Weekend Fun in Florida: Your Guide to Events on February 8-9, 2025

Weekend Fun in Florida: Your Guide to Events on February 8-9, 2025

Tallahassee Highland Games
Tallyhighlandgames.com

As another beautiful Florida February weekend approaches, there are plenty of things to do catering to both residents and visitors. From art festivals and state fairs to cultural celebrations and conventions, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Here’s a curated list of notable happenings across the Sunshine State:

FCC Filing Hints At Possible Starship Flight 8 Launch Date

FCC Filing Hints At Possible Starship Flight 8 Launch Date

Flight 7 lifted off from Orbital Launch Pad A (OLP-A) on January 16, 2025, at 22:37:00 UTC (4:37 pm CST, local time) at the Starbase launch site in Texas. Photo: Richard Gallagher/FMN
Starship Flight 7 lifted off from Orbital Launch Pad A (OLP-A) on January 16, 2025, at 22:37:00 UTC (4:37 pm CST, local time) at the Starbase launch site in Texas. Photo: Richard Gallagher/FMN

Figuring out Starship’s next launch date is never easy, but the are early indicators you can watch, One of them came in the form of an FCC filing late last week.

Disney World’s Star Wars Hotel to Be Repurposed as Office Space

Disney World’s Star Wars Hotel to Be Repurposed as Office Space

Virtual space windows and an AI droid came with every cabin on the Halcyon. 
Matt Stroshane/Disney
Virtual space windows and an AI droid came with every cabin on the Halcyon. 
Matt Stroshane/Disney

Walt Disney World announced last week plans to repurpose its former $400 million Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser resort hotel into office space for Disney’s “Imagineer” employees. After being open for only 18 months, the hotel was closed on September 2023. Since the closure, Star Wars Fans have speculated that the hotel would still be repurposed into some type of Star Wars related attraction, but last week’s announcement put an end to their hopes.

Veteran driver Sebastien Bourdais very dissapointed in the team disqualification.

Racing: Winning Car At 24 Hours of Daytona Disqualified

The #8 Tower Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson makes its way to the sharp Turn 3
Photo: Eric Moore / FMN

The 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona delivered high-stakes drama, not just on the track but also in post-race inspections. In a stunning decision, IMSA disqualified the #8 Tower Motorsports ORECA 07-Gibson, which had initially taken victory in the LMP2 class.

Florida’s Housing Market: Is the Sunshine State Cooling Off?

Florida’s Housing Market: Is the Sunshine State Cooling Off?

Florida houses are sitting on the market longer  Photo: Zillow
Florida houses are sitting on the market longer Photo: Zillow

In recent years, the housing markets in Florida and Texas have been the top two states in the country for inbound migration. As you might expect, this trend caused a steep increase in homeowner’s market values, much to the delight of sellers, but not so much for buyers. It appears that the trend is now over.

Trump Calls For Quick Return of Astronauts “Abandoned In Space”

Trump Calls For Quick Return of Astronauts “Abandoned In Space”

Boeing's Starliner heads to the ISS on June 5, 2024 for what was supposed to have been an eight day mission. The two astronauts on board are still on the ISS today, awaiting a ride home. Photo: Chris Leymarie/FMN
Boeing’s Starliner heads to the ISS on June 5, 2024 for what was supposed to have been an eight day mission. The two astronauts on board are still on the ISS today, awaiting a ride home. Photo: Chris Leymarie/FMN

President Donald Trump has called upon SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to expedite the return of NASA astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams from the International Space Station (ISS). The astronauts have been aboard the ISS since June 2024, following an extended mission due to technical issues with their original Boeing Starliner spacecraft.

Gulf of Mexico Name Change – What Does it Mean For Floridians?

Gulf of Mexico Name Change – What Does it Mean For Floridians?

Gulf of America Graphic
Graphic: WJHG

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 20, 2025, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America.” This decision, part of the “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness” initiative, aims to emphasize the gulf’s significance to the United States. With over 5000 miles of shoreline, the gulf represents Florida’s longest border.

Remembering the Challenger Tragedy 

Remembering the Challenger Tragedy 

Challenger STS-51L crew. Credit: NASA

Today is the 39th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. On January 28, 1986, astronauts: Francis R. Scobee, Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ronald E. McNair, Ellison S. Onizuka, Gregory B. Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher in space, perished when the rocket they were aboard exploded. This event shook the nation and led to significant changes within NASA and the broader aerospace community. 

SpaceX Starship Flight Test 6 lifts off from Boca Chica, Texas on November 19, 2024. Photo: Richard Gallagher / FMN

You Can Buy Pieces Of SpaceX’s Flight 7 Starship…For a Price

Remote camera image taken of Starship clearing the tower. Image by Richard P Gallagher

Spaceflight aficionados, like many sports fans, love memorabilia. Space-related apparel, books, mission patches, stickers and other items sell at a brisk pace, and that’s just the bottom end of the market. The most valuable pieces are “flown” — meaning that they were either a part of or aboard a given mission. Many of those pieces are well out of reach for the common man – they are relatively rare and often quite expensive, at least for artifacts with certain authenticity. Others are affordable, at least to a dedicated collector, and can be bought for a few hundred dollars or less.