Covering All Things Florida
A lightning strike from a severe thunderstorm started a conflagration in Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge this afternoon. It is north of Kennedy Space Center, and is currently no threat to property or human endeavor — in other words, the facilities at Kennedy Space Center.
In a media release this evening, NASA announced June 1st at 12:25 PM as the next targeted date for a Starliner launch attempt.
Mission managers from NASA, Boeing, and ULA (United Launch Alliance) continue to evaluate a path forward toward launching the agency’s Boeing Crew Flight Test to the International Space Station. The teams are now working toward a launch opportunity at 12:25 p.m. ET on Saturday, June 1, with additional opportunities on Sunday, June 2, Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6.
After completing a required environmental review, the US Space Force will permanently base its Training and Readiness Command (STARCOM) at Patrick Space Force Base.
Less than a month ago, Starliner seemed like it was ready to go. With a launch date for the first crewed flight test set for May 6th, NASA officials expressed confidence that Starliner was “go for launch”. Following a Flight Readiness Review held just days before the May 6th launch date, NASA Associate Administrator Jim Free said he was satisfied that the Readiness Review was thorough, and that Starliner, Atlas V and ISS were prepared properly for the test flight.
This past weekend, the 15th Annual Thunder on Cocoa Beach powerboat racing event roared into action from May 17-19, drawing in massive crowds and delivering high-octane thrills. Known for its intense racing and scenic Atlantic backdrop, this year’s event did not disappoint.
Chalk one up for Nikon.
My photographer colleagues at the Kennedy Space Center have an ongoing friendly camera rivalry. Mostly it’s Canon versus Nikon, as we compare the latest camera gear and features while covering rocket launches, inspections of the latest satellites, and press conferences with NASA and other space company leaders. So the Nikon users got a pleasant surprise
In perhaps the most vivid launch for spectators so far in 2024, SpaceX launched another twenty-three Starlink Mini V2 satellites to orbit after successfully launching the Starlink 6-59 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station this evening.
Liftoff was at 08:32 PM EDT. Around 8.3 minutes after liftoff, the first-stage booster used for the mission, tail number B1062, touched down safely on ASDS ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’, stationed downrange in the Atlantic Ocean. After landing, B1062 has now flown to space for a record-setting twenty-one times.
NASA, Boeing, and United Launch Alliance (ULA) have announced yet another delay in the launch of the Boeing Crew Flight Test to allow additional time for comprehensive spacecraft closeout processes and “flight rationale assessments.” The launch, which aims to send NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station (ISS), is now targeted for no earlier than 3:09 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 25.
Carnival Corporation, operator of the world’s largest cruise line, has deployed SpaceX’s Starlink Internet service to all ninety of their ships across all of their brands.
The target launch date for Boeing’s oft-delayed CFT-100 Starliner capsule has been shifted again. The Crewed Flight Test of the vehicle is now targeted for May 21 at 4:14 PM EDT.
In the modern world, data centers are everywhere. They house the IT infrastructure for building, running, and delivering applications and services over the Internet and also through private networks such as the ones that corporations have for their employees. This website — and almost every other website in existence — resides in a data center somewhere, where it is maintained and monitored by the folks that Florida Media Now has engaged to provide that service. “The cloud” is another term we use for data centers — your email, photo backups, and so forth are all in a data center too. And now, data centers are starting to move to orbit.
Jason Aspiotis, Axiom Space’s Director of In-Space Infrastructure & Logistics, says this only makes sense as the space economy grows. “Earth’s orbital economy is evolving with the proliferation of thousands of commercial, U.S. government, and allied satellites addressing needs in Earth observation, next generation communications, positioning, and navigation, space domain awareness, and security.”
The Federal Aviation Administration, NASA and other parties have published a notice of intent to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for SpaceX Starship launches from Pad LC-39A at Kennedy Space Center, where it anticipates up to forty-four launches and landing at the facility.
