| Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex | |
|---|---|
| Location | Merritt Island, Florida |
| Website | kennedyspacecenter.com |
| Owner | NASA |
| Operated By | Delaware North Companies |
| Opened | August 1, 1967[1] |
| Previous names | Spaceport USA |
| Operating season | open year-round |
| Visitors (per annum) | 1.5 million |
| Slogan | A Day of Fun, A Lifetime of Inspiration |
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the visitor center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It features exhibits and displays, historic spacecraft and memorabilia, shows, two IMAX theaters, a range of bus tours of the spaceport, and the Shuttle Launch Experience, a simulated ride into space. It also encompasses the separate Apollo/Saturn V Center and United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. There were 1.5 million visitors in 2009 and it had some 700 employees.[2]
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The complex had its beginning in the 1960s in a small trailer containing simple displays on card tables. By 1964, more than 250,000 self-guided car tours, permitted between 1 and 4 p.m. ET on Sundays at the urging of U.S. Rep. Olin Teague of Texas, were seen at KSC. In 1965, KSC Director Kurt H. Debus was authorized to spend $2 million on a full-scale visitors center. Spaceport USA, as it was soon titled, hosted 500,000 visitors in 1967, its first year, and one million by 1969. Even during the gap between the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, attendance remained at over one million guests and it ranked as the fifth most popular tourist attraction in Florida.[3]
When nearby Walt Disney World opened in 1971, visitors center attendance increased by 30 percent, but the public was often disappointed by the comparative lack of polish at KSC's tourist facilities. Existing displays were largely made up of trade show exhibits donated by NASA contractors. Later that year, a $2.3 million upgrade of the visitor complex was begun with added focus on the benefits of space exploration along with the existing focus on human space exploration.[3]
In 1995, Delaware North Companies was selected to operate the visitor center. Since then, the facility has been entirely self-supporting and receives no taxpayer or government funding.[1] NASA renewed the contract with Delaware North Companies through May 2020 with options to extend the contract through 2030.[4]
Base admission for people over age 12 is US$41. Included in the base admission is tour-bus transportation to the Apollo/Saturn V Center and an observation platform at Launch Complex 39, which provides unobstructed views of both launch pads and the surrounding KSC property. It also includes admission to the Astronaut Hall of Fame, 6 miles (9.7 km) to the west.
The Apollo/Saturn V Center, located 6 miles (9.7 km) north, is a large museum built around its centerpiece exhibit, a restored Saturn V launch vehicle, and features other space related exhibits, including an Apollo capsule. Two theaters allow the visitor to relive parts of the Apollo program. One simulates the environment inside an Apollo firing room during an Apollo launch, and another simulates the Apollo 11 Moon landing. The tour also includes the Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) where modules for the International Space Station were tested.
The Visitor Complex includes two facilities run by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation. The most visible of these is the Space Mirror Memorial, also known as the Astronaut Memorial, a huge black granite mirror through-engraved with the names of all astronauts who died in the line of duty. Elsewhere on the Visitor Complex grounds is the foundation's Center for Space Education, which includes a resource center for teachers, among other facilities; and the Kurt Debus Conference Center.
The Debus Center houses several displays of artifacts, among them is the Gemini 9A spacecraft; as well as a recreation of the Mercury Control Center using consoles and furniture relocated from the original building at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The building, which was on the National Register of Historic Places, was demolished in May 2010 due to concerns about asbestos and the estimated $5-million cost to renovate the building after 40 years of exposure to salt air.[5]
The complex continues updating shows and attractions. The Shuttle Launch Experience, an attraction built around a motion control ride simulating a shuttle launch, opened in May 2007 and is hosted by then-astronaut, now NASA administrator, Charlie Bolden. In 2010, the Visitor Complex introduced a live show featuring characters from the Star Trek series.[6]
The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, located 6 miles (9.7 km) west on Highway 405 from the main Visitor Complex on the mainland south of Titusville, Florida, is a part of the overall Visitor Complex. The Hall of Fame is a museum featuring the world's largest collection of personal astronaut memorabilia. The Hall of Fame was previously owned and operated by the U.S. Space Camp Foundation, but was purchased at auction by Delaware North Park Services in September 2002[7] on behalf of NASA and the property was added to the KSC Visitor Complex. It re-opened December 14, 2002.[8] Admission is included with Visitor Complex admission.
A rocket garden between the building which houses the Visitor Complex entrance and the Debus Center features eight milestone launch vehicles from KSC's history. The Mercury-Redstone, Mercury-Atlas, and Titan II rockets launched astronauts and the Juno I, Juno II, Thor-Delta, and Atlas-Agena rockets launched satellites from Cape Canaveral. These are mounted upright whereas the largest rocket, a Saturn IB, is mounted on its side. Saturn IB rockets launched Apollo Command/Service Modules into Earth orbit for Apollo, Skylab, and the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project.
