13 January 2025

Aerospace, History, and Wildlife in Florda's Space and First Coasts - Space Coast Road Trip Radio Report; 7-11 January 2025

Last week, I took what is becoming my annual Space Coast Road Trip. I left Savannah going south on Tuesday and returned on Saturday. On the way to Titusville on Tuesday, I stopped in Ponce Inlet and visited the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse and Museum and then continued on to visit the Merritt Island NWR before checking into the hotel. I spent Wednesday at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex, catching a SpaceX launch while I was there. On Thursday, I spent the morning at the Merritt Island NWR and Canaveral National Seashore then visited the American Space Museum and Hall of Fame and the Valiant Air Command Museum in the afternoon. On Friday, I headed back up I-95 to St Augustine where I visited the St Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, Castillo de San Marco, Colonial Quarter, and the Fort Mose Historic Site. I overnighted in St Augustine Beach so I wouldn't have to drive through Jacksonville on a Friday afternoon/evening and drove back to Savannah on Saturday morning. Temperatures in Florida were below normal and winds were high throughout the trip, but with the exception of Saturday morning, there wasn't any rain to deal with. Some excellent meals were had along the way and it was also good to catch up with radio friends at several of them.

Space Shuttle Atlantis on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex. Atlantis holds a soft spot for me and I love to visit it at KSC because it was the shuttle I saw launch on its STS-125 mission on 11 April 2009 - the only Shuttle launch I got to see launch in person.

01 January 2025

Coastal Georgia Military Monitoring Recap; December 2024

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah and has a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2025 ahead. Due to the Christmas holiday, December was a bit of a limited month MilCom-wise; most of the activity was in the first half of the month. A mid month road trip to Jacksonville provided the opportunity to hear a bit more than I would have otherwise. This month, I'll be taking a week-long road trip to Florida's Space Coast, so look for a post about it after I return from the trip. I'm looking forward to listening to space related communications for a week!

The remains of the JA Jones Construction shipyard slipways in Brunswick, GA, where Liberty Ships were built during World War II