TITUSVILLE, Fla. - Sections of Canaveral National Seashore including the popular Playalinda Beach will close ahead of NASA's historic Artemis rocket launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
The space center is adjacent to the national seashore. The rocket that will carry four astronauts around the moon for the Artemis II mission is visible in the distance from the park's scenic pullovers along Beach Road, which meanders through swampy wetlands to the Atlantic Ocean. The rocket was rolled out to Launchpad 39B, roughly 1.5 miles southeast of Beach Road, on Jan. 17.
A few days before the rollout, the seashore's hours were shortened to 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., instead of the usual 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Starting Feb. 2, the park's Playalinda District will close altogether until the rocket launches. That includes the entrance accessed from the town of Titusville as well as the Playalinda Beach area.
“We close down that area for safety reasons. It’s very near where the actual launch takes place," Messod Bendayan, a NASA public information officer at Kennedy Space Center, told the Traveler Monday.
Similar closures happened at Canaveral National Seashore during the Space Shuttle program in the 1980s and 90s, and smaller-scale shutdowns also sometimes affect Playalinda access.
As of Friday afternoon, the scenic pullovers were already closed and the two with the best views of the rocket were guarded by park security. Bendayan said that's also for safety and security reasons.
“We’re working on the rocket, we’re doing connections, we’re doing all kinds of things," he said.
It also goes through fueling tests and a dress rehearsal while on the launchpad and before being cleared for lift off.
The seashore will resume normal operating hours the day after Artemis II successfully launches, according to the park website. It's not known exactly when that might happen, but NASA says the first launch window opens Feb. 6 and runs through Feb. 11. There are similar launch windows in March and April.
In between, NASA could roll the rocket back into the space center's Vehicle Assembly Building which might allow Playalinda to reopen.
The Artemis program aims to eventually land astronauts on the moon and is part of NASA's efforts to someday reach Mars. The first Artemis mission launched in 2022 after multiple setbacks and delays. There were no humans onboard. This time, four astronauts will board the rocket and, if all goes as planned, circle the moon and return to earth after 10 days in space.
Kennedy Space Center is located in Brevard County about an hour east of Orlando. The space industry is a key part of the area's economy, but the increasing pace of rocket launches and concerns over environmental impacts have led to recent pushback by some local residents, especially those who frequent Playalinda Beach.
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