Polaris Dawn Delayed Until At Least Friday Due To Abort Zone Weather

Polaris Dawn Delayed Until At Least Friday Due To Abort Zone Weather

Polaris Dawn sitting atop Falcon 9 and LC-39A on June 26.
Polaris Dawn sitting atop Falcon 9 and LC-39A on June 26.
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now

SpaceX has called off the Polaris Dawn launch of Falcon 9 until at least Friday, August 29th. The company announced shortly after 10 PM EDT that it was standing down for the night, and stated on its website that the next launch attempt would be no earlier than the end of the week.

Florida State Park Public Meeting Plans Reshuffled After Scathing Public Outcry

Florida State Park Public Meeting Plans Reshuffled After Scathing Public Outcry

Girl on bicycle at Florida State Parks
Jonathon Dickinson State Park
Photo: Florida DEP

The plan to develop some of Florida’s state parks with new amenities such as golf courses and pickleball courts has not yet been cancelled, but after overwhelmingly negative feedback from the public and pushback from Florida’s two US Senators, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has rescheduled public meetings and created a web page for the public to offer their feedback.

DeSantis Administration Plans To Add Golf Courses and Other Amenities To Some Florida State Parks Facing Heavy Opposition

DeSantis Administration Plans To Add Golf Courses and Other Amenities To Some Florida State Parks Facing Heavy Opposition


Jonathon Dickinson State Park
Photo: Florida DEP

On Monday, the DeSantis administration announced the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” which includes plans to add golf courses and other resort-type amenities to some Florida state parks. That plan was immediately met with opposition from the general public and from environmentalists alike.

University of Florida Researchers Investigate Microgravity’s Effects on Fermentation

University of Florida Researchers Investigate Microgravity’s Effects on Fermentation

There’s nothing quite like a good, cold beer after a hot day’s work. Whether it’s mowing the lawn on a hot Florida morning or toiling deep in a mine in West Virginia, beer has been the beverage of choice for many — and it looks like that tradition will continue as travelers push into space. Researchers at The University of Florida in Gainesville have been looking into the process of brewing beer in the heavens, and have come up with some interesting results that will inform future brewers.

Florida Roadside Attractions: The Space Shuttle External Tank

Florida Roadside Attractions: The Space Shuttle External Tank

The Space Shuttle Test Article, parked near a dock in Green Cove Springs, Florida
Photo: Charles Boyer / FMN

Roughly thirty minutes west of Saint Augustine and I-95 in Florida, a Space Shuttle relic sits abandoned in Green Cove Springs near a dock on the Saint Johns River. While not technically a “Florida roadside attraction”, many view it as a pretty neat thing to see…after all, it is NASA history.

Florida Roadside Attractions: World War II Watch Tower In Ormond-By-The-Sea

Florida Roadside Attractions: World War II Watch Tower In Ormond-By-The-Sea

Roadside Attractions: A summer thunderstorm approaches the beach and the WWII Watch Tower on August 13. 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now
A summer thunderstorm approaches the beach and the WWII Watch Tower on August 13. 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now

For the adventurer, Florida is full of lesser known beaches, parks, and roadside attractions. Only a few minutes off of I-95, a lonely tower sits on the beach in a residential part of Ormond-By-The-Sea as a lingering artifact of the Second World War. The Watch Tower, as it is called, is the last of its kind in Florida, and one of the few left from the over 15,200 similar structures on American coastlines.

SpaceX Launches Starlink 10-7 Before Dawn on Monday

SpaceX Launches Starlink 10-7 Before Dawn on Monday

As seen from Kennedy Point Park in Titusville, Starlink 10-7 rises off of LC-39A on August 12, 2024
Photo: Richard P. Gallagher / Florida Media Now
As seen from Kennedy Point Park in Titusville, Starlink 10-7 rises off of LC-39A on August 12, 2024
Photo: Richard P. Gallagher / Florida Media Now

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 carrying another group of Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center this morning in the predawn hours. Liftoff was at 06:37 AM EDT from Launch Complex 39A.

Rocket Lab Reports Record Earnings In Second Quarter of 2024

Rocket Lab Reports Record Earnings In Second Quarter of 2024

A Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifting off from Wallops Island, Virginia in 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now
A Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifting off from Wallops Island, Virginia in 2024
Photo: Charles Boyer / Florida Media Now

Rocket Lab, the New Zealand-based small launch services provider, announced yesterday that it had record earnings in the second quarter of this year, resulting in a 71% year-over-year growth for the same quarter in 2023. Rocket Lab has extensive manufacturing and launch facilities in the United States. It current launches out of Wallops Island, Virginia and in its native New Zealand.

Russian Space Agency Says Sanctions Are Hitting Them Hard

Russian Space Agency Says Sanctions Are Hitting Them Hard

Soyuz launch from Russia's launch facility in Baikonur, Khazakstan
Photo: NASA
Soyuz launch from Russia’s launch facility in Baikonur, Khazakstan
Photo: NASA

According to an article in The Moscow Times, times are tough in the Russian space program. After Western countries placed sanctions on Russia after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, said that it had lost nearly 180 billion rubles ($2.1 billion).