Musk's SpaceX got hit with protesters - and they were in the nude

Nudists from the American Association for Nude Recreation (AANR) are not happy with Elon Musk's SpaceX and have protested the company's proposed use of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Some of the concerns raised by local residents about the impacts include hearing damage and flight delays, but the factor that has angered nudists in particular is the remote Playalinda Beach - one of Florida's four main public beaches where nudity is legal - being repeatedly closed, Space.com reported.

In fact, if Starship operations were to go ahead, Playalinda could be closed up to 60 times per year as a result.

What have members of the AANR said?

This concern has been raised by Deborah-Sue Stevens, a former regional director for the nudist organisation's Western branch.

"[There are] probably a quarter million people that travel and think like I do," Stevens via Zoom meeting from California, "who look for destinations that are beautiful and surrounded by like-minded people."

Additionally, Erich Schuttauf, the executive director of AANR - one of the biggest long-standing American nudist organisations (we're talking all the way back to 1931), highlighted how non-nudists could be impacted by the Playalinda closures as well.

He explained that nudists could travel nearby to Apollo Beach in Volusia County, where clothing is optional. But due to Playalinda being closed, this influx could mean them passing the optional clothing line and consequently causing tensions between nudists and clothed beachgoers.

Not everyone agrees...

However, keeping nudist beaches open isn't on the top of everyone's agenda, such as Max West, who, according to Space.com, said on the Zoom call, he intends to move to the local area to take snaps of Starship launches.

"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."

Current status

As for SpaceX's request to move to the Sunshine Coast, currently, the environmental review by the FAA is still underway to conclude whether or not the company can meet both its financial and safety requirements to operate at the Kennedy Space Center.

Although it hasn't stopped a Starship tower from being built, a process that has been in progress for over a year...

Elsewhere from Indy100, When is SpaceX's Starship Flight 10 launch and how can I watch it? and SpaceX: The biggest explosions as rocket blows up while stationary.

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