Yesterday marked the start of World Space Week — an annual event that celebrates contributions to space technology. This year, 90+ countries are participating in the festivities around the world.

Aerospace Center for Excellence, photo courtesy of Aerospace Center for Excellence

We certainly did a lot of exploring this year. Gravitate towards this list of some of Lakeland’s space happenings.

Aug. 4, 2021: Lakeland’s Aerospace Center for Excellence unveiled its Skylab facility, which includes a simulator training lab, planetarium, and an aerospace training center for students and teachers.
Sept. 15, 2021: SpaceX Inspiration4 launched as the first all-civilian mission into orbit. Aboard was commander Jared Isaacman, the founder of Draken International, a military adversary company right here in Lakeland, near SUN ’n FUN’s ACE campus.

If you’re one to venture beyond Swan City, check out how the rest of the world left their mark on the galaxy:

Feb. 18, 2021: The Perseverance rover landed on Mars, and with it the first of its kind: Ingenuity, a helicopter testing controlled flight on another planet. Perseverance’s main goal is to look for signs of previous life on Mars and collect samples.
July 11, 2021: Billionaire Richard Branson became the first person to go to space in their own spaceship. This trip to space only took 15 minutes.
July 20, 2021: Jeff Bezos followed suit of fellow billionaire Richard Branson and took a flight to space on the fifty-second anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

We can’t wait to see what will launch into orbit next year. 🚀

Question:

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