Category: Space News
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Skydive Spaceland to Host Second Annual Houston Firefighters’ Memorial Event
Contact: Chris Lee, Houston Fire Department 832-405-3769; chrislee5479@gmail.com Rosharon, Texas (June 12, 2014)— On July 5, skydivers/Houston firefighters Chris Lee (HazMat/22-D shift) and Clint Meade (firefighter/paramedic in training) will organize a memorial skydiving event at Skydive Spaceland for the Houston firefighters who were killed or injured battling the deadly hotel fire in Houston on May 31,…
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Skydive Spaceland Transitions Events for Recent Grads
For recent skydiving graduates, there is often a no-man’s-land between the A license and getting on good dives. Skydive Spaceland-Houston has been turning that no-man’s land into free coaching central with its monthly Transitions events. On or near the first weekend of each month, organizers and coaches collaborate to provide free small-group coaching tailored to…
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Check Off a Bucket-List Item: Be part of a Guinness Book of World Records Tandem Skydive
Looking to check off an item on your bucket list? Or, perhaps you’re a thrill-seeker looking for adventure, or you’re an experienced skydiver wanting to jump again. The Children’s Cancer Recovery Foundation’s “Jump! Shout!” skydive event is the place for you! While experiencing a breathtaking jump from 14,000 feet at an astonishing 120 miles per…
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Skydivers Over Sixty Texas Record Set at Spaceland—Again
Rosharon, TX–Unsatisfied with the 14-person record they set in December 2013, Skydivers Over Sixty (years of age) returned to Skydive Spaceland in Rosharon, Texas, to set another state large-formation record on May 3. This was the group’s third attempt at building the largest skydiving formation comprised of only skydivers aged 60 and older over Texas;…
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Skydive Spaceland Introduces the Safety Stand
What if every drop zone posted their safety policies and daily notes conveniently in one location in the loading area for all jumpers, old and new, to browse and learn while waiting for aircraft? Check that box for Skydive Spaceland! We’ve just posted our own Safety Stand in the hangar, complete with information on: Basic…
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Local Couple Gets Engaged, Celebrates Easter with Skydiving
Rosharon, TX, 4/18/14–“Skydiving! She’ll never suspect that!” So says Houston firefighter Clint Meade of the way he chose to propose marriage to his longtime girlfriend Whitney Greco last weekend at Skydive Spaceland. “I could have asked her at McDonald’s and she’d have said yes, but this was much better,” he said with a grin. “I…
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Old Farts Texas State Record Set at Spaceland
I have officially turned old… well, old enough to join Skydivers over Sixty. Actually, I tried to join earlier but then it was explained to me that “sixty” was age and not IQ! Upon receiving my official SOS information, badge, and secret handshake, I noticed that the state formation record for Texas was only nine…
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Skydive Spaceland to Celebrate Veteran’s Day with Local Medal of Honor Recipient and Friends: “Airborne to Skydiving”
“Nobody signs up to win the Medal of Honor. You earn it at the intersection of happenstance and hell, and you’re there because that’s what your country has asked of you.” These poignant words from the book Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty summarize the situations combat veterans know all…
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Head-Down Skydiving Formation State Record Set at Skydive Spaceland
Contact: Stephen Boyd, 281-369-3337, Stephen@SkydiveSpaceland.com Thirty-four skydivers set a new state record for the largest head-down skydiving formation on Sunday, Nov. 3, at Skydive Spaceland just south of Houston. Their smooth skydive eclipsed the previous state record of 31 head-down skydivers linked in a single formation, and brought the record home to Houston. Not only…
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Women’s State Record Set at Skydive Spaceland
October 14, 2013 Contact: Kirsten Hardmant, Jump for the Rose Event Coordinator, Kirsten@JumpForTheRose.org (Rosharon, Texas)—Four skilled skydiving women set a new head-up state skydiving record at Skydive Spaceland last Saturday, Oct. 12, during the Jump for the Rose PinkFest Boogie. The annual charity event has so far this year raised more than $10,000 for The Rose, Houston-area…
