Once in the doldrums, Florida coast hums with space launches

By CODY JACKSON and MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press

TITUSVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A decade ago, Florida’s Space Coast was in the doldrums. The space shuttle program had ended, and with it the steady stream of space enthusiasts who filled the area’s restaurants and hotel and motel rooms during regular astronaut launches. The Kennedy Space Center’s 7,400 laid-off shuttle workers struggled to find jobs in their fields, and many left for other states. Nowadays, the county’s unemployment rate is under 3%, and the Space Coast is humming with jobs and space launches. NASA’s first launch of its new moon rocket set for Saturday was expecting to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors.