Covering All Things Florida
After an incredibly busy week for spaceflight last week, this week promises to be equally busy. We have two Starlink launches (one from Vandenberg, another from KSC), SpaceX/NASA CRS-30 from SLC-40 sending supplies to ISS, and a Rocket Lab launch from Wallops early on the 21st. Also, a NASA astronaut is heading to ISS aboard a Soyuz on Thursday as well.
Update: New Launch Window opens 3/14/24 7:04 PM EDT
SpaceX plans to launch the Starlink 6-44 mission tonight, Thursday, March 14, aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.
The payload will be another tranche of 23 Starlink satellites that will be ferried low-Earth orbit from pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. According to the company, “liftoff is targeted for 7:04 PM EDT, with backup opportunities available until 11:29 PM EDT.
The Crew-7 mission to the ISS ended this morning with a splashdown at 5:50 AM EDT this morning in the Gulf of Mexico. The splashdown near Pensacola, Florida marked the end of a six and one half month mission aboard the International Space Station for the crew of four.
Do you want to be an Astronaut? NASA is looking for another batch of candidates with ‘The Right Stuff” to train for missions to the lunar south pole region.NASA announced today that applications are now being accepted for the “Artemis Generation” class starting in 2025.
Famed Florida fine-arts photographer Clyde Butcher once said, “Out west, they have their mountains. We have our clouds.” Butcher’s observation was spot-on. The Sunshine State is home to some incredible sights in our skies—be it the setting sun illuminating a faraway thunderstorm, a wall cloud from an approaching tropical storm, or even just a regular day when the clouds take on shapes where they appear to be animals or something else familiar. There’s always something interesting to see here by simply looking upwards into the atmosphere.
After days of weather delays and last minute concerns about a cracked hatch seal, the SpaceX crew Dragon Endeavour carrying Crew 8 to the ISS launched from the Kennedy Space Center Sunday night. The successful liftoff came at 10:53 p.m. EST from Launch Complex 39A. The mission marked SpaceX’s eighth commercial crew rotation mission on behalf of NASA, and the launch of the 50th human into space by the company since 2020.
When I was a kid, Wolfie’s in Cocoa Beach was one of my Dad’s favorites to take me out to eat. It was kid-friendly, unlike a place like The Mousetrap or other infamous and legendary Cocoa Beach haunts. They’re all long gone now, as is the nature of restaurants in a resort town. One that is especially missed by many is Wolfie’s, a place that not only had a great lunch but also a side note in space history that is funny today but was not at all amusing in the mid-1960s.
NASA and SpaceX announced today that they have decided to postpone the launch of the Crew-8 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Initially set for Friday, the mission is now rescheduled for 11:16 p.m. EST on Saturday, March 2.
During the NASA Administrator Briefing from the Kennedy Space Center mainly centered around Crew-8 readiness today, Steve Stich, the Manager of the agency’s Commercial Crew Program gave some insight about the status of the planned first crewed flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner. That launch is currently planned for late April of this year.
With only one day to go before the launch of Crew 8, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson led a press briefing on Wednesday morning February 28, 2024, at Kennedy Space Center. The 8th Commercial Crew trip to the International Space Station (ISS) remains on schedule for a launch just after midnight (12:04 am EST) early Friday morning March 1.
As we celebrate Black History Month, it is only fitting to shine a spotlight on individuals who have not only contributed significantly to their respective fields but have also shattered glass ceilings. Among these trailblazers is astronaut Jeanette J. Epps, a distinguished member of NASA’s Crew-8, scheduled to launch to the ISS this Friday at 12:04 AM.
“Crew 8” arrived at Kennedy Space Center Sunday afternoon ahead of their upcoming launch to the ISS this week. The eighth commercial crew launch is scheduled for 12:04 AM Friday morning, and Crew 8 can’t wait to get there.