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Skydive Spaceland Hosts Houston Firefighters’ Memorial Event
On July 14, skydiver/Houston firefighter Chris Lee (HazMat/22-D shift) organized a memorial skydiving event at Skydive Spaceland for the fallen and injured firefighters and all others who battled a deadly hotel fire in Houston on May 31, 2013. The fire killed four Houston Fire Department (HFD) firefighters and injured 13 more, making it the deadliest…
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Skydive Spaceland Raises More Than $2,500 for Oklahoma Tornado Victims
Rosharon, Texas (June 13)—Over Memorial Day weekend, Houstonians and Skydive Spaceland joined forces to raise funds to help victims of the enormous tornado that swept Oklahoma City recently. More than 250 people made their first jump at Skydive Spaceland over the weekend, which donated $10 for each person to the American Red Cross for a…
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Skydive Spaceland to Host Fundraiser for Oklahoma Tornado Victims
NEWS RELEASE—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 22, 2013 Contact (Skydive Spaceland): Christy West, Marketing/Communications Director, Skydive Spaceland 281-369-3337; Christy@SkydiveSpaceland.com Rosharon, Texas (May 22)—Skydive Spaceland has joined the large ranks of individuals and businesses stepping up to help victims of the enormous tornado that swept Oklahoma City Monday. This weekend (Saturday through Memorial Day Monday), Skydive Spaceland…
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Steve Boyd Celebrates 40 Years of Skydiving
On April 28, Steve Boyd, owner of Skydive Spaceland just south of Houston, Texas, celebrated the 40th anniversary of his first skydive. With his entire family present at Skydive Spaceland, he chose to spend some time in the air with his two sons Eric and Stephen (who also help run the drop zone) and several…
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Skydive Spaceland Expands World-Class Skydiver Training Operations to South Florida Location
For the last 13 years, Skydive Spaceland has been training skydivers to a world-class standard at its private airfield just south of Houston, Texas. Spaceland has recently entered into a partnership with a skydiving center in south Florida to provide the same top-flight level of skydiving operations to jumpers in the Miami/Palm Beach/Fort Lauderdale/Fort Myers/Naples…
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Head-Down Big-Way Camps
On the weekend of August 31st/September 1st (Labor Day), Skydive Dallas will host a 2013 Texas Head-Down State Record camp to bust the previous 2010 record of 23. This year Skydive Spaceland is proud to host monthly head-down big-way camps in preparation for the event. Each month will be led by a different participant of…
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World Record Board-Breaking Skydiving Attempt Jan. 17, 2013
(Rosharon, TX) December 12 –Best known for his role as Tommy Oliver in the long-running TV show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Jason David Frank is attempting to break a Guinness Book of World Records – to jump out of a plane at 14,000 feet and break (with a bare handed knuckle punch) as many one–inch pine boards…
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Skydiver Training Tip: Cool Weather Gear
We may be in southern Texas, but the weather is definitely cooling down! Skydiving in wintertime brings a few challenges we don’t have in summer, namely how do we stay warm while staying safe? The heavy winter clothes you need to avoid frostbite can bite you in other ways, especially those big, bulky hoodies we…
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Skydiver Tip: Weather Watching
“What’s the weather like today? Is it good for students? What about experienced jumpers?” If we had a dollar for every time we got that phone call, text, or Facebook message, we’d all be retired. 🙂 And as you know, the answer is usually a variety of “You can’t jump if you’re not here.” In…
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Skydivers Raise More than $14,000 to Fight Breast Cancer
With the same fighting spirit that helped her successfully fight off breast cancer, Marian Sparks and her fundraising organization Jump for the Rose recently set a new record for their fundraising efforts. This effort was especially notable since it was set despite rotten weather that limited attendance at the organization’s annual main event at Skydive…
