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134-594: The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the visitor center at NASA 's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida . It features exhibits and displays, historic spacecraft and memorabilia, shows, two IMAX theaters, and a range of bus tours of the spaceport. The "Space Shuttle Atlantis " exhibit contains the Atlantis orbiter and the Shuttle Launch Experience , a simulated ride into space. The center also provides astronaut training experiences, including

268-407: A Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy booster in the garden to SpaceX : "We have the space available and the capability to make it happen". SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk responded expressing interest in the offer. Subtitled "The Deep Space Launch Complex", this attraction opened in the spring of 2022 and showcases hardware focused on future exploration. Items on display include a Falcon Heavy booster,

402-540: 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 replica of the Lunar Roving Vehicle , a variety of space suits including Alan Shepard 's Apollo 14 extravehicular suit,

536-539: A blue ribbon committee of former NASA officials and flight controllers, historians, journalists, and other space authorities (including former astronauts) based on their accomplishments in space or their contributions to the advancement of space exploration. Except for 2002, inductions have been held every year since 2001. As its inaugural class in 1990, the Hall of Fame inducted the United States' original group of astronauts:

670-607: A decade of reliance on the Russians. In 2019, NASA announced the Artemis program , intending to return to the Moon and establish a permanent human presence. This was paired with the Artemis Accords with partner nations to establish rules of behavior and norms of space commercialization on the Moon. In 2023, NASA established the Moon to Mars Program office. The office is designed to oversee

804-690: A hero. Each characteristic features astronaut artifacts and multimedia relevant to that characteristic. Key artifacts include the 1966 Gemini 9A capsule flown by Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan , the original NASA emblem from the Mercury Control Center (1959), the control center from Project Mercury (remaining from Early Space Exploration), Mercury Redstone rocket MR-6 (likely intended for Deke Slayton ), and Wally Schirra 's 1962 Sigma 7 capsule. There are also artifacts from specific astronauts, such as Gus Grissom 's suborbital flight suit from July 21, 1961. Heroes & Legends also holds

938-645: A life sized replica of the Hubble Space Telescope , the Shuttle program's astrovan, Dr. Maxime Faget 's Shuttle prototype from 1969, a large-scale slide mimicking the 22° slope of a Space Shuttle when landing, numerous astronaut training and Shuttle simulators, and other displays about life in space. On the ground level is the "Forever Remembered" exhibit, commemorating the 14 astronauts lost in both Space Shuttle Challenger and Space Shuttle Columbia disasters. "Forever Remembered" includes personal artifacts from

1072-629: A month after the Soviet Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, executing a full orbital spaceflight. NASA's first orbital spaceflight was conducted by John Glenn on February 20, 1962, in the Friendship 7 , making three full orbits before reentering. Glenn had to fly parts of his final two orbits manually due to an autopilot malfunction. The sixth and final Mercury mission was flown by Gordon Cooper in May 1963, performing 22 orbits over 34 hours in

1206-419: A multi-axial chair and Mars Base simulator. The visitor complex also has daily presentations from a veteran NASA astronaut. A bus tour, included with admission, encompasses the separate Apollo/Saturn V Center . There were 1.7 million visitors to the visitor complex in 2016. The complex had its beginning in 1963 when NASA Administrator James Webb established self-guided tours where the public could drive along

1340-580: 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. The Saturn IB on display

1474-570: A permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade. In 1985, NASA proposed the Space Station Freedom , which both the agency and President Reagan intended to be an international program. While this would add legitimacy to the program, there were concerns within NASA that the international component would dilute its authority within the project, having never been willing to work with domestic or international partners as true equals. There

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1608-539: A piece of Apollo 13 's Lunar Module returned by the astronauts, lunar samples from Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 , 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 January 2017, "Ad Astra Per Aspera – A Rough Road Leads to

1742-628: A possible source of antimatter at the center of the Milky Way and observing that the majority of gamma-ray bursts occur outside of the Milky Way galaxy. The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched from the Columbia on STS-93 in 1999, observing black holes, quasars , supernova , and dark matter . It provided critical observations on the Sagittarius A* black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy and

