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In a span of less than 22 hours, SpaceX managed three Falcon 9 rocket launches and one landing of a Dragon spacecraft.

It flew a Department of Defense mission from Cape Canaveral on Monday night and on Tuesday knocked out a National Reconnaissance Office mission from California, the landing of the latest cargo Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Florida and the final topper of a busy day with a launch from Kennedy Space Center.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/BhsixEo7Vw

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 17, 2024

The final launch saw a Falcon 9 on the mPower-E mission lifting off from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A at 5:26 p.m. with a  payload of a pair of satellites for Luxembourg-based communications company SES headed to medium-Earth orbit.

This was the first launch of the first-stage booster, which made a recovery landing downrange on the droneship Just Read the Instructions in the Atlantic.

Falcon 9’s first stage lands on the Just Read the Instructions droneship pic.twitter.com/XuyNyggQBq

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 17, 2024 read more

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — While the puzzle pieces have been laid out over the last two years, a picture is beginning to form for NASA’s pursuit of the first human spaceflight of its Artemis program to the moon.

While the launch of Artemis II is still officially more than 16 months away, its massive Space Launch System rocket core stage went vertical inside KSC’s cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building this week while the four crew set to be the first to fly to the moon in more than half a century say they’re ready to go.

Amid the clanging echoes of work in progress across the building that spans eight acres, the three NASA and one Canadian Space Agency astronauts were on hand to let everyone know they’re on board with NASA’s decision to move forward without replacing the heat shield on their ride to the moon, the Orion space capsule.

“My wife, when the announcement was made, she looked at me and she said, ‘Well, what do you think?’ I said, ‘I think it’s safe and I think it’s go time,” said NASA’s Victor Glover, the pilot for the mission. “I always tell my family, don’t pay attention to launch dates until I tell you to do so. And this is the first one — you know, there have been several since we’ve been assigned to this mission — and this is the first one I said, ‘Hey, put it on your calendar and and be ready.’” read more

By JOSH BOAK and LINLEY SANDERS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The unemployment rate is healthy and the stock market is up, but Democrats are feeling more pessimistic about the U.S. economy after Donald Trump’s election victory, according to a new poll.

Republicans, meanwhile, are still dour about the current state of the economy but hopeful that growth will be stronger next year when Trump returns to the White House as president.

The latest survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggests that some Americans are evaluating the economy more by who holds political power than on what the underlying trends suggest. This was a persistent challenge for President Joe Biden that Trump appears to be inheriting — and it raises the possibility that Trump, too, might struggle to translate his economic policies into political wins.

About 7 in 10 U.S. adults rate the country’s economic state as very or somewhat poor, up slightly from about 6 in 10 in October. Self-identified Democrats are primarily driving the recent negativity. About 6 in 10 Democrats described the U.S. economy as “good” in October. With Republicans on the verge of controlling the executive and legislative branches, only about half of Democrats say that now. read more

Universal Orlando has revealed a design change in its employee name tags that reflects the upcoming addition of Epic Universe theme park.

The new look features iconic symbols of its parks across the bottom, including the Islands of Adventure lighthouse, a volcano for Volcano Bay water park, the Universal globe, the chronos for Epic and the arches of Universal Studios.

Top and center remains the Universal Orlando globe logo, which is flanked by stars. Team members’ first names and their hometowns are centered below.

The name tags will be given to employees in early 2025, Universal Orlando announced Tuesday.  A video posted on social media showed multiple workers with new tags in various resort locations. Among them was Karen Irwin, president and chief operating officer of Universal Orlando.

Epic Universe is scheduled to open near the Orange County Convention Center on May 22.

dbevil@orlandosentinel.com

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO, AP Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumers stepped up their spending at retail stores last month, providing a boost to the economy in the early phases of the winter holiday shopping season.

Retail sales rose 0.7% in November, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, a solid increase and higher than October’s 0.5% gain. Sales jumped 2.6% at auto dealers, driving most of the gain. Some of that demand likely reflected a need for new cars in parts of the southeast slammed by Hurricane Helene in October, as well as healthy incentives provided by car dealers. Big discounts at many retail chains also attracted some consumers.

The boost in spending underscores that the economy is still growing at a healthy pace even with higher interest rates, a trend that could cause the Federal Reserve to lower borrowing costs more slowly next year than they have previously signaled. The Fed will announce its latest rate decision Wednesday.

At the same time, there were some signs of consumer caution, as sales at grocery stores, clothing shops, and restaurants fell. Outside of car dealers and online retailers, sales gains were modest. read more