Chinese Tourist Pleads Guilty to Drone Flight in Restricted NASA Airspace

A Chinese tourist, Xiaodong He, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for flying a drone in restricted national defense airspace over NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He conducted a 12-minute flight on July 25, recording four videos within 1.56 miles of pad 39B and 4.23 miles of the Rotation, Processing & Surge Facility before KSC police seized the drone. He faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine; sentencing is pending. His wife says they were unaware of the restrictions and were vacationing. He was later arrested in New York City and released on pretrial supervision with his passport surrendered.