1876-641: A predetermined route through the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and a small trailer containing simple displays on card tables. An estimated 100,000 visitors went through that first year. As the American space program's popularity grew with the Mercury Program and Alan Shepard's historic launch, large numbers of press and public flocked to the Cape Canaveral area to get a close up view. Webb

2010-495: A restricted area, only accessible by Kennedy Space Center tour buses. The 100,000-square-foot facility 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 tour buses brought visitors to it. Other exhibits include

2144-518: A role in the ongoing operations of the Hall of Fame. The foundation's first executive director was former Associated Press space reporter Howard Benedict. The Astronaut Hall of Fame was opened on October 29, 1990, by the U.S. Space Camp Foundation, which was the first owner of the facility. It was located next to the Florida branch of Space Camp . The Hall of Fame closed for several months in 2002 when U.S. Space Camp Foundation's creditors foreclosed on

2278-649: A scale model of the Dream Chaser cargo vehicle from Sierra Nevada Corporation, a scale model of United Launch Alliance's Atlas V launch vehicle, and a Vector-R rocket from Vector Space Systems are also all in the exhibit. NASA Now is located inside the IMAX theater. The Space Mirror Memorial, also known as the Astronaut Memorial, is maintained by the Astronauts Memorial Foundation and is located behind

2412-483: A space station since the agency was created. In 1973, following the end of the Apollo lunar missions, NASA launched its first space station, Skylab , on the final launch of the Saturn   V. Skylab reused a significant amount of Apollo and Saturn hardware, with a repurposed Saturn   V third stage serving as the primary module for the space station. Damage to Skylab during its launch required spacewalks to be performed by

2546-518: A spaceflight in these early programs. The first group (the inaugural class of 1990) would only include the original Mercury astronauts (most of whom would go on to fly in later programs). The second group of inductees would include those astronauts who began their spaceflight careers during Gemini (all of whom would go on to fly in later programs). The third group of inductees would include those astronauts who began their spaceflight careers during Apollo, Skylab, and ASTP (some of whom would go on to fly in

2680-600: A time housed educational programs including Camp Kennedy Space Center and the Astronaut Training Experience. Those programs have since been moved to the KSC Visitor Complex, and as of December 2019, the structure was being offered for lease. In July 2020, Lockheed Martin announced it would lease the building to support work on the NASA Orion crew capsule. Inductees into the Hall of Fame are selected by

2814-562: 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. An 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. In June 2019, visitor complex official Therrin Protze offered placement of

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2948-589: Is also offered by Delaware North at the Astronaut Training Experience Center with several full-sized mock-ups of the Space Shuttle, Mission Control and training hardware. The complex also runs week-long accredited day camps for children in grades 2–9. The visitor complex offers events all year, ranging from astronaut presentations and signing opportunities, special guest appearances, and anniversary celebrations. The music video for " Walking on

3082-551: Is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program , aeronautics research, and space research. Established in 1958 , it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science . It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury , Project Gemini ,

3216-545: Is designed to immerse visitors into the adventure and unsolved challenges of future space exploration. The exhibit includes orbital docking and lunar landing simulators, a full-sized development model of a crew vehicle, a model of a space exploration vehicle, and models of the Mars rover family: Curiosity , Spirit , Opportunity , and Sojourner . NASA Now is an exhibit that has a revolving display of spacecraft from NASA and its commercial partners. NASA Now, as of summer 2017, has

3350-471: Is housed in a 44,000 sq ft (4,100 m) building that holds four simulators, each accommodating 44 people. Former Shuttle commander and then NASA Administrator Charles F. Bolden narrates the simulation and hosts the prerecorded pre-show. In the attraction's early years, guests would enter from the outside and exit into a gift shop before heading back out to the Visitor Complex. In 2013, however,

3484-486: Is located inside the front entrance, beyond Heroes & Legends.It is an outdoor display of historic rockets that put Americans and satellites in space. Visitors can walk up to and around the base of the rockets. All of the rockets in the garden are legitimate rockets with the exception of the Mercury-Atlas , which is a re-creation replica. The Mercury-Redstone , Mercury-Atlas, and Titan II rockets launched astronauts and

3618-625: 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. The center, which opened December 17, 1996, was designed by Bob Rogers and the design team BRC Imagination Arts, for NASA and Delaware North Companies. The opening of the exhibit was historic for NASA as it was the first large exhibit to be opened inside

