What's ahead for the space program in 2020

This year didn't end up exactly how many in the spaceflight industry had hoped. Rocket launches were delayed. Explosions and development setbacks pushed off exciting milestones. NASA astronauts still don't have the option to fly aboard American spacecraft. But there were also numerous indicators that the burgeoning commercial space industry is in good health. The coming year is supposed to bring some important launches into space. It's possible private companies will successfully launch humans into space, and missions to Mars and the sun are planned. More from CNN, NPR, and UPI.

See also:
» SpaceX will kick off 2020 Space Coast launches in January
» Space tourism set to become a craze in 2020
» Decade in space: Mars rover lands, shuttle program ends, Falcon Heavy landings wow

Florida Trend Exclusive
Florida sports blockbusters in 2020

Florida will host a number of major sporting events in 2020 that will bring tourism, revenue, and attention to the state. Super Bowl LIV will take place Feb. 2 at the Hard Rock Stadium. Super Bowl organizers project 52,000 out-of-state adult fans, 1,100 youth and 250 players, coaches, trainers and officials, plus 2,000 media. [Source: Florida Trend]

A year to Remember: Florida politics

In Florida, 2019 was the political equivalent of sorbet – a palate cleanser, of sorts – between the heated politics of 2018, which saw contentious races for Governor, Senate, and Congress, and next year’s brutal battle for President. Overall, 2019 was a very good year for the Governor as he moved the state Supreme Court to the right, appointing a slate of conservative judges. He also won major budget increases for environmental issues, including Everglades’s restoration. [Source: CBS Miami]

Boaters broke the record for killing manatees in 2019

In 2019, Florida’s boaters set a new record for killing manatees in the state’s waterways. State manatee experts weren’t surprised. As of Dec. 20, boaters had killed 130 manatees this year, topping the 2018 record of 122, which topped the 2017 record of 108, which topped the 2016 record of 104, figures from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission show. The 2019 numbers yet go even higher before the new year dawns. [Source: Tampa Bay Times]

Florida CEOs’ one simple rule for social media: Don’t be an embarrassment

Florida CEOs were asked: The issue of social media use has become a hot topic. What are your organization’s rules governing social media among employees? Michael Balaban, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Broward County says, "If you’d be embarrassed for your grandmother to see it — don’t post it!" [Source: Miami Herald]

ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:

› New camera may find Everglades pythons — but they’re still hard to kill [Tampa Bay Times]
Over the past four decades, the Burmese python, has spread throughout the Everglades and multiplied until scientists estimate there may be tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of them. Humans have been able to do little to stop their spread, in part because they are so hard to find. Two months ago, scientists announced a new type of camera that uses infrared technology to spot the big snakes.

› For Florida, 2010s became a decade of mass shootings [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
For Florida, the 2010s were a decade of high-profile mass shootings: at a high school, an airport, a nightclub and a naval base — plus two headline-grabbing murder trials that ended in acquittals. Four times Florida found itself in the 2010s dealing with a high-profile mass shooting, leaving 74 people dead, changes to its gun laws and a group of motivated young survivors who pushed their message nationally.

› Sarasota-Bradenton airport’s blockbuster year [Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
In early 2018, Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport offered service to less than a dozen destinations. By February 2020, that number will be up to 40. To say that the airport has been experiencing growth over the past two years would be an understatement. Three new airlines have joined Sarasota-Bradenton’s fleet in the past two years and passenger growth has continued to skyrocket for 21 straight months.

› Jeff Vinik bought the Lightning. Then his influence spread over Tampa Bay. [Tampa Bay Times]
Since buying the Tampa Bay Lightning, Jeff Vinik has put his money into a vision for Tampa on a scale that’s been realized by only a few people in the city’s history. Vinik, 60, started by spending an estimated $110 million to buy the Lightning in 2010.

Go to page 2 for more stories ...

› Amendment 4 could influence 2020, but not in the way you think. [Florida Times-Union]
For only the second time in decades, Florida added more voters in a non-election year, growing the active voter roll by 2 percent, up about 265,000 in 2019. With less than a year until the 2020 presidential elections, neither Republicans nor Democrats appear to have gained an advantage among new voters, but in down-ballot races, those voters could prove crucial in efforts to flip legislative and local elections.

› He donated Olympia Theater to Miami decades ago. Now his family wants it back. [Miami Herald]
On New Year’s Eve, the heirs of late philanthropist Maurice Gusman will face off in court against the city of Miami. At stake: the future of the historic Olympia Theater on Flagler Street. Gusman donated the theater to the city in 1975, when it became the Olympia Center at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts.

› Virgin Trains gets 90 more days for talks over Orlando-Tampa rail service [Orlando Sentinel]
Virgin Trains was granted another extension for negotiations over locating railroad track along public roads between Orlando and Tampa but the state “cannot indefinitely offer a lease opportunity in the Interstate 4 corridor,” transportation officials said.

› Tampa chef Rosana Rivera figured out how to ‘Beat Bobby Flay’ [Tampa Bay Times]
Score one for Tampa, and Puerto Ricans everywhere, chef Rosana Rivera said while reflecting on her victory. Rivera, who co-founded Xilo at the Hall on Franklin with partner Ricardo Castro, kept a secret for months after traveling to the Food Network’s New York television studios. She could finally celebrate her appearance on the competition series Beat Bobby Flay.