Launch day at the Cape.
SpaceX tried to launch a Falcon Heavy rocket for the first time since 2024 this morning. But a stray thunderstorm scrubbed the launch attempt just minutes before liftoff. The next attempt may be Tuesday morning, at 10:17 AM.
Hopefully this evening ULA will have better luck. They have targeted 8:52PM for an Atlas V launch. The mission will send more Internet-beaming satellites to orbit for Amazon. There’s a 85% chance of favorable weather during the 29-minute launch window.
Cocoa Beach loses life-safety rings.
A nonprofit group removed its life-saving flotation ring stations from Cocoa Beach. The group, Drown Zero, claims it removed the stations because its agreement with the city expired and the city removed emergency signs. Cocoa Beach officials state they never had a contract with Drown Zero and were not involved in the removal of the stations. There were about 200 of the do-it-yourself life-saving stations in Brevard. The concept is that beachgoers would throw the rings to swimmers in distress. The founder of Drown Zero was a former Brevard County Ocean Rescue Chief. He was present when two swimmers died earlier this month in Cocoa Beach. He told Florida Today that a flotation ring was deployed and only succeeded in getting one swimmer out of the surf, but he later died.
Sloth World is permanently closed.
A planned Orlando attraction called Sloth World has been permanently closed following the deaths of dozens animals. Over 30 sloths destined for the attraction died, and another 24 sloths obtained by Sloth World are unaccounted for. The remaining 13 living sloths have been placed in the care of animal experts at the Central Florida Zoo. WFIT’s Terri Wright gives us this update:
The 13 surviving sloths arrived underweight and dehydrated but are now stable, eating and drinking. They are being kept in a quarantine area for at least 30 days as they recover. Zoo staff will provide specialized care, giving them the best chance to heal and thrive. Donations are being accepted to help cover their expenses.
Sloths are difficult to keep in captivity in part because they cannot regulate their body temperatures well, have very specific diets and get stressed easily. The Sloth Conservation Foundation and the Sloth Institute, two international conservation groups that had been critical of the Orlando attraction, said Sloth World will be closed permanently.
State Attorney drops charges against crosswalk painters.
Charges have been dropped against six people arrested last year for using chalk to protest the state’s erasure of crosswalk colors memorializing the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting. The Orange-Osceola State Attorney cited flimsy evidence and a selectively enforced statute. James Houchins [HOW-chins] was arrested in November. He says the decision brings, quote "a sigh of relief."
“And I think this is a win for the whole community to show that, you know, come back out, chalk, stand up. And, I mean, personally, our little group, we're not going to stop. We've been at it for 246 days, and there's no, I mean, until they come back and paint it, we're not going to stop chalking.”
The demonstrations last year were prompted by the Florida Department of Transportation removing rainbow-colored crosswalk design near the former gay nightclub. The cases of the six arrested as part of the demonstrations languished in Orange County court for months as prosecutors considered the charges of defacing a traffic control device. The State Attorney said the evidence didn’t come close to warranting the charges.
