Things To Do In SW Florida

Education

Rigoberto J. Rincones Gómez was appointed vice president for academic affairs at Daytona State College.

Health care

Apparsamy Balaji was hired as chief analytics officer at Nemours Children’s Health, Orlando.

Law

Lorenzi Lora has joined Ball Janik LLP as an associate in the law firm’s Orlando office.

Other

Jamie Merrill was appointed president and chief executive officer of Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida.

Parker Smith was appointed vice president of resource development of Heart of Florida United Way, Orlando.

Ofira Bondorowsky was appointed chief executive officer and executive director of The Jack and Lee Rosen Jewish Community Center, Orlando.

Submit professional appointments, management-level promotions and significant awards for individuals, along with photos as .jpg attachments, to peopleonmove@orlandosentinel.com.

SpaceX opted out of a midnight launch, but will try again late Friday on what would be its 65th orbital mission of the year.

A Falcon 9 carrying 22 of the company’s Starlink internet satellites is now targeting an 11:38 p.m. liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40  with a backup opportunity early Saturday at 12:07 a.m. and two more options late Saturday at 11:13 p.m. and 11:38 p.m.

The first-stage booster for the mission is making its fifth flight targeting a landing on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron had forecast 65% chance of good conditions, dropping to 45% in event of a 24-hour delay. Both days had booster recovery weather a concern as Hurricane Lee in the Atlantic is kicking up swells that are affecting the U.S. East Coast and would be a threat to the droneship.

It marks the 49th Space Coast launch of the year with all but three coming from SpaceX.

FAA closes SpaceX Starship mishap investigation from April explosion, but not ready to let it fly read more

NASA officials discussed the results of an independent team’s findings released Thursday after delving into how to unlock the secrets of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena, more commonly known as UFOs.

The 36-page report was published on NASA’s website, and NASA Administrator Bill Nelson led a panel from Washington to discuss its findings, which call on the space agency to use existing resources but also seek out help from companies and the public in tracking UAP sightings.

“The top takeaway from the study is that there is a lot more to learn,” Nelson said. “The NASA independent study team did not find any evidence that UAPs have an extraterrestrial origin, but we don’t know what these UAP are.”

The study team commissioned by NASA in 2022 consisted of 16 experts, including former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly, as well as university physics professors and officials with the Federal Aviation Administration among others.

The driving force behind NASA’s involvement includes not only the search for alien life forms but the question of safety in the skies. read more