Things To Do In SW Florida

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will soon get to fly home from the International Space Station having flown up on Boeing’s Starliner, but headed home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon.

The duo joined SpaceX Crew-9 commander Nick Hague on Tuesday for a pre-departure news conference from the space station having been on board just shy of nine months.

They arrived on June 6, 2024 aboard Starliner for what was supposed to be as short as an eight-day stay, but because NASA opted to send Starliner home without crew for safety reasons, the duo will have remained on the station for more than nine months.

Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov flew up on the SpaceX Crew Dragon Freedom back in September, leaving free two seats for Williams and Wilmore for the ride home after Crew-9’s planned six-month stay on the station.

“We just feel fortunate and thankful though that we have seats and we’ll be coming home, riding the plasma,  splashing down in the ocean, so that’s what we’re looking forward to,” Wilmore said. read more

By JOSH BOAK, PAUL WISEMAN and ROB GILLIES, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s long-threatened tariffs against Canada and Mexico went into effect Tuesday, putting global markets on edge and setting up costly retaliations by the United States’ North American allies.

Starting just past midnight, imports from Canada and Mexico are now to be taxed at 25%, with Canadian energy products subject to 10% import duties.

The 10% tariff that Trump placed on Chinese imports in February was doubled to 20%, and Beijing retaliated Tuesday with tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of U.S. farm exports. It also expanded the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country would slap tariffs on more than $100 billion of American goods over the course of 21 days. Mexico didn’t immediately detail any retaliatory measures.

The U.S. president’s moves raised fears of higher inflation and the prospect of a devastating trade war even as he promised the American public that taxes on imports are the easiest path to national prosperity. He has shown a willingness to buck the warnings of mainstream economists and put his own public approval on the line, believing that tariffs can fix what ails the country. read more

Universal Orlando is making fresh “Harry Potter”-related pushes in its theme parks with a new wave of interactive wands and the conjuring of Butterbeer Season.  There’s wand-related news for Epic Universe as well.

Four new “second generation” wands, now on sale, can be connected to Universal Play within the official Universal Orlando Resort app. They will provide enhanced experiences — such as illuminations and vibrations — to the spells that are cast in specified locations across the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attractions at Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure theme parks.

The new wands, now on sale, come with the ability to be personalized with wizard name, lead to exclusive adventures and build House Points, a daily competition among Hogwarts’ wizards.  The wand designs are designated as redwood, pine, spruce and silverlime, and they have been selling for $85.

Universal has expanded the number of magic locations for the wands in five new locations within Wizarding World. In Hogsmeade, on the Islands of Adventure park, users can set off effects at the Owl Post (pixies hide behind packages) and the Duelling Club Tent, where an abandoned dummy can come to live.  At Diagon Alley, located in Universal Studios park, spiders are involved at Ariadne’s Spinners as well as a dementor at Knockturn Alley Staircase. Also in the alley, a spell can alter the storminess of the night sky. read more

Congress began grappling in earnest with the future of NASA’S Artemis program last week amid indications the moon may lose out to Mars under President Trump’s new administration.

The Space Coast’s new representative in the U.S. House, Mike Haridopolos, led the U.S. House Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee in a hearing weighing the rising costs of Artemis’ Space Launch System rocket against the threat of losing to China in a new race to return to the moon.

“We stand at a crossroads. The world is watching, and our competitors, like communist China, are racing to beat us there,” Haridopolos, who chairs the subcommittee, said during opening remarks. “We cannot afford to fall behind. This is an opportunity to prove that America still leads the world in exploration and innovation.”

While no NASA official came to the hearing, it did feature two witnesses discussing how long to stick with the current Artemis program, which has many critics including Trump’s close advisor and SpaceX founder Elon Musk. read more

SpaceX announced Monday its plans to launch Starship from Kennedy Space Center later this year while building out more $1.8 billion in infrastructure in Florida to support two launch sites.

“SpaceX was founded with the ultimate mission of making humanity multiplanetary, and Starship is the vehicle that will enable us to become a spacefaring civilization,” said Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s vice president of launch. “Through this significant expansion of Starship production and launch capabilities in Florida, we’re taking a big step toward achieving this goal, and we are grateful to our partners across the state for their ongoing support.”

Previously dubbed “Project Hinton” by Space Florida, the massive investment is projected to bring 600 jobs with average wages of $93,000 a year to the region by 2030.

The news counters several rounds of bad space-related employment news in recent months including layoffs at Boeing and Blue Origin coupled with workforce reductions at NASA under President Trump’s purge of federal government agencies. read more