In 1980, Barbara Evans and her husband, Hank, spearheaded the Titusville-based grassroots group Save Our Beach after NASA threatened to shut down road access to popular Playalinda Beach for future space shuttle security purposes.
Now — a full 45 years later, and two years after Hank passed away — Barbara Evans is again fighting to preserve Playalinda Beach access.
This time, temporary closures could occur from SpaceX’s future Starship-Super Heavy launches and landings from pad 39A at NASA’s bordering Kennedy Space Center. Starship operations could generate the equivalent of 60½ closure days per year at Playalinda Beach, per a newly released Federal Aviation Administration draft environmental impact statement.
“This feels like double jeopardy to me. Even criminals don’t have to fight for their life twice. And yes, Playalinda is our life,” Evans said in a statement she prepared for FAA officials.
Playalinda Beach: FAA: Starship launches could close Playalinda Beach access for equivalent of 60 days per year
Tuesday afternoon, roughly 100 people attended an FAA public meeting on proposed Starship-Super Heavy environmental impacts at the Astronauts Memorial Foundation Center for Space Education at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
The FAA draft statement projected 33 to 44 Playalinda Beach full-day closures plus up to 33 half-day closures per year, totaling 60½ days. Evans handed out white 1980-vintage bumper stickers to meeting attendees bearing red lettering: “Keep Playalinda Open.”
She also carried four photo albums filled with newspaper clippings and documentation from the original Save Our Beach battle during the early 1980s. Members and supporters were known as S.O.B.s.
“We had bumper stickers. We had rallies. We mailed envelopes of Playalinda sand to the Interior department. We went up to see the National Park Service in Atlanta. Everybody was interested,” Evans said.
Facing public opposition, NASA officials relented on shutting down Playalinda Beach private-vehicle access along the original path of State Road 402, which passed within the three-mile security zones of KSC’s shuttle pads 39A and 39B. More than a decade later, a ribbon-cutting ceremony occurred in April 1993 for a rerouted 3.7-mile stretch that led motorists about ⅓-mile to the north, further away from both pads. This roadway is used today to reach the beach.
The yellow area on this map depicts the proposed Starship-Super Heavy launch-landing access restriction area surrounding pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
Tuesday’s afternoon meeting occurred while SpaceX crews prepped for another Starship launch attempt for the huge rocket’s 10th flight test from Boca Chica, Texas. Weather, specifically an anvil cloud, triggered a scrub Monday evening.
Next, FAA officials will collect public comments on Starship environmental impacts during two more public meetings on Thursday, Aug. 28, at the Radisson Resort at the Port in Cape Canaveral. Hours are 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The address is 8701 Astronaut Blvd.
The meetings will kick off with FAA PowerPoint video presentations describing Starship-Super Heavy proposed actions. Then the meetings will transition to an open-house, information-station format. That’s when attendees can submit verbal comments to court reporters who will transcribe them for the record.
In addition, an FAA Zoom meeting will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 3.
Gainesville resident Robyn Memphis, whose parents live in Titusville, launched a Change.org petition two weeks ago aimed at protecting Playalinda Beach public access. The petition garnered more than 3,150 signatures by Tuesday afternoon.
A surfer, Memphis fell in love with Playalinda Beach while living in Titusville and earning her undergraduate degree from the University of Central Florida. She drove back last week to catch waves generated by Hurricane Erin.
“It’s such a sanctuary. It’s a place to get away from everything,” Memphis said.
“Other people are like, ‘You can just go to another beach. You have so many of them.’ It makes me question if they’ve ever been to Playalinda to see a completely undeveloped beach, with a beautiful drive in,” she said.
“This petition and talking to other people in the community has made me realize that I am not alone in feeling that way,” she said.
Titusville resident Barbara Evans wore her vintage yellow “I Helped Save Playalinda Beach” T-shirt from 1980 during the Federal Aviation Administration’s Aug. 26 public meeting on Starship-Super Heavy environmental impacts at the Astronaut Memorial Foundation at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
FAA officials at Tuesday’s meeting declined comment, referring a reporter to the 410-page draft environmental impact statement. This document noted that “launch scrubs and weather delays could affect the length and/or number of (Playalinda Beach) closures; however, the extent of these occurrences cannot be quantified at this time.”
Of further note, “it is anticipated that, similar to other launch vehicles like Falcon, associated closure areas would reduce in size and duration as the program matures, more data is available, and the reliability of the vehicle improves.”
Brevard County Commissioner Thad Altman is also president and CEO of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation. He chaired the commission during the Save Our Beach movement, and he said he hopes restriction zones for Starship launches and landings will eventually shrink southward away from Playalinda Beach.
“As the rocket becomes more reliable and it flies more, they’ll realize the safety zone doesn’t have to be as broad. It will shrink,” Altman said.
Altman recalled lobbying for federal funding in Washington, D.C., alongside former Titusville mayor Truman Scarborough for the rerouted Playalinda Beach access road.
“It’s déjà vu all over again. It didn’t seem that long ago that we were getting funded for a new road,” Altman said.
Titusville resident Barbara Evans was featured in this September 1980 TODAY story about the grassroots group Save Our Beach celebrating NASA’s decision to maintain access to Playalinda Beach during the space shuttle program.
How to submit written Starship comments to the FAA
Go to regulations.gov, then search for Docket No. FAA-2024-1395.
Click the “Comment” button, enter your information, then click “Submit Comment.”
Or, mail comments to Ms. Eva Long, FAA Environmental Protection Specialist c/o Leidos, 2877 Guardian Lane, Virginia Beach, VA 23452. The comment period closes on Sept. 22.
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Rick Neale is a Space Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at Rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Playalinda Beach supporters oppose closures from SpaceX Starship launches