Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce

Comic book fans, cosplayers and fandoms of all sorts are meeting up in downtown Huntsville this weekend. The Huntsville Comic & Pop Culture Expo is once again back in the Rocket City and is taking place at the Von Braun Center from Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14.

The last Delta-IV Heavy type model, built in Alabama, blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The booster carried the NROL-70 payload, reportedly a spy satellite, for the National Reconnaissance Office. The Delta-IV Heavy was built at the United Launch Alliance factory in Decatur. Future launches on future Alabama rockets are planned.

The State Department has greenlighted an emergency $138 million in foreign military sales for Ukraine to provide critical repairs and spare parts for Kyiv's Hawk missile systems. The U.S. announced the move Tuesday saying that Ukraine has an urgent need for the maintenance support to keep the missile system running. An Alabama based company will to be put to work on the delivery.

NASA says the new Boeing Starliner spacecraft could launch to the International Space Station as soon as May 1. The capsule will sit on top of an Atlas-5 rocket, built at the United Launch Alliance factory in Decatur. This will be the first time astronauts have been carried to orbit aboard an Atlas-5.

The Glow Run 5K in Huntsville is a family-friendly event for all community members in the Rocket City. The race begins at the Adtran campus in Cummings Research Park, with events kicking off at 6 p.m. and the 5K run starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 2.

A program giving girls a running start is coming back to Huntsville for its second year. Girls on the Run (GOTR) is a national non-profit that puts running-based programs at schools and community locations. The initiative has sessions at three Alabama locations around the state: South Central Alabama, North Alabama and Birmingham Metro area.

Alabama is one of the hardest places to keep your New Year’s resolutions, according to WalletHub’s Best & Worst Cities for Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions. Researchers looked into more than 180 cities across the country comparing things like access to healthy-food stores, job opportunities and local restaurants.

Huntsville wants to be known for more than just space. The Rocket City’s event space, The Orion Amphitheater is making waves in Huntsville and has become a hub for musical and community events.

The third fully commercial crew of astronauts is moving aboard NASA’s International Space Station for a fourteen day stay. APR News was invited to take part in the “live” coverage of the launch of the Axiom-3 mission on CBS-TV News in New York City.

Freezing rain and sleet fell across portions of the Southeast into Tuesday morning. Winter storm warnings were in effect for Lawrence, Limestone and Madison counties in Alabama. Poweroutage.com reports just over six thousand (UPDATED) Alabama homes and businesses without power this morning.