Surfing Santas: A Free, Fun Family Christmas Event

Surfin' Santa at Cocoa Beach, Florida
A Surfing Santa Out On The Waves.
Photo courtesy surfinsantas.org

Looking for something fun and different to ring in the holidays here in Florida? A free event in Cocoa Beach on Christmas Eve might be what you’re looking for: Surfing Santas Cocoa Beach is an annual that brings hundreds of surfers of all ages dressed up as Santa Claus to the beach and on top of the waves. Admission is free.

World’s Largest Cruise Ship Coming To Port Canaveral

Artist's rendering of the completed Star of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship
Artist’s rendering of the Star of the Seas, World’s Largest Cruise Ship. Image courtesy Royal Caribbean

Cape Canaveral is well-known for its rocket launches, but the town is also the site of the world’s busiest cruise ship port — over four million passenger movements per year happen there, which slightly edges out Miami for the top spot. Soon, Port Canaveral will also be the home port of the world’s largest cruise ship — Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas is set to begin service there in July 2025.

Aerojet Rocketdyne To Boost RL10 Production in West Palm Beach

An Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-X prototype engine undergoes hot-fire testing at Aerojet Rocketdyne’s facility in West Palm Beach, Florida. Credit: Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3 Harris Technologies company.

Aerojet Rocketdyne, an L3Harris Technologies company, is planning to ramp up production of its latest variant of the venerable RL10 rocket engine at the company’s West Palm Beach, Florida facility. The company also plans to add staff at its South Florida facility to enable the higher pace of manufacturing the engine.

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope Pauses Science Due to Gyro Issue

Hubble Space Telescope in 2009. Photo: NASA

NASA is working to resume science operations of the agency’s Hubble Space Telescope after it entered safe mode November 23rd due to an ongoing gyroscope issue. The agency is also saying that the venerable spacecraft is stable and that otherwise the instrument is “in good health.”

Space Force Sets X-37B Launch for December 10th

US Space Force X-37B. Photo: Boeing Corporation

The US Space Force announced today that the launch of its secretive X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle is now set for December 10. At this time, no specific launch time on that date has been announced. Originally planned for December 7th, the launch was delayed due to “launch delays and pad availability.”