Covering All Things Florida
Oct. 25, 2024 – Boeing, once a cornerstone of U.S. space exploration, is reportedly considering selling parts of its space business, including its NASA operations and the troubled Starliner spacecraft, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The move is seen as part of a broader restructuring effort by new CEO Kelly Ortberg to stabilize the company’s finances and refocus its operations.
Pensacola, Fla. – The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, Endeavour, returned to Earth early Friday, October 25, safely splashing down in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola at 3:29 a.m. EDT. The landing marked the conclusion of NASA’s Crew-8 mission. The Crew-8 team spent a record 235 days in space, setting a record for American crewed space missions.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. – Sometimes it seems like you can’t catch a break…or at least it must seem that way to a space station full of astronauts who find themselves away from home a lot longer than planned.
In September, FMN reported on an ambitious plan to bring the SS United States to Florida as an artificial reef. At the time, the move seemed almost a certainty, and after one final legal challenge, it has become a reality. The SS United States, a symbol of maritime innovation and American excellence since its 1951 launch, is set to begin its final journey—not across the Atlantic, but toward an extraordinary new life beneath the waves. In a quiet ceremony on October 12, 2024, the SS United States Conservancy transferred ownership of the ship to Okaloosa County, Florida, marking the end of a long and contentious legal battle over the vessel’s future.
United Launch Alliances’s CERT-2 flight launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:25 AM EDT this morning. Almost immediately from the point of launch, observers noticed that something didn’t look quite right as Vulcan booster rose from the pad.
At a time when America can least afford it, the International Longshoremen’s Association has gone on strike. Coming on the heels of high inflation, a major storm, and a potential Middle East War, the strike could have massive consequences on Main Street America.
Tropical Storm Helene, currently a powerful tropical system, is forecast to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane as it moves toward the Gulf Coast of Florida. As of 6AM EDT this morning, the storm was located near Cozumel, Mexico, with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph.
The creators of the popular adult party game Cards Against Humanity on Thursday filed a $15 million lawsuit against SpaceX in Cameron County, Texas. In their filing, the company alleges that SpaceX trespassed on and damaged a piece of property the game maker purchased in 2017 to protest former President Donald Trump’s proposed border wall.
If you follow spaceflight at all, you no doubt have heard a lot talk this year about the FAA “grounding” Space X’s Starship and Falcon 9, mishap investigations, and creating delays with a lot of “red tape.” Yet none of that happened after the flight of the beleaguered Boeing Starliner. What’s up with that? Some say it’s political, and they are “out to get Elon Musk.” In truth, it’s not quite that dramatic.
In the early hours of Sunday morning, SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn crew successfully completed their five-day journey in space, capping off the historic mission with a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The Crew Dragon capsule, carrying four astronauts, landed off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, at 3:37 a.m. ET, marking the conclusion of a mission that included the world’s first commercial spacewalk.
Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis this morning became the first private citizens in history to conduct a spacewalk. The spacewalk, which lasted 1 hour and 46 minutes from start to finish, seemed to go off without a hitch. Exiting the Polaris Dawn / SpaceX Crew Dragon early Thursday, September 12, 2024, Isacmann’s helmet camera captured a breathtaking view of the spacecraft’s open hatch, followed by the large blue globe that is our home. The landmark event was part of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, designed to test new spacesuits developed by the company and push the boundaries of private space exploration.
NASA’s position as a leader in global innovation and a driver of technological advancement in the United States could be jeopardized by a mismatch between its budget and its mission scope, an overemphasis on short-term goals, and crumbling infrastructure, according to a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
