Things To Do In SW Florida

It’s been 18,700 days since the U.S. last made a soft landing on the moon.

That’s when the Apollo 17 lunar lander Challenger touched down in the valley of Taurus-Littrow bringing astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt on the final visit to the moon of the Apollo program.

The duo arrived on Dec. 11, 1972 and left three days later. The U.S. has not returned for a soft landing to the surface of the moon since.

Today, that 52-year drought could end with what could be the first successful commercial lunar landing in history. Houston-based Intuitive Machines is aiming to send its Nova-C lunar lander named Odysseus for a target moon touchdown of 4:24 p.m. EST, which is an update from the original 5:49 p.m. plan after an overnight lunar correction maneuver.

NASA and the company will begin coverage of the attempt beginning at 3 p.m. Streams can be found on NASA’s social media platforms including youtube.com/@NASA/ and on its NASA TV website as well as on the Intuitive Machines’ website at intuitivemachines.com/im-1 and on its X account at X.com/Int_Machines/. read more

The airline that nearly three decades ago disrupted and then rose to dominance at Orlando International Airport, Southwest, had seemed during the past few years about to be eclipsed by a merger of two discount carriers, JetBlue and Spirit.

With that merger now increasingly in doubt, Southwest will remain not only Orlando’s busiest among 38 airlines, it is also about to power through a growth spurt this spring to reach its highest volumes since first landing in the city 27 years ago and is revamping routes this summer to make Orlando its Florida hub for international flights.

In staying atop the leader board, Southwest continues to symbolize the character of the nation’s 9th busiest airport, Orlando International: a collection of scrappy, budget upstarts including Allegiant later this year and several flag carriers of other nations, and not a hub of the big three, American, Delta and United, with their global reach, premium classes and button-down tone.

“We are going to see 25 percent growth this March year over year,” promised Andrew Watterson, the airline’s chief operating officer, who met with the Orlando Sentinel recently at Southwest’s newly and significantly expanded ticket lobby for a question-and-answer session. read more

SeaWorld Orlando is making visible progress on its next attraction, Penguin Trek, an indoor-outdoor roller coaster set to open at the theme park this spring.

The ride’s rail – white on the outside stretches, black on the interior – is completely in place. Decor is in the works, including faux rockwork and expedition-inspired touches. Penguin Trek will operate in the building for the former Empire of the Penguin attraction, and there was demolition required in the plaza as well as some construction for a gift shop/exit. The iceberg look remains.

“You may remember from the previous ride, we were on a journey with Puck, who was a character that we created to symbolize that birth and growth of a penguin in the wild,” Clint Brinker, vice president of design and engineering, said during a hard-hat tour behind the construction walls.

“But here, the theming is very natural, and it’s about us explorers going out to see penguins in their natural habitat,” he said. “So the look and the feel and the textures … Everything we’re doing here is to create that feeling of an expedition with real penguins in their real environment.” read more