IN THIS ISSUE · 02
The Texas Special.
One summer, one state, a fleet of machines that answer to a control room in Austin, and dirt work you can measure. Field reports from the Texas Hill Country, a $115 million raise, and the numbers that explain why construction is the frontier now. Read it top to bottom, or open the reader and turn the pages.
- 03 From the Field The job site is now a control room.
- 04 Dirt Work 101 Robotic earthmoving, explained over coffee.
- 05 Field Report: Central Texas The summer Texas hired the robots.
- 06 The Interviews: Noah Schochet Fifty years of going backward ends here.
- 07 The Interviews: Noah McGuinness One operator, a fleet of machines.
- 08 The Ledger How much dirt are we talking about? Plus: the investor’s word.
- 09 The Data Fifty years of going backward, charted. From BEA, NBER and BLS.
- 10 The Market A $2.2T industry meets an 18% CAGR. The robotics growth curve.
- 11 The Lab A totem, a person detector, and employee number four.
- 12 Campaign 001 Don’t move pixels. Move EARTH.
- 13 Join the Crew TerraFirma is hiring exceptional engineers and operators.
- 14 The Map TerraFirma, deep in the heart of Texas. Every operation, sourced.
- 15 Sources Every number in this pressing, cited.
- 16 The Manifesto Texas born. Mars bound.
COLOPHON
TERRAFIRMA DAILY, Pressing 001, The Texas Special. Set in Inter. Inks: ground black 000000, panel navy 0A1126, cream D6D9E3, ink B0AFB8, accent cyan 80DFFF, steel blue 3E82B2. Edited and art directed by David T Phung. Published 2026.