'We're going to have a problem': Port Canaveral expects space traffic increase
Spectators at Port Canaveral watched Tuesday as another Falcon 9 rocket launched while in the foreground sat a returned Falcon 9 booster and one of SpaceX's docked drone ships, which indicates a looming traffic issue at the port.
A handful of space companies already have recovery vessels taking up residence at the port and that list is expected to grow. This is creating the right ingredients for a space-related traffic jam.
Port Canaveral has lived side by side with the space traffic since the late 1950s when rockets first started coming to the Cape for launch. Even the Saturn V moon rocket and Space Shuttle solid rocket boosters were ferried in through Port Canaveral. Now with private companies such as SpaceX dominating the launch market, and using the port for their booster landing ships, Port Canaveral has seen a significant traffic boom.
Following Trump push, launch of NASA's Crew-10 and return of Starliner astronauts moved up
After mounting pressure from President Trump and his key ally Elon Musk, NASA has moved the launch of Crew-10 up a few weeks earlier than planned in a bid to return the Starliner astronauts home as soon as possible. They are now targeting March 12.
This will expedite the return of Crew-9 and the Starliner astronauts, who were supposed to fly home in early April following the late-March launch of Crew-10. Ultimately, this means a few fewer weeks on the orbiting outpost for the two-person Starliner crew who have been in space since June.
Their return will not be on the spacecraft originally intended. With SpaceX running into delays with the Dragon spacecraft that was scheduled to fly Crew-10, the crew will now fly on Crew Dragon Endurance − which was originally set to fly the Axiom 4 crew this spring.
NASA does not have its own spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the space station. SpaceX is currently the only American private company contracted by NASA which can ferry astronauts to the orbiting outpost.
NASA has not provided an exact target return date, but it depends on the launch of Crew-10 and weather conditions at the splashdown location, which will be off the coast of Florida.
Two Melbourne women recovering from shark bites they got in the Bahamas
Two Melbourne women are recovering from shark bites they received while vacationing in the Bahamas.
The two had just jumped off a boat into the waters in Bimini Bay on Friday about 6:30 p.m. when the shark encounter happened. The women were treated at a local clinic for bites to their legs and then airlifted to New Providence for further treatment, according to Bahamian authorities.
Unprovoked shark attacks increased in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to University of Florida’s International Shark Attack File, a scientific database of global shark attacks.
There were 69 unprovoked bites in 2023. That included 10 fatalities: two in the United States; four in Australia; and one each in the Bahamas, Egypt, Mexico and New Caledonia.
Brevard commissioners approve $705K for new voting machines
Brevard County commissioners approved the purchase of new voting machines Tuesday that will allow security upgrades for the county's polling sites. In a unanimous vote, the board allotted $705,454.16 toward the purchase of new voter equipment.
That money makes up just over half the total cost of the 200 new machines from Election Services and Software, a company that provides voting machines to counties nationwide. The Supervisor of Elections' budget would cover the remaining amount of around $650,000 for the purchase of the new voter equipment.
Supervisor of Elections Tim Bobanic said that failing to update the machines could create a situation where some precincts have better machines than others, creating an inconsistent voting experience across the county.
Bobanic said he hopes purchasing the new machines soon will enable them to be put into use for the June special election, which will give polling workers a chance to "get their feet wet" using the new equipment in a lower turnout scenario.
More: FloridaToday.com