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Freefly Coaching by Heath Richardson
Kickstart your freefly education with one of the world’s best! Freeflying ladies and germs, we have a great opportunity here! Heath Richardson, veteran of 8,000 jumps and 7 years with two of the country’s top freefly teams in the early 2000s, as well as a 3-year member of the Performance Designs Factory Team, has rejoined…
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Skydivers Aim to Set Records and Battle Breast Cancer (Jump for the Rose 2012)
NEWS RELEASE—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact (Jump for the Rose): Marian Sparks, Marian@JumpfortheRose.org Contact (Skydive Spaceland): Christy West, Marketing/Communications Director, Skydive Spaceland 281-369-3337; Christy@SkydiveSpaceland.com In one of the most exciting fundraisers possible for fighting breast cancer, Jump for the Rose (a 501(c)3 organization) aims to set a new women’s Texas State Skydiving Record while raising funds…
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Throw Pepper From a Plane
Skydiving + free car giveaway = a very fun Saturday, Sept. 1 at Skydive Spaceland! Sarah Pepper from Hot 95.7 FM will be doing her first skydive around lunchtime onto a grid of 126 five-foot squares, and whoever has the square she lands on wins a brand new Mazda 3! Drop zone manager Jason will…
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Skydiving to Fight Cancer with Alana Wilson of Jumps for Hope (8/31/12)
NEWS RELEASE—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 16, 2012 Contact (Jumps for Hope): Alana Wilson, 507-458-7905, jumpsforhope@yahoo.com Contact (Skydive Spaceland): Christy West, Marketing/Communications Director, Skydive Spaceland 281-369-3337; Christy@SkydiveSpaceland.com Rosharon, Texas (Aug. 16)—Have you or any of your family/friends been affected by cancer? Fight back with freefall! On August 31, 2012, first-time skydivers at Skydive Spaceland (just south…
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Skydive Spaceland Welcomes the Supervan 900!
It’s back, bigger, better, faster, and with another blade on the prop! Our Cessna Grand Caravan recently returned from its Supervan 900 conversion and we are LOVING IT!!!! It’s not every drop zone that can call its Caravan the “fast plane” with everything else we have on the field. The Supervan is hauling jumpers to…
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Landing Area: New Reference Line
Have you ever landed your parachute just a little closer to an obstacle than you would have liked? Of course you have. All of us do as we begin to learn how to skydive and fly parachutes. So how do we NOT land too close to or on top of obstacles? We need to understand…
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High-Altitude and Head-Up National/Texas State Records Set Over Skydive Spaceland
On March 17, 16 jumpers at Skydive Spaceland near Houston, Texas, joined an elite club—that of U.S. National and Texas State Record holders—by skydiving from 22,250 feet. These jumpers, informally being called the Four-Mile-High Club, now hold among them five high-altitude skydiving records including the following: National Records: Feminine and Collegiate Skydivers Texas State Records:…
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Safety Day Spaceland-Style
Being completely weathered out at the drop zone is rotten… unless it’s Safety Day at Skydive Spaceland. At this year’s Safety Day, there we no skydives but plenty of education and prizes to be had. More than 50 skydivers got a jump (yes, pun intended!) on their 2012 skydiving seasons with nine seminars on topics…
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Recent Changes in Judging Procedures
Editor’s note: “From the Fishbowl” is a series of short articles by U.S. National Judge Randy Connell, and it is intended to educate competitors about commonly misunderstood or little-known rules of formation skydiving. References will often be made to the Skydiver’s Competition Manual (SCM). At the USPA Board Meeting in February, the USPA Competition Committee approved…
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2009 USPA Nationals coverage archived
Many of you have asked for archived scores, team rosters, blog coverage, and more from the 2009 USPA National Skydiving Championships held at Skydive Spaceland (originally posted on USPAnationals.com). Here you go! www.skydivespaceland.com/2009-USPA-Nationals