SpaceX has lots of enemies — but this may be the most unexpected yet.
As Space.com reported, members of the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) — yes, that’s a real group — were among those protesting the Elon Musk-owned company’s proposed use of Kennedy Space Center on the Sunshine State’s so-called Space Coast.
Among the many potential impacts associated with bringing SpaceX to Florida — including hearing damage to local residents and flight delays across the state, per various opponents — is the repeat closure of Playalinda Beach, a remote location on the Canaveral National Seashore that’s one of Florida’s four main public beaches where nudity is legal.
Popular among the clothing-optional set, Playalinda could be closed up to 60 times per year due to Starship operations — and Deborah-Sue Stevens, a former regional director for the nudist organization’s Western branch, says those closures will harm many members of her community.
“[There are] probably a quarter million people that travel and think like I do,” Stevens said, calling into the Zoom meeting from California, “who look for destinations that are beautiful and surrounded by like-minded people.”
Erich Schuttauf, the executive director of AANR — which bills itself as the largest and longest-established nudist organization in the US with foundations dating back to 1931 — added that Playalinda closures might affect the non-nude community too.
As Schuttauf explained, nudists may end up traveling to nearby Volusia County, whose clothing-optional Apollo Beach, located further along the Canaveral shore, is also popular among those who like to sunbathe in their birthday suits.
Should Playalinda be removed as an option, Schuttauf warned, nudists may overtake Apollo and end up going over the clothing optional line, causing some decidedly Floridian conflicts between them and their clothed counterparts.
Not everyone was interested in preserving the nude beach’s current status, however. Max West, a random man quoted by Space.com who claimed during the Zoom call that he plans to move to the area to photograph Starship launches, essentially suggested that the nudists suck it up.
“The turtles and the nudists will have to migrate,” West said, presumably alluding to disputes over whether SpaceX’s rocket debris pose a hazard to endangered sea turtles . “That’s the cost that you have to pay for this incredible stuff that’s happening.”
Unfortunately, it looks like that wannabe SpaceX photographer may end up getting his way.
Although the FAA hasn’t yet completed its environmental review for SpaceX’s request to move to Florida, and has yet to determine whether Musk’s company can meet both its financial and safety requirements to operate at the Kennedy Space Center, construction of a Starship tower has nevertheless been underway for more than a year — giving the impression that approval is a foregone conclusion.
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