Call Center Company in Oceanside, CA

"Congratulations to the educators, staff, administrators, parents, and students at these schools."

Kristina Houck, Patch Staff

OCEANSIDE, CA — An Oceanside school was deemed a "military-friendly school" by the California Department of Education. Coastal Academy Charter School was named a Purple Star School for 2025.

San Diego County is home to about half of the California schools designated as 2025 Purple Star Schools.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced last week that 83 schools were designated as Purple Star Schools for this year, bringing the total number of California schools recognized with this honor to 179 since the program's inception in 2023. The California Purple Star School Designation Program honored 41 schools in the San Diego region.

"Congratulations to the educators, staff, administrators, parents, and students at these schools," Thurmond said in a statement. "These schools are crucial to supporting our military-connected students, ensuring that they maintain their academic, college, and career aspirations while their parents serve our country."

The Purple Star Program seeks to reduce the burden on military-connected students and their families by articulating the most critical transition supports available, according to the California Department of Education. The program is a way to publicly recognize and designate schools that are committed and best equipped to meet the unique needs of these students and their families.

Find out what's happening in Oceanside-Camp Pendletonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

SAN DIEGO — Four space tourists who orbited the north and south poles returned to Earth on Friday, splashing down in the Pacific to end their privately funded polar tour.

Bitcoin investor Chun Wang chartered a SpaceX flight for himself and three others in a Dragon capsule that was outfitted with a domed window that provided 360-degree views of the polar caps and everything in between. Wang declined to say how much he paid for the 3 1/2-day trip.

Watch live coverage of landing on SpaceX X account:

https://t.co/ERTGAPK49M

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 4, 2025

The quartet, who rocketed from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Monday night, returned off the Southern California coast. It was the first human spaceflight to circle the globe above the poles and the first Pacific splashdown for a space crew in 50 years.

The Chinese-born Wang, now a citizen of Malta, invited Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robotics researcher Rabea Rogge and Australian polar guide Eric Philips, all of whom shared stunning vistas during their voyage.

“It is so epic because it is another kind of desert, so it just goes on and on and on all the way,” Rogge said in a video posted by Wang on X while gazing down from orbit.

Mikkelsen packed the capsule with camera equipment and spent much of her time behind the lens.

All four suffered from space motion sickness after reaching orbit, according to Wang. But by the time they woke up on day two, they felt fine and cranked open the window cover right above the South Pole, he said via X.

Besides documenting the poles from 270 miles (430 kilometers) up, Wang and his crew took the first medical X-rays in space as part of a test and conducted two dozen other science experiments. They named their trip Fram2 after the Norwegian sailing ship that carried explorers to the poles more than a century ago. A bit of the original ship’s wooden deck accompanied the crew to space.

SpaceX said its decision to switch splashdown sites from Florida beginning with this flight was based on safety. The company said Pacific splashdowns will ensure that any surviving pieces of the trunk — jettisoned near flight’s end — falls into the ocean.

The last people to return from space to the Pacific were the three NASA astronauts assigned to the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission.

Credit: AP

The landing was scheduled for 9:19 am on Friday, April 4 just off the coast of Oceanside, CA in north San Diego County.

This will be the first Dragon human spaceflight mission to splash down in the Pacific Ocean as Dragon recovery returns to the West Coast, according to SpaceX.

A live webcast of this mission will begin about one hour prior to splashdown, which you can watch on SpaceX.com.

Previous Falcon 9 launches were live-streamed on the company's website.

WATCH THE REPLAY OF THE FEBRUARY 10 LAUNCH:

Watch Falcon 9 launch 23 @Starlink satellites to orbit from California https://t.co/5EG6JJEAcZ

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 7, 2025

WATCH: February 10 launch was captured flying over 4S Ranch:

PHOTOS | SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket seen across San Diego County

1 / 30

Nichole Hendricks

Credit: Nichole Hendricks

According to SpaceX, Falcon 9 is a “reusable, two-stage rocket designed and manufactured by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads into Earth orbit and beyond.”

Falcon 9 is considered the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket.

Starlink is "the world's first and largest satellite constellation using a low Earth orbit to deliver broadband internet capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls and more," according to the service's website.

The "constellation" of satellites consists of thousands of satellites that orbit Earth at an altitude of about 550 km, or 341 3/4 miles.

The satellites connect to antennas that users set up at their homes to provide internet access.

WATCH RELATED: SpaceX rocket lights up Southern California Monday night

HERE ARE MORE WAYS TO GET CBS 8:

After a four-day flight around Earth's poles, four private citizens aboard a SpaceX rocket returned Friday with a splashdown off the coast of Oceanside.