3752-521: Is now closed, and replaced by a new more enhanced and activity-packed scout program. In 1996, "Early Space Exploration" opened as an exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center in the far corner of the Rocket Garden near where the Visitor Complex's current entrance is now. As its name suggests, this exhibit celebrates the early years of American space exploration, with TVs displaying news broadcasts from

3886-553: 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. Heroes & Legends, which replaced

4020-583: The Faith 7 . The Mercury Program was wildly recognized as a resounding success, achieving its objectives to orbit a human in space, develop tracking and control systems, and identify other issues associated with human spaceflight. While much of NASA's attention turned to space, it did not put aside its aeronautics mission. Early aeronautics research attempted to build upon the X-1's supersonic flight to build an aircraft capable of hypersonic flight . The North American X-15

4154-409: The Apollo 14 command module Kitty Hawk , which carried Alan Shepard , Stuart Roosa , and Edgar Mitchell to the Moon in 1971 and orbited it 34 times, during which Shepard and Mitchell made the third crewed lunar landing; an unused Apollo command and service module Skylab Rescue (CSM-119) , and an unused Lunar Module (LM-9). CSM-119 was designated for a possible Skylab rescue mission and as

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4288-664: The Army Ballistic Missile Agency would launch Explorer 1 , America's first satellite, on February 1, 1958. The Eisenhower Administration decided to split the United States' military and civil spaceflight programs, which were organized together under the Defense Department 's Advanced Research Projects Agency . NASA was established on July 29, 1958, with the signing of the National Aeronautics and Space Act and it began operations on October 1, 1958. As

4422-762: The Bell X-1 in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force . NACA's interest in space grew out of its rocketry program at the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division. The Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 ushered in the Space Age and kicked off the Space Race . Despite NACA's early rocketry program, the responsibility for launching the first American satellite fell to the Naval Research Laboratory 's Project Vanguard , whose operational issues ensured

4556-658: The Big Bang . The James Webb Space Telescope , named after the NASA administrator who lead the Apollo program, is an infrared observatory launched in 2021. The James Webb Space Telescope is a direct successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, intended to observe the formation of the first galaxies. Other space telescopes include the Kepler space telescope , launched in 2009 to identify planets orbiting extrasolar stars that may be Terran and possibly harbor life. The first exoplanet that

4690-660: The Earth Observing System ; advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate 's Heliophysics Research Program; exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft such as New Horizons and planetary rovers such as Perseverance ; and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang , through the James Webb Space Telescope ,

4824-753: The Environmental Science Services Administration on a series of weather satellites and the agency launched its experimental Applications Technology Satellites into geosynchronous orbit. NASA's first dedicated Earth observation satellite, Landsat , was launched in 1972. This led to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration jointly developing the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite and discovering Ozone depletion . NASA had been pursuing spaceplane development since

4958-676: The Europa and observed that the moon may hold ice or liquid water. A joint NASA- European Space Agency - Italian Space Agency mission, Cassini–Huygens , was sent to Saturn 's moon Titan , which, along with Mars and Europa, are the only celestial bodies in the Solar System suspected of being capable of harboring life. Cassini discovered three new moons of Saturn and the Huygens probe entered Titan's atmosphere. The mission discovered evidence of liquid hydrocarbon lakes on Titan and subsurface water oceans on

5092-538: The Exploration Flight Test-1 capsule, prototypes of other spacecraft considered for flight, and interactive exhibits related to trips beyond the Moon. The facility hosts a rotating set of three shows devoted to topics such as extra-solar planets, Mars or recent discoveries in deep space. The Apollo/Saturn V Center ( 28°36′20″N 80°40′11″W  /  28.6055°N 80.6696°W  / 28.6055; -80.6696  ( Apollo/Saturn V Center ) )

5226-686: The Johnson Space Center as the lead center for the design, development, and manufacturing of the Space Shuttle orbiter , while the Marshall Space Flight Center would lead the development of the launch system. NASA's series of lifting body aircraft, culminating in the joint NASA-U.S. Air Force Martin Marietta X-24 , directly informed the development of the Space Shuttle and future hypersonic flight aircraft. Official development of

