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NASA’s commercial partners mounted a vigorous defense of the Artemis moon mission plans this week amid the specter of changes from the new Trump administration.

In a Wednesday panel discussion at the SpaceCom conference at the Orange County Convention Center, representatives from Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Amentum joined NASA officials to lay out progress toward Artemis II, the next flight in the agency’s plans to return to the moon.

“Don’t throw it all away or … we’ll be having the same discussion four years from now,” said Lockheed Martin’s Kirk Shireman.

Artemis II is targeting no later than April 2026 to fly its first crewed mission, which would launch the Lockheed Martin-built Orion spacecraft with four astronauts on board atop the Space Launch System rocket from Kennedy Space Center on a flight that will take them around, but not land on, the moon.

Despite DEI demise, NASA still touts goal to land 1st woman, 1st person of color on moon

That mission is slated to be followed up in summer 2027 with Artemis III, which aims to return humans and the first woman, to the lunar surface for the first time since 1972 and the end of the Apollo program. read more

By PAUL WISEMAN, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — A humming American economy ended 2024 on a solid note with consumer spending continuing to drive growth, and ahead of what could be a significant change in direction under a Trump administration.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product — the economy’s output of goods and services — expanded at a 2.3% annual rate from October through December.

For the full year, the economy grew a healthy 2.8%, compared with 2.9% in 2023.

The fourth-quarter growth was a tick below the 2.4% economists had expected, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet.

Consumer spending grew at a 4.2% pace, fastest since January-March 2023 and up from 3.7% in July-September last year. But business investment tumbled as investment in equipment plunged after two straight strong quarters.

Wednesday’s report also showed persistent inflationary pressure at the end of the 2024. The Federal Reserve’s favored inflation gauge — called the personal consumption expenditures index, or PCE — rose at a 2.3% annual pace last quarter, up from 1.5% in the third quarter and above the Fed’s 2% target. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, so-called core PCE inflation was 2.5%, up from 2.2% in the July-September quarter. read more

Confession: I wasn’t feeling overly sentimental about the end of DinoLand USA at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. But on a recent visit I suddenly felt sadness about Cementasaurus, the big ol’ dino that happily stood guard at the entrance for years.

The statue – big enough to walk easily beneath its belly – wouldn’t seem to have a home in the re-imagined area that eventually will become Tropical Americas themed with “Encanto” and “Indiana Jones” attractions. It now stands behind a construction wall with the shuttered Fossil Fun carnival games and the remains of the TriceraTop Spin ride, which closed down this month. Those attractions and Cementasaurus have already been wiped from the Disney World maps.

As we walked by the long green wall, I started mentally spending Disney’s money to save Cementasaurus. Would it work at a water park or a miniature golf course somewhere? Wouldn’t it feel wrong at the nearby Boneyard play area, which is very bony and doubtless going away with this project anyway? read more

SpaceX sent up the Space Coast’s 10th launch of the year Wednesday night, but skipped any landing attempt of its booster.

A Falcon 9 rocket on the SpainSat NG I mission carrying a communications satellite developed by Spanish company Hisdesat and the European Space Agency lifted off at 8:34 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A.

This was the final launch of the first-stage booster, which made its 21st flight, but SpaceX had to expend more fuel than normal to get the satellite on its way to a geosynchronous transfer orbit. As such, there was no recovery effort for the booster.

The booster had previously flown the SES-22, ispace’s HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, GSAT-20, Thuraya-4 and 13 Starlink missions. It’s one of several that had surpassed 20 launches, although shy of the fleet leading booster that has flown 24 times so far.

Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/RDcaOPGkTz

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 30, 2025

SpaceX has flown all but one of the missions so far this year on the Space Coast including three previous from KSC along with six from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. read more

Seminole County this week took its first financial step toward supporting a yearslong plan to connect SunRail passengers to the massive Orlando International Airport and theme park district in neighboring Orange County.

On Tuesday, commissioners unanimously agreed to pitch in $500,000 for a $6 million study that would delve into feasibility of the proposed Sunshine Corridor, a rail system that would allow SunRail passengers to travel from airport gates to theme parks without using the area’s roads.

“I fully support this,” said Seminole Commissioner Bob Dallari, longtime advocate of the Sunshine Corridor. “I think it’s not only important but imperative that we do this.”

When SunRail trains first rolled down the tracks more than a decade ago, supporters said the ultimate goal was connecting the train line — which runs 61 miles north and south through Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties — eastward to the airport, which handles more than 60 million passengers a year. read more