The Fram2 mission was the first Dragon rocket spaceflight with human passengers to return to the Pacific Ocean, according to the agency.

"This is an entirely new landing location for Dragon. This is the first time a Dragon crew will be recovered on the west coast," SpaceX said.

After Dragon reenters Earth's atmosphere, it will splash down off the southern coast of California near Oceanside at ~9:19 a.m. PT pic.twitter.com/fOXvpUMXVG

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 4, 2025

Splashdown happened at about 9:19 a.m. PT. SpaceX is hosting a live stream on X. SpaceX warned it was possible the rocket's re-entry could create a sonic boom, and many around San Diego reported hearing a loud boom around 9:15 a.m.

The Fram2 mission was likely the first of many to return off the California coast as SpaceX moves spaceflight return operations back to the west.

Dragon launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday. During the short mission, the Dragon crew conducted research studies to advance humanity's ability for long-duration space flight, SpaceX said.

Bitcoin investor Chun Wang chartered the SpaceX flight for himself and three others in a Dragon capsule that was outfitted with a domed window that provided 360-degree views of the polar caps and everything in between. Wang declined to say how much he paid for the 3 1/2-day trip.

The Chinese-born Wang, now a citizen of Malta, invited Norwegian filmmaker Jannicke Mikkelsen, German robotics researcher Rabea Rogge and Australian polar guide Eric Philips, all of whom shared stunning vistas during their voyage.

“It is so epic because it is another kind of desert, so it just goes on and on and on all the way,” Rogge said in a video posted by Wang on X while gazing down from orbit.

Splashdown of Dragon and the @framonauts confirmed – welcome back to Earth @satofishi, @astro_jannicke, @rprogge, and @Icetrek! pic.twitter.com/nkWzqenf9Q

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 4, 2025

Mikkelsen packed the capsule with camera equipment and spent much of her time behind the lens.

All four suffered from space motion sickness after reaching orbit, according to Wang. But by the time they woke up on day two, they felt fine and cranked open the window cover right above the South Pole, he said via X.

Besides documenting the poles from 270 miles up, Wang and his crew took the first medical X-rays in space as part of a test and conducted two dozen other science experiments. They named their trip Fram2 after the Norwegian sailing ship that carried explorers to the poles more than a century ago. A bit of the original ship’s wooden deck accompanied the crew to space.

SpaceX said its decision to switch splashdown sites from Florida beginning with this flight was based on safety. The company said Pacific splashdowns will ensure that any surviving pieces of the trunk — jettisoned near flight’s end — falls into the ocean.

The last people to return from space to the Pacific were the three NASA astronauts assigned to the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission.

The first coastal rail line closure will be this weekend, and the second closure will take place on March 22 and 23, according to the NCTD.

City News Service, News Partner

OCEANSIDE, CA — The North County Transit District will temporarily suspend all coastal rail service for two weekends this month to perform routine railroad maintenance and major infrastructure work, officials announced Tuesday.

The first coastal rail line closure will be this weekend, and the second closure will take place on March 22 and 23, according to the NCTD.

The NCTD Coaster service between San Diego and Oceanside will also be temporarily suspended during maintenance, and will resume after each closure on March 10 and 24.

"Weekend closures occur periodically throughout the year on a pre-determined schedule to provide construction crews the opportunity to work safely on and along the rail line to complete preventative maintenance improvements and advance major railroad construction projects," the NCTD said in a statement.

Transit officials said that no trains will operate during the weekend closures other than test trains and construction vehicles.

Find out what's happening in Oceanside-Camp Pendletonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

"Equipment will be active along the railroad right-of-way and on the tracks throughout the weekend," the NCTD said.

According to the NCTD, residents along the corridor should remain alert and the public is reminded to only cross the rail line at lawfully designated rail crossings.

Maintenance work this Saturday and Sunday will take place in the following locations:

-- Track Maintenance, San Onofre to Pulgas (daytime only);-- Track Maintenance, Poinsettia station to La Costa overpass (24-hour operations);-- Track Maintenance, Cedar Street to Beech Street in San Diego (daytime only) and;-- Station Improvements, Carlsbad Village Station (24-hour operations).

Maintenance work on March 22 and 23 will take place in the following locations:

-- Track Maintenance, Miramar to Washington Street (daytime only) and;-- Track Maintenance, Sorrento Valley Station (24-hour operations).

The NCTD urged customers to plan ahead and make alternative travel arrangements. Alternatives for Coaster passengers may include Breeze Route 101 or San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Trolley and Bus connections.

More information on schedules can be found at GoNCTD.com/Schedules or by contacting NCTD Customer Service at 760-966-6500.

— City News Service