NASA Facts John F. Kennedy Space Center

8/7/2019 NASA Facts John F. Kennedy Space Center

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AN EDUCATIONAL PUBLICATION OF THENATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

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MF 4kThe John F. Kennedy Space Center comprisestwo federal installations which form the major Defense.launch base for the national space program. Oneis operated by the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration and the other by the Department ofThe NASA facility occupies 88,000 acres on

Merritt Island, Florida. It extends 35 miles in a

The AppllolSaturn V leaves the Vehicle Assembly Building at launch Complex 39 bound for Launch Pad A three and one-half miles away. The structure at the lower right is the Launch Control Center.


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Close up view of the First (S-1-C)Stage for the ApollolSaturn V beingerected in one of the High Bays ofthe Vehicle Assembly Building.

north-south direction, bounded on the east by theAtlantic Ocean and on the west by the Indian River.This is the site of the national Spaceport fromwhich United States astronauts will journey to themoon and back.

Adjacent to the NASA installation is the CapeKennedy Air Force Station, a Department of De-fense facility managed by the United States AirForce. Launch complexes constructed and oper-ated by NASA for manned and unmanned space ex-ploration missions are located at the Cape. Othercomplexes are utilized by the Army, Air Force andNavy for the launch of defense weapons systemsand space vehicles.

The Cape Kennedy Air Force Station is StationNumber 1 of the Eastern Test Range which in-cludes United States-owned tracking stations onislands stretching southeastward 10,000 miles t othe Indian Ocean. These stations are instrumentedwith electronic and optical systems for tracking andobtaining in-flight operation data on both NASAand military vehicles and spacecraft.

Approximately 35,000 persons are employed inthe launch programs at the two installations. Mostwork for aerospace companies that are membersof the goverment-industry team which assembles,tests, prepares and launches rockets of varyingsizes designed for specific space exploration tasks.

While Department of Defense activities a t theKennedy Space Center are concerned primarilywith the development of weapons systems, NASA isengaged in the peaceful exploration of space.

Following the establishment of NASA on Octo-ber 1, 1958, various government organizationspreviously engaged in launch operations at CapeCanaveral (now Cape Kennedy) were consolidatedunder the direction of the NASA Launch OperationsCenter, later renamed the John F. Kennedy SpaceCenter, NASA. With the activation of the nationalSpaceport, the NASA Center moved t o the presentMerritt Island location.

Since the United States first satellite waslaunched in 1958, a fixed launch concept hasbeen employed in all major NASA programs. This

concept requires assembly, integration and finalcheckout of the space vehicle a t the launch pad.The method has proved satisfactory in programs todate. The size and complexity of the ApollolSaturn V rocket, however, prompted evolution ofthe new mobile launch concept.

This concept consists of assembly, integration,and checkout of a space vehicle in the protectedenvironment of a building. Then the flight readyvehicle is transported to the launch site. There,following final servicing and propellant loading,the vehicle is launched.

One of the major benefits realized in the mobilelaunch concept is a substantial reduction in thetime a launch pad and supporting facilities areengaged in preparation for a mission. MannedMercury and Gemini flights, for instance, requiredpad times of several months. For Apollo missions,the mobile launch concept can eventually reducepad time to about 13 days.

The Kennedy Space Centers Launch Complex39 provides the facilities to implement the mobileconcept in support of the Apollo program.

The hub of operations a t Launch Complex 39 isthe Vehicle Assembly Building or VAB, as it is pop-ularly known. Approximately 52 stories high andcontaining 129,482,000 cubic feet of interiorspace, it is the worlds largest building. Assemblyof the 363-foot-tall Apollo/Saturn V space vehiclestake place inside the VAB.

The building contains two operational areas: alow bay area 210 feet high and a high bay area525 feet high. The lo w bay houses eight preparationand checkout cells for the second and third stagesof the rocket. The high bay contains four verticalbays for assembly, integration and checkout of thelaunch vehicle and spacecraft.

