Blue Origin suffers damage at Merritt Island test site.
As Blue Origin prepares for the next launch of its New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral, the company appears to have experienced unexpected damage at its Merritt Island rocket manufacturing facility. It’s unclear if the anomaly will delay the upcoming Blue Origin New Glenn launch from the Cape. The company said the “high-energy anomaly” damaged a building on Merritt Island during a routine test. There were no reported injuries.
The next rocket launch from the Cape is slated for early Tuesday morning. SpaceX will launch more Starlink satellites during a four hour launch window that opens at 2:13 AM tomorrow.
Rockledge considers transfer of land from medical center.
The city of Rockledge is considering a deal to take back the former Rockledge Regional Medical Center property from Orlando Health. WFIT’s Terri Wright explains.
Citing its poor physical condition, the hospital closed soon after Orlando Health acquired it from Steward Health Care. A proposed transfer of 12 parcels zoned for medical use back to the city will be considered by the Rockledge City Council at its meeting on Wednesday, April 15. The agreement is contingent on Orlando Health completing demolition requirements and an environmental inspection of the site. City leaders have indicated they do not plan to change the property’s medical zoning.
Health First has plans for a new Cape Canaveral Hospital replacement on Merritt Island and a new hospital in Viera.
Artemis III.
Now that the Artemis II mission in the history books, NASA is planning for Artemis III. But instead of heading back to the moon, astronauts will fly to low earth orbit atop the Space Launch System rocket. It’s a demonstration of how to rendezvous and dock between Orion and the commercial spacecraft from SpaceX or Blue Origin or both. The Human Landing Systems are a critical piece of the plan to land crew on the lunar surface.
Changes to Endangered Species Act may hurt sea turtles.
As lawmakers return to the U.S. House this week, one decision they’ll likely take up soon is a suite of changes proposed for the Endangered Species Act.
Right now, decisions to classify a species as endangered or threatened must be made quote, “without reference” to possible economic impacts. The proposed changes would remove that language and require an economic analysis.
Stacey Gallagher is with the Sea Turtle Conservancy. She’s one of many environmental advocates opposing the bill.
“The ESA is the most important legal tool that exists to protect our sea turtles. And any effort to weaken it, particularly through this bill, is incredibly concerning to us.”
Supporters of the proposed changes argue the E-S-A as currently written requires too much bureaucratic red tape and infringes on private property rights.
DeSantis still pushing for congressional redistricting.
The tide seems to be turning against Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to redraw Florida’s congressional districts. Nonetheless, DeSantis is pushing forward, having called the Florida Legislature back to Tallahassee for a special redistricting session starting next week. Neither his office nor legislative leaders have released plans on how they want to redraw the state’s congressional maps. DeSantis claims the state’s population growth means those maps need to be redone in a rare mid-decade move, but there is plenty of opposition. Recent polling by Emerson College show 56% of Florida voters don’t want congressional districts redrawn. And key Florida Congressional Republicans are warning that redistricting could have the unintended consequences of turning red seats blue at the same time Trump’s approval ratings are plummeting.