5360-461: 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 Saturn IB was restored in 2018. In March 2021, a Delta II launch vehicle

5494-634: The Mars Global Surveyor orbiter and Mars Pathfinder , deploying the first Mars rover, Sojourner . During the early 2000s, the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter reached the planet and in 2004 the Sprit and Opportunity rovers landed on the Red Planet. This was followed in 2005 by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and 2007 Phoenix Mars lander. The 2012 landing of Curiosity discovered that

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5628-470: The National Register of Historic Places , but it 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. In 2010, the center announced a US$ 100 million plan to house a retired Space Shuttle orbiter in a 10-story 64,000 sq ft (5,900 m) facility. On April 12, 2011, the 30th anniversary of

5762-589: The Orbiting Geophysical Observatory in the 1960s and 1970s to look down at Earth and observe its interactions with the Sun. The Uhuru satellite was the first dedicated x-ray telescope, mapping 85% of the sky and discovering a large number of black holes . Launched in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Great Observatories program are among NASA's most powerful telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope

5896-631: The STS-1 mission, designed to serve as a flight test for the new spaceplane. NASA intended for the Space Shuttle to replace expendable launch systems like the Air Force's Atlas , Delta , and Titan and the European Space Agency 's Ariane . The Space Shuttle's Spacelab payload, developed by the European Space Agency, increased the scientific capabilities of shuttle missions over anything NASA

6030-616: The STS-60 mission in 1994 and the Discovery rendezvoused, but did not dock with, the Russian Mir in the STS-63 mission. This was followed by Atlantis' STS-71 mission where it accomplished the initial intended mission for the Space Shuttle, docking with a space station and transferring supplies and personnel. The Shuttle- Mir program would continue until 1998, when a series of orbital accidents on

6164-417: The Space Race when the Soviet Union gave up its lunar ambitions. As the first human to step on the surface of the Moon, Neil Armstrong uttered the now famous words: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. NASA would conduct six total lunar landings as part of the Apollo program, with Apollo   17 concluding the program in 1972. Wernher von Braun had advocated for NASA to develop

6298-507: The Space Shuttle began in 1972, with Rockwell International contracted to design the orbiter and engines, Martin Marietta for the external fuel tank , and Morton Thiokol for the solid rocket boosters . NASA acquired six orbiters: the Enterprise , Columbia , Challenger , Discovery , Atlantis , and Endeavour The Space Shuttle program also allowed NASA to make major changes to its Astronaut Corps . While almost all previous astronauts were Air Force or Naval test pilots,

6432-480: The United States Congress created the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1914 and established NACA in 1915 to foster aeronautical research and development. Over the next forty years, NACA would conduct aeronautical research in support of the U.S. Air Force , U.S. Army , U.S. Navy , and the civil aviation sector. After the end of World War II , NACA became interested in the possibilities of guided missiles and supersonic aircraft, developing and testing

6566-405: The inner planets . Despite these successes, Congress was unwilling to fund further interplanetary missions and NASA Administrator James Webb suspended all future interplanetary probes to focus resources on the Apollo program. Following the conclusion of the Apollo program, NASA resumed launching interplanetary probes and expanded its space science program. The first planet tagged for exploration

6700-409: The 1960s that described the events of certain flights as well as other memorabilia commemorating the time. The exhibit also featured the actual consoles from the Mercury Mission Control Center. This exhibit was closed in 2014 and transformed into Heroes & Legends, with many of the items from the original Astronaut Hall of Fame relocated to here. The Mercury Mission Control Consoles were also kept from

6834-420: The 1960s, blending the administration's dual aeronautics and space missions. NASA viewed a spaceplane as part of a larger program, providing routine and economical logistical support to a space station in Earth orbit that would be used as a hub for lunar and Mars missions. A reusable launch vehicle would then have ended the need for expensive and expendable boosters like the Saturn V . In 1969, NASA designated

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6968-400: The 1968–1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle . Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program , and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the lunar Artemis program . NASA's science division is focused on better understanding Earth through