Located southeast of the VAB and connected toit is the Launch Control Center. This four-storystructure is the electronic brain of Launch Com-plex 39. It contains four control and firing rooms,one for each corresponding high bay in the VAB.Each firing room is equipped to checkout andlaunch a space vehicle independently of the others.


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ApoIlolSaturn V space vehicles are assembledinside the high bays of the VAB on structuresknown as Mobile Launchers. The base of eachstructure is a two-story platform which houses com-puter systems, digitally controlled equipment forpropellant loading, hydraulic test sets, propellantand pneumatic lines, electrical power systems andwater systems. At one end of the platform is a380-foot steel tower that provides support for nineswing arms (for direct access to the space vehicle),

Site plan of Cape Kennedy, Florida,inc lud ing the Kennedy Space Centerand Patrick Air Force Base.

17 work platforms and distribution equipment forpropellant, pneumatic, electrical and instrumenta-tion system. Mounted at the top of the tower is a25-ton hammerhead crane. There are three MobileLaunchers at the Spaceport. Each stands 445 feetta l l and weighs approximately 12,000,000 pounds.

Transportation, the key to the mobile launchconcept, is provided by two tracked vehiclesknown as Transporters. Each vehicle is 131 feetlong, 114 feet wide and weighs about 6,000,000


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pounds. These units transfer the Mobile Launch-ers into the VAB to serve as assembly platforms forthe space vehicles. After assembly and checkoutof a space vehicle, a Transporter reenters the VAB,raises the Mobile Launcher with the assembledrocket, then transfers them three and one-half milesto a launch pad.

During the tr ip to the launch pad, the Transportertravels over a specially constructed roadbed 130feet wide and divided by a 50-foot median strip. Aerial view of Cape Kennedy lookingnorth. In the foreground are LaunchComplex 36A and 36B from whichAt las-Centaur veh icles have hurledunmanned Surveyor spacecraftto soft landings on the moon.


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The roadbed is approximately eight feet thick andcan support loads up to 18,000,000 pounds, thecombined weight of the Transporter, MobileLauncher and Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle.

Two launch sites are located a t Complex 39.Each site is an irregular eight-sided polygon meas-uring 3,000 feet across. The major elements of thelaunch sites include storage tanks for rocket pro-pellants, gas compressor facilities, electrical andcommunications systems, associated umbilicalconnections, the launch pads and various support-ing equipment.

The launch pads, occupying the center of eachlaunch site, are reinforced concrete hardstandsmeasuring 390 feet by 325 feet. At the surface ofeach pad are six mount mechanisms to secure theMobile Launcher with the flight ready space vehi-cle. Surface height of the pads is 48 feet, sufficientdistance for the rockets engine nozzles to restabove a 1,300,000-pound flame deflector.

Located near the launch sites is a 402-foot steeltruss tower known as the Mobile Service Structure.After the Transporter has deposited the MobileLauncher and space vehicle on the launch pad, itreturns to the service structure parking area, picksup the Mobile Service Structure and deposits it onfour mounted pedestals on the launch pad adjacentto the Mobile Launcher and vehicle. Weighingmore than 9,800,000 pounds, the Mobile ServiceStructure provides 360-degree access to the rocketfor final launch preparations at the pad. The MobileService Structure is returned to its parking areaby the Transporter before launch.

Launch Complex 39 contains a barge terminalfacility, consisting of an access canal, a turningbasin, dock, barge slips and a materials handlingarea. The access canal is provided for marine bargevessels which deliver launch vehicle stages andrelated components as well as other types of heavyequipment. The canal runs eastward to the BananaRiver, which in turn leads to the Atlantic Ocean viaPort Canaveral.

Five miles south of the launch area are theHeadquarters of the Kennedy Space Center, NASA,and administrative, engineering and spacecraft

h4:preparation buildings. Apollo astronauts complete

their preflight training in this area, employingsimulators which duplicate the conditions they willencounter in space. The area also contains ware-houses, medical facilities and other supportingelements.

