Upgraded SpaceX rocket more reusable.
SpaceX is getting ready to put rockets on its drive to make space exploration more affordable — and Cape Canaveral spaceport will play a big role. If the company is successful, the pace of launches could accelerate even more.
Now that the space company has successfully launched NASA’s TESS satellite into orbit, there’s a pause of at least two weeks in scheduled Florida launches until SpaceX might attempt its first launch of the Falcon 9 Block 5.
The Block 5 is an upgrade intended to allow each rocket to be reused up to 10 times with little refurbishment and up to 100 times with more refurbishment, according to an article on Teslarati.com, a website, which said the current Falcon 9 can only be reused two or three times. SpaceX has moved the Block 5 to Florida after testing in Texas.
SpaceX is aiming for a departure from Kennedy Space Center “no earlier than” May 4, according to SpaceFlightNow.com, although the mission has been delayed a few times already.
That launch will carry a more routine communications satellite for the nation of Bangladesh, specifically for the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. The satellite will help provide broadcasting and telecommunication in rural areas of Bangladesh and neighboring countries.
It’s called Bangabandhu 1, and it was built by a French firm, Thales Alenia Space. Thales has a U.S. arm also, with significant offices in Orlando and Melbourne.
The Bangabandhu launch is set for Kennedy Space Center, Launch Complex 39A. As of Thursday, SpaceX’s website said the launch time is to be determined. Bangabandhu is how Bangladeshi people refer to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.
If the Bangabandhu launch is delayed, SpaceFlightNow.com says there’s a hard date of May 19 for a Falcon 9 mission carrying satellites for Iridium and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) for NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ).
Disney hiring
In an ever-tightening job market, Disney World is doubling its hiring bonuses for some summer jobs, even for unskilled or parttime positions — as it seeks to hire for 3,500 positions.
A housekeeper hired this year at Disney World’s resorts can get a hiring bonus of $1,250 for a job that pays $10.50 per hour. That’s up from last year’s $500 hiring bonus. And it’s for full-time or part-time hires.
Full-time or part-time lifeguards this year can get a $1,000 hiring bonus, double what the entertainment giant offered last year, and that is for full-time or part-time jobs, according to job
postings. Seasonal lifeguards get a $500 bonus. Bus drivers can get a $500 hiring bonus — the same as last year. Culinary chefs can get a $3,000 bonus. The bonuses are given after training periods and 30 days on the job. The company said they range up to $5,000.
Disney will hold its annual spring hiring events from now through May.
Waffle House
In other business news, the shooting death of Herbert Johnson at an east Orlando Waffle House in January has prompted a negligence lawsuit against the owners of the franchise location — East Coast Waffles.
The suit, filed by Johnson’s father of the same name, accuses the owners of failing to warn customers “of the dangerous nature and character of the property and surrounding area” and that numerous crimes had occurred in the vicinity. The lawsuit also says the restaurant didn’t have adequate security.
The Waffle House at 11749 E. Colonial Drive is open 24 hours. The shooting occurred around 3 a.m. East Coast Waffles, based in Georgia, has not returned a request for comment.
Johnson was found shot twice in the Waffle House parking lot, where he died at the scene. Three people have been arrested in connection with the shooting, which occurred after an argument in the parking lot — Al-Jalil Shaki Byrd, Jaelynn Castillo, and Donnell Holley. Byrd was arrested after a three-month manhunt.
The suit also accuses Waffle House of failing to have sufficient lighting and failing to hire competent employees. It says the employees failed to call 911 or any emergency response team, failed to intervene or to take any other measures to diffuse the situation or otherwise protect Johnson “after it became apparent that an act of a violent nature was reasonably likely to occur.”
The suit seeks a jury trial and unspecified damages for mental anguish, medical and funeral expenses, among other things.