Michael Morris and wife
Sandy held a fundraiser for Katcho Achad-
jian; former state Sen. Sam Blakeslee en-
dorsesJohnPeschongforcountysupervisor.
• GOLD COASTING: Gold Coast Tran-
sit has taken the wraps off a revamped cus-
tomer service and transit center in Oxnard.
• SEEING RED: Pal Rick Lemmo of
Caruso Affiliated and Julia Ladd of Ma-
cerich will co-chair the annual Ventura
County Go Red for Women luncheon at the
Four Seasons Westlake Village on Feb. 5.
Los Robles Hospital, Caruso, UCLA Health,
Cal Lutheran and the Oaks shopping center
are sponsors. Get more information from
Danielle.sanchez@heart.org.
streams to become Goleta’s largest
source of revenue, said City Manager
Michelle Greene.
“Iftherestofthecountywouldearn
money like the Transient Occupancy
Tax, we’d be very wealthy,” said Robert
Geis, Santa Barbara County auditor-
controller.
In other news, the city of Solvang
hasbegunacceptingChinesecurrency
to promote international tourism and
Plains All American Pipeline contrib-
utedfundstotheGoletaandSantaBar-
bara chambers of commerce to offset
losses from the oil spill off the Gaviota
coast in May 2015.
“This is a pretty cool thing that we
areabletogetthisextrafundingtoam-
plify our marketing efforts,” said Kris-
ten Miller, CEO of the Goleta Valley
Chamber of Commerce. “We had actu-
ally just started a branding campaign
for Goleta when the oil release hap-
pened,soitwasevenmoreimportantto
usthatweprojectourgoodreputation
and that’s what we’ll be doing with the
increased funding.”
While Plains did not disclose the
amount of the contribution, Miller said
it met goals the chambers had set for
those programs.
The money will also help create a
seafood and fishing industry associa-
tion in coordination with the Greater
Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce
and Visit Santa Barbara.
Officials said construction projects
in Goleta and along the 246 corridor
are nearing their end and successful
partnerships with CalTrans and the
Tourism Business Improvement Dis-
trict resulted in bridge improvements,
greenbikelanesandanelectricvehicle
charging station at the Camino Real
marketplace.
In July, the company raised $1.5 million
when it sold 1.2 million shares to institu-
tional investors for $1.29 per share. Ceres
later raised $1.7 million after selling about
1.6 million shares for $1.22 each to institu-
tional investors in August.
Its market cap of $2.36 million is down
from $12.5 million about a year ago and
$30 million in May 2014. An April reverse
stocksplitreducedtheamountofcommon
stock from 48 million shares to 6 million
shares and momentarily propped up the
stock price from 37 cents to $2.80.
In its November annual report, Ceres
said revenues grew from $2.4 million in
2014 to $2.72 million in 2015. That is still
downfromthe$5.24millionCeresmadein
2013. Ceres also listed net losses of greater
than $28 million for each of the past five
years.
With the exception of 2003, 2005 and
2006, the company has not generated an-
nual profits since its inception. As of Aug.
31, 2015, the company had lost $332.1 mil-
lion in its history.
In its most recent report filed Jan. 14 for
thequarterthatendedNov.30,Cereslisted
cashandcashequivalentsofjust$3.44mil-
lion, down from $8 million last year.
As of Nov. 10, Ceres had 44 employees,
downfrom81atthesametimein2014and
96 in 2012. In June, Ceres cut 14 adminis-
trativeandmanufacturingjobsinBraziland
twopositionsinThousandOaks.InAugust,
Ceres eliminated another 19 positions in
Brazil. The cuts should save the company
$8 million to $10 million in 2016.
“Thesechangesrepresentanimportant
step in the transformation of our business
as we refocus on our strengths in agricul-
turaltechnologyanddirectourattentionto
markets being fueled by global prosperity
growth,” said CEO Richard Hamilton in a
June news release.
UNFORSEEN FACTORS
A variety of factors put Ceres in the
pickle it’s in now. The most important was
the collapse of the Brazilian economy, said
Jim Lane, editor and publisher of Biofuels
Digest, which tracks the industry closely.
“They were really struck by the Brazil-
ian slowdown,” Lane said. “The financial
downturn has been a cruel setback.”
In its 2015 annual report, Ceres even in-
cluded a warning for investors.
“Wedonotanticipatedeclaringanycash
dividends in the foreseeable future,” the
report said. “Consequently, investors may
needtorelyonsalesoftheircommonstock
after price appreciation, which may never
occur, as the only way to realize any future
gains on their investment. Investors seek-
ingcashdividendsshouldnotpurchaseour
Common Stock.”
In August, the stock briefly spiked from
$1 to $4.90 when Ceres announced it re-
ceived a patent for its iCODE multi-gene
trait development system. The iCODE sys-
temwasdevelopedtorapidlycreate,select
and develop combinations of genes and
traits for genetically-modified crops.