Cape Kennedy, is a prime launching site for thenations missile and space programs. Located ap-proximately two miles east of the Kennedy SpaceCenters Merritt Island facilities, the Cape takes ina 27-square-mile area which was mostly unin-habited scrubland prior to 1950. It is bordered bythe Atlantic Ocean on the east and the BananaRiver on the west.Along the southern edge of the Cape is a deepwater port to service the Eastern Test Rangesfleet of tracking ships, Navy ships and nuclear sub-marines used in the Navys Polaris missile develop-ment program. Within the Capes boundaries arecomplete assembly and launch facilities for bal-listic missiles and space vehicles, storage and dis-persing stations for rocket fuels, and a landing stripfor delivery of rocket stages, spacecraft, and otherhardware from the manufacturer to the launchsites.

The Cape was activated by th e Department ofDefense as a missile test center in May 1949 andassigned to the Air Force for management. Thefirst rocket launches from the Cape occurredJuly 24, 1950. Since then, a l l branches of the mili-tary have utilized the Capes facilities for the de-velopment of defense weapons systems.With the orderly growth of the national spaceprogram and i ts emphasis on the peaceful explora-tion of space, NASA has become a prime user of theCape and Eastern Test Range. NASAs major launchorganization, the Kennedy Space Center, operatesand maintains launch facilities on the Cape to con-duct manned and unmanned space launches.

The largest of these facilities are Launch Com-plexes 34 and 37 which were designed for the firstand second generation Saturn rockets. Complex34 became operational in October 1961 with thelaunch of th e first Saturn I vehicle. Complex 37was activated shortly afterward. A t the completion


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Members of the Kenned y Space Center'sintegrated government-industry launchteam man consoles in the blockhouseat Complex 37, Cape Kennedy, duringlaunch of the th ird uprated Saturnvehicle on July 5, 1966.

of the Saturn I program, both launch complexeswere modified to accommodate the more power-ful uprated Saturn I rocket which is capable ofplacing the three-man Apollo spacecraft or thelunar module into earth orbit. Manned Apolloflights from these complexes will enable astronautsto practice rendezvous and docking techniquesvital to the success of the forthcoming mannedlunar landing.

Complexes 36A and 36B are the second largestlaunch complexes on the Cape and were designedfor the Centaur vehicle, the first United Statesrocket to employ liquid hydrogen as a fuel. Centaur,

launched by an Atlas booster stage, has success-fully powered unmanned Surveyor spacecraft tolandings on the moon. These sophisticated robotsare exploring the lunar surface and environmentin detail preliminary to manned landings.

Complexes 12 and 13 are utilized by NASA forAtlas/Agena rockets which launched Ranger andLunar Orbiter spacecraft on photographic missionsto the moon and Mariner spacecraft on flyby mis-sions to the planets Mars and Venus. Otherlaunches originating from these complexes includeorbiting geophysical and astronomical observator-ies and advanced technological satellites.


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The busiest launch site on Cape Kennedy isLaunch Complex 17, home of the versatile Deltarocket which has orbited more than half of NASAsunmanned satellites. These include Echo, Relay,Telstar, Syncom and Early Bird communicationssatellites; the TIROS and ESSA weather reconnais-sance series; and scientific satellites such asExplorer, Pioneer, Interplanetary Monitoring Plat-form, Geodetic Explorer and Orbiting Solar Obser-vatory.

Several launch complexes on Cape Kennedythough no longer in active service, are historicallysignificant. Complex 26, now the Air Force SpaceMuseum, was the launch site for the first UnitedStates satellite, Explorer I . Complexes 5 and 6

0were the launch sites for the early Mercury sub-orbital flights, the nations first manned space mis-sions. Originating from Complex 14 were themanned earth-orbiting missions of the Mercuryprogram. This launch site was also used for theGemini/Atlas-Agena target vehicles of the Geminiprogram. The successful Gemini manned space

Also located on the Cape are launch and testfacilities for the Navys Polaris and Poseidon mis-

Forces Minuteman I I ICBM. InForce operates and maintains a

Titan I I I-C Integrate-Transfer complex located ad-

flight series originated from Complex 19. .v.

nedy .Space CenterNational Aeronautics and Space AdministrationKennedy Space Center, Florida 32899

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NASA Facts John F. Kennedy Space Center

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