Shiloh Goes Into Space

You never know where Shiloh makes news.

I found this letter-to-the-editor and discovered Shiloh is "out in space", Shiloh, Florida, that is:-

Florida should not waste its time and money on an environmental study for the proposed Shiloh launch and landing site. This proposed site is a poor choice for several reasons:

The 150-acre site is 3.5 miles east of Scottsmoor (on U.S. 1), 4.5 miles from Interstate 95 and 1.5 miles from the Intracoastal Waterway. If a five-mile public safety closure area is imposed during a launch, all three transportation areas should be closed and Scottsmoor residents should be evacuated during launches.  The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is home to 119 animal and plant species that are listed as Endangered, Threatened, or of Special Concern by federal and state agencies. The wildlife refuge’s employees and volunteers may be the key to preventing the extinction of some of these critical species.  The large, undeveloped area of the refuge should not be divided into sub-parcels that may not be able to support the many diverse animal and plant species in the refuge...

Shiloh?  Space?

What gives?

From early May:

The coastal ghost town of Shiloh, where the nation's rock-star rocketeer wants to build a space town, is for now a place of orphan oranges, turkey tracks and lonesome tombstones...An effort by Space Florida, a state economic-development agency, to build a 150-acre launch complex at Shiloh has confronted the Space Coast with what for many is a distressing choice...

With a federal assessment of the launch-complex proposal now unfolding, some of the state's most-active environmental groups have made it a priority to defeat Space Florida's plans by ensuring that future rocket launches continue to take place at KSC or neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station...with the retirement of the U.S. space-shuttle fleet two years ago, the pressure has been strong to regenerate some space jobs by supporting the private launch center at Shiloh.

...An appreciation of the refuge's layout is easy to grasp from the top of the Max Brewer Bridge just outside of Titusville; most of the dramatic scenery to the east is the refuge.

To the south is the towering Vehicle Assembly Building, where moon rockets and then shuttles were prepared for launch. To the north is an expanse of green that includes what was once the town of Shiloh, an agricultural community whose residents were evicted more than a half-century ago to make way for the nation's premier launch complex.

Eviction?  They do that other than in "Israel-occupied territories"?

 

An artist's concept of the proposed Shiloh commercial spaceport. 

Original image source: Space Florida.

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