The Juno I on display is painted with serial number "UE" like the one that launched the first US satellite, Explorer I. A Juno II launched the first American probe to escape Earth's gravity and fly past the Moon. Atlas-Agena rockets launched early probes to the Moon, Venus, and Mars, as well as the Agena target vehicles used in rendezvous and docking by Gemini spacecraft—a necessary technique for the following Apollo missions. The Thor-Delta was one of the most reliable and frequently-used launch vehicles. The Titan II on display is a refurbished Air Force ICBM with a replica Gemini spacecraft, painted to resemble the Gemini 3 booster. It was rescued from the Arizona Boneyard and erected in 2010 to replace a deteriorating mockup composed of two first stages which had been on display for more than 20 years.[9] The Saturn IB on display is SA-209 which was designated for a possible Skylab Rescue mission.
The garden also features mock-ups of capsules from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs that visitors can get in, and the walkway and white room that Apollo astronauts used to access their capsules from the launch tower of LC-39A. Attached to the white room is a Command Module trainer.[10] A F-1 rocket engine that powered the first stage of the Saturn V is also on display. Free guided tours of the garden are available daily.[11][12]
The Apollo/Saturn V Center is located north-northwest of Launch Complex 39 on the Kennedy Parkway N near the Shuttle Landing Facility and is only accessible to visitors by bus tours from the Visitors Complex. Designed by BRC Imagination Arts for NASA and Delaware North Companies, it opened December 17, 1996.[13][14]
The building was built to house a restored Saturn V launch vehicle and features other exhibits related to the Apollo program. Until the structure was built, the Saturn V was displayed horizontally for many years outdoors just south of the Vehicle Assembly Building and was visible to tour buses as they drove by. The rocket's first stage is S-IC-T (a test stage) and the second (S-II) and third stages (S-IVB) are from SA-514, which would have been used for the canceled Apollo 19 mission. The interstages between the first and second stages and between the second and third stages are not present, but the Instrument Unit is on display (showing the internal equipment). The booster has been repainted to resemble Apollo 11's Saturn V. Its command module is the boilerplate BP-30.
Other large exhibits include the Apollo 14 command module, an unused Apollo command/service module (CSM-119) and an unused Lunar Module (LM-9). CSM-119 was designated for a possible Skylab rescue mission and as a backup for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. LM-9 was originally scheduled to be used on Apollo 15, but when missions after Apollo 17 were canceled, a later LM (LM-10) was used instead.
Also on display is a slice of Moon rock that visitors can touch. Other exhibits include a Lunar Module simulator, a replica of a lunar rover, a variety of space suits, Alan Shepard's Corvette, a piece of Apollo 13's Lunar Module returned by the astronauts, a tool cart like the one used on the Moon by Apollo 14, a van used to carry astronauts to the launch pad, and a large cut-away scale model of the Saturn V. Two theaters allow visitors to relive parts of the Apollo program – one simulates the environment inside an Apollo-era firing room during the launch of Apollo 8 and the other simulates the Apollo 11 landing.
In 2010, the center announced a $100 million plan to house a retired shuttle orbiter in a 10-story 64,000 square feet (5,900 m2) facility.[15] On April 12, 2011, the 30th anniversary of the launch of STS-1, NASA announced that Atlantis would be provided to the visitors center for display after its last flight on STS-135 and subsequent decommissioning.[16]
The Shuttle Launch Experience[17] opened May 25, 2007. The attraction puts guests through a simulated shuttle launch. Delaware North Companies invested six years and $60 million into the attraction. Astronauts, NASA experts and attraction-industry leaders were consulted during development. The attraction is housed in a 44,000-square-foot (4,100 m2) building that holds four simulators, each accommodating 44 people.[18] Former shuttle commander and current NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden narrates the simulation and hosts the prerecorded pre-show.
The Space Mirror Memorial, also known as the Astronaut Memorial, is maintained by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation and is located behind the IMAX theater on the grounds of the main Visitor Complex. It honors NASA astronauts along with several military and civilian astronauts who have died in the line of duty.
The Visitors Complex also hosts special ticketed events run by Delaware North. Naturalization ceremonies have been conducted in the Rocket Garden, space shuttle launch viewing is offered from the Visitors Complex, Astronaut Hall of Fame and NASA Causeway directly downriver from launch pads. The Hall of Fame hosts a yearly induction ceremony.[19] The Astronaut Training Experience is also offered by Delaware North at the Astronaut Hall of Fame with several full-sized mock-ups of the space shuttle, Mission Control and training hardware.[20] The complex also runs week-long accredited day camps for children in grades 2–9.[21]