Launch Rats

As reported by FloridaToday.com, Milliken’s Reef has closed its doors for good.

The restaurant – a popular fixture in Port Canaveral since 2008 – was a popular venue for local and visiting space enthusiasts. Its location across the water from OCISLY’s dock (Of Course I Still Love You, SpaceX’s East Coast booster landing and retrieval barge) made it a spot often frequented by Falcon hunters and barge spotters.

There are rumors that a new restaurant will be opening in that location shortly; nevertheless, Milliken’s will be greatly missed.

CRS-14 Launch from ITL Causeway, by Hunter

On April 2, 2018, SpaceX successfully launched a Dragon capsule to the ISS on their Falcon 9 rocket. Unexpectedly, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex was a complete sell-out, filling not only their premium viewing at the LC-39 Observation Gantry, but also filling the Apollo/Saturn V Center and their North Lawn viewing areas to capacity many hours before launch.

A few of us Launch Rats had the privilege of viewing the launch from the ITL Causeway within Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and have pictures and videos to share! Expect a more complete update shortly, as well as more information on alternate launch viewing locations (as always). For now, here’s a few tidbits to enjoy:

Hunter’s Photos (flickr.com)
Wayward’s Video (twitter.com)

As per the NASA Social Media Team announcement on their Twitter, registration is now open to attend the NASA Social Media event for SpaceX’s CRS-14 launch from SLC-40 no earlier than April 2, 2018. The deadline to submit your application is Sunday, 11th March 2018 at 11:59 pm EST.

For more details, and to submit your application, click here: nasa.gov/social/spacex-crs-14-nasa-social. Good luck to all those who apply!

If you were here on the Space Coast when Falcon Heavy launched, this past February 6th – or if you weren’t – you won’t want to miss this video, tweeted by Elon Musk today with the following statement:

Why Falcon Heavy & Starman?

Life cannot just be about solving one sad problem after another. There need to be things that inspire you, that make you glad to wake up in the morning and be part of humanity. That is why we did it. We did for you.

…Thanks, Musk-dude. Much appreciated.