INSIDER
4 dead, including Florida man suspected of shooting and wounding 2 police officers
Read full article: 4 dead, including Florida man suspected of shooting and wounding 2 police officersAuthorities say four people are dead in Florida’s Space Coast, including a retired priest and a man accused of shooting and wounding two police officers.
Full speed ahead to scheduled Artemis I launch on Monday
Read full article: Full speed ahead to scheduled Artemis I launch on MondayThe Artemis I Mission is scheduled to launch Monday morning, and leaders from NASA and their partners on Friday discussed the steps being taken to advance human exploration.
DeSantis: Satellite company to invest $300 million, bring 2,000 jobs to Florida’s Space Coast
Read full article: DeSantis: Satellite company to invest $300 million, bring 2,000 jobs to Florida’s Space CoastTerran Orbital, a micro-satellite company, plans to invest $300 million in a massive commercial spacecraft and constellation facility to Space Florida on Merritt Island, Gov. DeSantis and the company announced Monday.
Space Coast tourism on way to record year, despite pandemic
Read full article: Space Coast tourism on way to record year, despite pandemicWhen the year began, Brevard County’s tourism chief was cautiously optimistic about a comeback for his industry locally. But he never expected to see how strong the recovery has become.
Christmas in Florida: Chilly forecast, falling iguanas
Read full article: Christmas in Florida: Chilly forecast, falling iguanasThe National Weather Service earlier this week warned that South Florida could experience the coldest Christmas Day in 21 years. Morning lows on Saturday could drop into the low 30s and 40s degrees Fahrenheit, the weather service said. Much colder temps expected for Christmas," the National Weather Service in Miami tweeted earlier this week. A squall line with severe storms and fast-moving winds also was headed for north Florida on Christmas Eve. The pandemic also was impacting a Space Coast tradition — Surfing Santa Day, which takes place the day before Christmas.
SpaceX launches last rocket of 2020 from Kennedy Space Center
Read full article: SpaceX launches last rocket of 2020 from Kennedy Space CenterCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX’s last launch of 2020 went off without a hitch Saturday morning from Florida’s Space Coast. A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Kennedy Space Center at 9 a.m., sending a secret spy satellite owned by the National Reconnaissance Office into orbit. A few minutes after launching the NROL-108 mission, SpaceX successfully landed Falcon 9′s 162-foot first stage booster at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Triple sonic boomsAfter liftoff, Falcon 9′s 162-foot first-stage booster will separate from the second stage, then start its descent back toward Florida. Its target: Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, which is about 9 miles south of pad 39A.
Crew climbs aboard SpaceX with 50/50 chance of launch this evening
Read full article: Crew climbs aboard SpaceX with 50/50 chance of launch this eveningNASA and SpaceX will have to thread the needle to launch the SpaceX Crew-1 Sunday evening. The SpaceX launch that was supposed to take place Saturday evening was pushed back 24 hours due to strong onshore winds. The mission, called Crew-1, will launch aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft on an 8.5-hour trip to the International Space Station. It will be the first fully-crewed SpaceX launch since the inaugural May 2020 SpaceX demonstration mission that sent astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to the International Space Station aboard a Crew Dragon capsule. NASA selected Boeing and SpaceX in September 2014 to transport crew to the International Space Station from the United States.
New pink slips bring Disney layoff sum in Florida to 18,000
Read full article: New pink slips bring Disney layoff sum in Florida to 18,000Disney World said in a letter to state and local leaders Thursday that the 11,350 union workers — mostly part-timers — will be laid off at the end of the year. Company officials previously had said that another 6,400 nonunion Disney employees in Florida would lose their jobs. Disney’s parks closed last spring as the coronavirus began spreading in the U.S. The Florida parks reopened this summer with restrictions on how many people could be in the parks at any given time and new requirements for social distancing and mask-wearing. As of Friday, almost 4,200 Disney World workers had agreed to the job transfers, and almost 1,000 workers had decided to accept a layoff or they hadn't yet agreed to be transferred, said Eric Clinton, president of Unite Here!
Brevard County FOP head resigns over post on accused officers
Read full article: Brevard County FOP head resigns over post on accused officersVIERA, Fla. – The president of a Fraternal Order of Police chapter along Florida’s Space Coast has resigned after being told he would be fired following an internal investigation over a social media post that encouraged officers linked to departments accused of using excessive force during recent protests to apply for jobs in Florida. Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said Friday that Lt. Bert Gamin was no longer with the agency. The message posted last weekend on the Brevard FOP Facebook page said, “Hey Buffalo 57 ... and Atlanta 6 ... we are hiring in Florida. The four fired officers and two others face criminal charges stemming from the incident. In Buffalo, New York, dozens of police officers stepped down from the department’s crowd control unit last week, objecting to the suspensions of two fellow officers in the shoving of a 75-year-old protester who fell and injured his head.
Excitement shifts to disappointment after launch called off
Read full article: Excitement shifts to disappointment after launch called offBefore the launch was called off about 4:15 p.m., the excitement was palpable for members of one family. The father is an aerospace engineer from Gainesville, and so is the mother, who made NASA facemasks for the family. But the excitement among the thousands of people who gathered to watch the spacecraft blast off shifted to disappointment about 4:15 p.m. when the launch was postponed until Saturday afternoon and crowds quickly scattered. You never know,” said Tonya Farthing, who traveled to view the launch. “I know better now -- kind of like a preview of where to park and set up and get a better view.”The next launch attempt is set for 3:22 p.m. Saturday, and after that, the next launch window would be Sunday.
Residents of Space Coast filled with excitement ahead of historic launch
Read full article: Residents of Space Coast filled with excitement ahead of historic launchCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The countdown is on for the launch of the first crewed space mission from the United States in nine years; the rocket is scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday afternoon. The excitement is bringing crowds to the Space Coast, and it means a lot for residents around Titusville, as well. I think itll be heard to leave your house tomorrow, said Tony Phillips, a Space Coast resident. The official weather forecast has improved, and there is now a 60% chance of favorable weather conditions for the Space X Demo-2 launch, according to the 45th Air Force Weather Space Wing. If for some reason the launch is scrubbed, the next launch window is Saturday.