“Earthrise” by William Anders, on December 24, 1968
Today, in 1968 aboard Apollo 8, NASA astronaut Bill Anders captured “Earthrise” — one of the most iconic photographs of the Apollo era. For the first time, humans were able to the Earth from the perspective of the moon. Later, Anders recalled seeing “…a very fragile looking Earth, a very delicate looking Earth, I was immediately almost overcome by the thought that here we came all this way to the Moon, and yet the most significant thing we’re seeing is our own home planet, the Earth.” Using a highly modified Hasselblad 500 EL camera outfitted with a 250mm telephoto lens, Anders, with a click of the button had captured a moment epiphany and perhaps one of the great works of art of our time.
In a flawless early-morning liftoff, Rocket Lab successfully deployed four disk-shaped satellites into a very low earth orbit. The mission, named “Don’t Be Such a Square,” was Rocket Lab’s first public mission from Wallops in well over a year.
Floyd “Sonny” Tillman spent most of his life working. Not the kind of work that draws attention, but the kind that fills days and wears on your hands. He believed in showing up, doing things the right way, and letting the results speak for themselves.
Battery fire from a cellphone’s old Lithium battery. Via YouTuibe
If you have a drawer full of random chargers, mystery cables, and a couple of old lithium-ion batteries you keep meaning to deal with, you’re not alone. Floridians are great at sunshine, seafood, and driving too slow in the left lane, but we’re not so great at battery disposal. Some people have paid dearly for not getting rid of their old batteries: a massive fire and a lost home. That’s not exaggerating, it happens, and more often than you might think.
Millions of gallons of water pour from LC 36 as part of the sound supression system seconds before launch. Blue Origin is seeking a renewal of their permit to route the water and other wastewater into the Indian River. Photo: Blue Origin
Blue Origin’s push to renew a state wastewater permit for its Merritt Island rocket factory is drawing increased attention across the Space Coast, where residents and environmental groups remain focused on the long recovery of the Indian River Lagoon.
The Department of the Air Force has officially signed off on a plan that lets SpaceX redevelop Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral SFS for Starship and Super Heavy operations. Their Record of Decision lays out how the company can rebuild the pad, transport hardware, and eventually fly and land the massive booster and ship right here on the Space Coast.
US Army Veteran H.K. Edgerton is a well known Confederate historian who has worked for years to tell the story of the Confederacy. Photo: Save Our Southern Heritage / Facebook
A federal lawsuit filed this month is putting Florida’s Hillsborough County (Tampa) under scrutiny after a man dressed in a Confederate uniform was removed from a Veterans Day ceremony at Veterans Memorial Park.
Uranus, via the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Credit: ESA
Space X’s massive Starship has been designed with the capacity to boost up to 150 tons into low-Earth orbit, far more than rockets currently in common use. With its success, the potential for launching larger payloads — whether cargo, satellites, or entire interplanetary spacecraft — becomes more tantalizing to deep space mission designers looking to explore other planets and asteroids.
Aside from the launchpads at KSC and Vandenberg, MARS, or the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, is the third busiest launch site in the United States. MARS, also called Wallops Flight Facility (WFF), offers different launch trajectories that are not available at Florida launch sites. Typically, Wallops supports the launch and recovery of sounding rockets, which are small payloads compared to what is launched in Florida.
