{"id":208432,"date":"2025-03-25T10:12:29","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T14:12:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/?p=208432"},"modified":"2025-03-25T10:12:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T14:12:33","slug":"see-a-launch-or-landing-on-the-space-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenandgun.com\/articles\/see-a-launch-or-landing-on-the-space-coast","title":{"rendered":"See a Launch or Landing on the Space Coast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Where:<\/strong> Merritt Island, Florida
When:<\/strong> year-round
If you like:<\/strong> history<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why you should go: <\/strong>It doesn\u2019t take a rocket scientist to observe that Florida\u2019s Space Coast is booming, literally and figuratively. Last year the region hosted a record 93 orbital launches, most of them at the hands of commercial spaceflight companies. This year will likely be even bigger, with some 150 projected launches\u2014more than double that of 2023. Now, the days of meticulously planning a trip to see a launch are over. \u201cWhen we’re launching 150 times a year, you would be hard-pressed to visit the Space Coast and not see a launch,\u201d says Greg Gaddis, senior operations manager at the Kennedy Space Center<\/strong><\/a> Spaceport. Perhaps an even more exciting experience, though, is watching a rocket booster land. With a sonic boom, a structure nearly as tall as Florida\u2019s capitol building plummets from the sky and is caught with pinpoint accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

G&G tip: <\/strong>The Kennedy Space Center sits in the middle of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and terrestrial wonders abound at this beacon of technological innovation. Keep an eye out for bald eagles, feral hogs, and alligators as you tour the complex.<\/p>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s never been a better time to put eyes to the sky<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":208433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-03-25T14:12:32Z","apple_news_api_id":"8b19d555-7ec4-4494-849c-794995b5ce1e","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-03-25T14:12:32Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AixnVVX7ERJSEnHlJlbXOHg","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1785],"tags":[328,29623,30482,619,30501],"authors":[30445],"issue":[],"recipe-type":[],"class_list":["post-208432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-florida","tag-history","tag-southern-bucket-list","tag-travel","tag-year-round","authors-helen-bradshaw"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nSee 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