Kennedy Space Center is a large complex of buildings and structures designed to launch various spacecraft and further control flights. This center is owned by the US National Space Agency - NASA. We will talk about the history of the creation of the center, its work and much more in this article.
History of creation
Kennedy Space Center (Florida) began its history in 1948, after missile launch tests began at the Banana River Air Base, which was located on Merritt Island. At that time, the United States had not yet created its own missiles, so they launched captured German missiles called the V-2. No one lived on this island, and the nearby ocean made this territory an ideal place for conducting secret tests.
In 1951, the territory of the air base was expanded and a center was created on Cape Canaveral, after which here they began to test their own missiles. In 1961, the U.S. government poses a challenge for scientists to send a man to the moon no later than 1970. After this begins a large-scale expansion of the center at Cape Canaveral. The National Space Agency has acquired over 570 km 2 of land from the state of Florida and created a center for launching rockets. After the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, the entire complex was renamed the Kennedy Space Center.
Description of the center
As of 2008, the center constantly employs more than 13, 500 specialists of various profiles. In the Kennedy Space Center there is a complex for tourists, which is visited by more than 10 thousand people every year. There are also bus excursions to see most of the buildings in the space complex.
Today, about 10% of the center works for its intended purpose, and the rest of the area is a national nature reserve. Interesting fact: more lightning strikes in the center than anywhere else in North America. Because of this, the Kennedy Space Center and NASA (National Space Agency) are forced to spend huge sums of money to prevent lightning strikes from reaching numerous objects, especially during the launch of ships.
Lunar project
The moon flight project was divided into three phases, which were called: "Mercury", "Gemini" and "Apollo." The lunar program has identified several key objectives:
- Conclusion of a spacecraft with one person on board into orbit and flight around the Earth.
- Observation and study of the human body in zero gravity and its ability to work in it.
- Development of technology for the return of a spacecraft to Earth from orbit.
At the Kennedy Space Center, work on the lunar program began in late 1957. As a launch vehicle, it was decided to use a new model - the Atlas (type Mercury). She put the main payload in the first Mercury program into orbit.
The first astronaut to fly the Atlas into space in February 1962 was John Glenn. When the Mercury program was being implemented, the Kennedy Space Center still had the old name.
Continuation of the project
The second stage of the Lunar program - "Gemini" - was carried out on spaceships of the same series, which were much better in their technical characteristics than the type "Mercury". The Gemini ships had extended autonomous flight times and already had two crew members. The techniques and methods of rapprochement, as well as the docking, which was carried out for the first time, were worked out. Between 1965 and 1966, the Kennedy Space Center carried out ten manned flights.
For the implementation of the third stage - “Apollo” - a new launch complex No. 39 was built. It contains two platforms for launching spacecraft, serving their buildings and the transport route along which the spacecraft with all its components is delivered to the launch site. During the Apollo phase of the Lunar program, 13 launches were carried out, the final goal was achieved.
Center in the 21st Century
Until mid-2011, the Kennedy Space Center was the place from which space shuttle-type ships were launched. These ships were returning from space, landing on a special runway 4.6 km long. With their help, a number of space programs were carried out and many experiments were carried out in zero gravity. However, this program was closed due to numerous emergency situations and shuttle crashes. In total, more than 30 flights were completed on ships of this type.
In the fall of 2004, the space center was severely damaged by Hurricane Francis. The building and structures serving the launch pad were severely damaged. Over 3, 700 m 2 of the building was damaged, which made it impossible to carry out launches. The equipment inside was flooded and deteriorated. A year later, the center was re-hit by Wilma. Its gradual recovery began, and launches were moved to California, to the base at Paldale.
