Celebrated on first Friday in May

NASA launches a rocket on its Artemis I moon mission. (Jacob Langston, Copyright 2022 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.)

ORLANDO, Fla. – How lucky are we to live Central Florida where rocket launches happen as often as Florida man makes news?

National Space Day, an out-of-this-world celebration is this week and is always celebrated on the first Friday in May.

This national holiday is to “promote math, science, technology, and engineering education in young people. The hope is to inspire them to pursue a career in science, especially a career in space-related jobs,” according to the National Day Calendar website.

With the Kennedy Space Center and the Space Coast only a short drive away – you can easily get lost in space.

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NASA has a webpage where you can learn about careers at the space agency, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics offers a “universe of options” on its page, as well.

But hey – why limit yourself to one day? News 6 has you covered with these upcoming space events in Central Florida:

Thursday, May 4: SpaceX will attempt to launch another batch of Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station with a Falcon 9 rocket at 3:31 a.m.

Friday, May 5: The May full moon, also known as the Flower Moon, will appear opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 1:34 p.m., according to NASA. The moon will appear full for three days around this time, from early Thursday morning through early Sunday morning.

Saturday, May 6: Two veteran astronauts will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Roy Bridges and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Arizona) will be inducted during a ceremony “beneath the awe-inspiring space shuttle Atlantis,” according to a news release.

Use the form below to sign up for the ClickOrlando.com space newsletter, sent every Wednesday afternoon.

Copyright 2023 by WKMG ClickOrlando - All rights reserved.

About the Author:

Jacob joined ClickOrlando.com in 2022. He spent 19 years at the Orlando Sentinel, mostly as a photojournalist and video journalist, before joining Spectrum News 13 as a web editor and digital journalist in 2021.