John F. Kennedy Space Center

Also called KSC. NASA space vehicle launch facility on Merritt Island in Florida. The site is midway between Jacksonville and Miami, it is 55km long and around 10km wide, covering 56,700 hectares.

Operations are currently controlled from Launch Complex 39, the location of the Vehicle Assembly Building. 6km to the east of the assembly building are the two launch pads. 8km south is the KSC Industrial Area, where many of the Center's support facilities are located and the administrative headquarters.

History
The area had been used by the government since 1949 when President Truman established the Joint Long Range Proving Grounds at Cape Canaveral to test missiles. In 1951 the USAF established the Air Force Missile Test Center at nearby Banana River Naval Air Station. The first American sub-orbital rocket flights were achieved at Cape Canaveral in 1957. Following Sputnik the first attempted satellite lauch blew-up on December 6, 1957. NASA was founded in 1958 and the site was transformed into a major launch site. Redstone, Jupiter, Pershing, Polaris, Thor, Atlas, Titan and Minuteman missiles were all tested from the site, the Thor becoming the basis for the expendable launch vehicle (ELV) Delta rocket. The announcement of the lunar program led to an expansion of operations from the Cape to the adjacent Merritt Island. NASA began acquisition in 1962, taking title to 33,952 hectares by outright purchase and negotiating with the state of Florida for an additional 22,600 hectares. In July 1962 the site was named the Launch Operations Center. It was renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center in December 1963.

...