“Seed and trait companies rely on in-
tellectual property protection, and iCODE
couldplayakeyroleforcompaniesattempt-
ingtoaccessthisnewIPlandscape,”Hamil-
ton said in a news release.
FOOD FUTURE
Ceresannouncedarestructuringplanin
July that focused on developing seeds for
food crops like alfalfa and corn. The plan
appears to be working. In its most recent
earnings call on Jan. 14, Ceres said rev-
enuesjumped135percentto$942,000from
$400,000 during last year’s first quarter.
Hamilton was giddy on the call.
“The first quarter marked a significant
improvement for the company,” Hamilton
said. “Revenues were up, expenses were
downandweexecutedaccordingtoplan.”
Ceres’newfocusappearstobeapplying
its old ag-biotech research to a new sector.
Hamiltonsaidthefoodandforagesectoris
farbetterinBrazilthanthebiofuelindustry.
“We have substantially completed our
shiftawayfrombio-energyinBrazil,where
theeconomicnewsaroundoilpricesandthe
Brazilianeconomycontinuestodeteriorate
andourdecisiontorefocusthecompanyon
forageandfeedapplicationsappearsbetter
and better each day.”
If Ceres can raise capital to stay afloat,
Lane said, the company’s future could be
bright.
“We’reaworldshortonfood,”Lanesaid.
“Diets are shifting toward things that are
moredifficulttoproduce.Thatsayspeople
really see tech has a role to play.”
andleavingmanyguestsstandingasthey
waited for access to the base.
Others pitched lawn chairs next to
roads and in parks, several miles north
of the launch site. A handful even found
their way to cracked concrete bleach-
ers built decades ago during an aban-
doned plan to launch the space shuttle
from Vandenberg. Three visitors at that
site, some 15 miles north of the SpaceX
launch pad, looked for a countdown
clock that the base’s website promised
but could not find it.
MuchclosertotheSpaceXlaunchpad
on Lompoc’s West Ocean Avenue, hun-
dreds of cars from as far away as Wash-
ington, Montana, Nebraska and New
Hampshire parked on the side of the
road in a line that seemed to stretch for
miles. Dozens of people stood on train
tracks next to the road, excitement mak-
ing them oblivious to the danger posed
by the tracks.
Some of the thousands of rocket gaz-
ers wore SpaceX T-shirts. Others had
SpaceX license plate frames and rear
window decals on their cars.
At 10:42 a.m., when the rocket lifted
off, the crowd screamed in awe of the
sound of the rocket and of the pungent
smell and tin-foil-taste of burnt rocket
fuel. Unfortunately for the dozens with
long-lens cameras, telescopes and bin-
oculars, the rocket was hidden by the
weather.
Teresa Gallavan, Lompoc’s economic
development director and assistant city
administrator, said the region was not
just flooded by tourists, but also by sup-
port crews that assist with launches.
“A lot of the support crews will be
staying in Lompoc,” Gallavan said.
“Certainly our restaurants were impact-
ed. I waited to get into a restaurant and
heardfromotherstherewerelinesatres-
taurants after the launch as well.”
Many gas stations had lines of cars
waiting to fill up as people left town. The
impacts of rocket launches were also felt
in smaller ways.
The Dick DeWees Community Cen-
terhasbeenrentedinthepasttoprovide
event venues for folks involved in the
launch, Gallavan said.
Ken Ostini, president and CEO of the
Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce,
estimatedtherewereabout3,000people
near the base for the launch.
He said it can be hard for tourists to
plan getaways around rocket launches
becausetheycanbedelayedintheevent
ofweatherormechanicalproblems.Oth-
errocketlaunchesatVandenberghappen
atunannouncedtimesbecausetheycon-
tain classified payloads.
“Launches do get delayed periodi-
cally,” Ostini said. “If this thing didn’t
launch in that one-minute window, who
knows when it would’ve launched.”
The upside to delays, Ostini said, is
that support crews may stay longer at
area hotels.
“They might be here for a couple
weeks depending on how much work
theyhavetodobeforealaunchhappens,”
Ostini said. “And if there’s delays, they
might stay longer.”
SpaceX started conducting tests at
Vandenbergin2005andcurrentlyleases
a launch pad at Vandenberg from the Air
Force. In February 2015, it also signed a
five-year lease on a second pad the com-
pany will use to land rockets on dry land.
Both pads were built in the 1960s
for early Atlas rockets and modified in
the 1970s for the Titan family of rock-
ets.SpaceXdemolishedstructuresatthe
secondpadinSeptember2014tomakeit
easier to complete landings.
The company also leases launch pads
at Cape Canaveral, and is constructing a
launch pad near Brownsville, Texas. Feb.
10 is the next scheduled launch date at
Vandenberg when a classified U.S. Na-
tional Reconnaissance Office payload
will be put into orbit.
During the Jan. 17 mission, the rocket
ferried a Jason-3 weather satellite into
orbit.
Nearly as important as the launch was
anattemptedlandingoftherocket’sfirst
stage to a ship waiting off the coast of
California.