7102-481: The 2014 class. Those inducted in 2015 were John Grunsfeld , Steven Lindsey , Kent Rominger , and Rhea Seddon . In 2016, inductees included Brian Duffy and Scott E. Parazynski . Ellen Ochoa and Michael Foale were announced as the 2017 class of the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. Scott Altman and Thomas Jones followed in 2018. The 2019 inductees were James Buchli and Janet L. Kavandi . Michael López-Alegría , Scott Kelly and Pamela Melroy were

7236-443: The 2020 inductees, inducted in a November 2021 ceremony. The 2022 inductees were Christopher Ferguson , David Leestma , and Sandra Magnus . Roy Bridges Jr. and Mark Kelly were the 2023 inductees. The 2024 inductees were David C. Hilmers and Marsha Ivins . The Hall of Heroes is composed of tributes to the inductees. Among the Hall of Fame's displays is Sigma 7 , the Mercury spacecraft piloted by Wally Schirra which orbited

7370-437: The 44 commercial companies that contracted with NASA to deploy their satellites to return to expendable launch vehicles. When the Space Shuttle returned to flight with the STS-26 mission, it had undergone significant modifications to improve its reliability and safety. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation and United States initiated the Shuttle- Mir program . The first Russian cosmonaut flew on

7504-450: The Air Force as the military space lead. Plans for human spaceflight began in the U.S. Armed Forces prior to NASA's creation. The Air Force's Man in Space Soonest project formed in 1956, coupled with the Army's Project Adam, served as the foundation for Project Mercury . NASA established the Space Task Group to manage the program, which would conduct crewed sub-orbital flights with the Army's Redstone rockets and orbital flights with

7638-448: The Air Force's Atlas launch vehicles. While NASA intended for its first astronauts to be civilians, President Eisenhower directed that they be selected from the military. The Mercury 7 astronauts included three Air Force pilots, three Navy aviators, and one Marine Corps pilot. On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to enter space, performing a suborbital spaceflight in the Freedom 7 . This flight occurred less than

7772-410: The Apollo program. Despite attacks on the goal of landing astronauts on the Moon from the former president Dwight Eisenhower and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater , President Kennedy was able to protect NASA's growing budget, of which 50% went directly to human spaceflight and it was later estimated that, at its height, 5% of Americans worked on some aspect of the Apollo program. Mirroring

7906-478: The Army Ballistic Missile Agency's original Saturn   I . The Apollo spacecraft was designed and built by North American Aviation , while the Apollo Lunar Module was designed and built by Grumman . To develop the spaceflight skills and equipment required for a lunar mission, NASA initiated Project Gemini . Using a modified Air Force Titan   II launch vehicle, the Gemini capsule could hold two astronauts for flights of over two weeks. Gemini pioneered

8040-426: The Department of Defense's program management concept using redundant systems in building the first intercontinental ballistic missiles, NASA requested the Air Force assign Major General Samuel C. Phillips to the space agency where he would serve as the director of the Apollo program. Development of the Saturn   V rocket was led by Wernher von Braun and his team at the Marshall Space Flight Center , derived from

8174-448: The Earth six times in 1962, and the Gemini 9A capsule flown by Gene Cernan and Thomas P. Stafford in 1966. An Astronaut Adventure room includes simulators for use by children. The spacesuit worn by Gus Grissom during his 1961 Liberty Bell 7 Mercury flight is on display and has been the subject of a dispute between NASA and Grissom's heirs and supporters since 2002. The spacesuit, along with other Grissom artifacts, were loaned to

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8308-438: The Heroes & Legends building, is included with visitor complex daily admission. 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 on behalf of NASA. The building was renamed the ATX Center and houses educational programs including Camp Kennedy Space Center and the Astronaut Training Experience. The Rocket Garden

8442-463: 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 Planet Play attraction is a multi-story, highly immersive play structure geared towards children between the ages of 2-12. It opened to the public on January 1, 2021, and features various amenities such as climbing structures, slides, interactive games, and light projections, with

8576-412: The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex 6 miles (9.7 km) to the east on Merritt Island. Outside of the original building was a full-scale replica of a Space Shuttle orbiter named Inspiration (originally named "Shuttle To Tomorrow" where visitors could enter and view a program). Inspiration served only as an outdoor, full scale, static display which visitors could not enter. After the Hall of Fame

8710-439: The Keplar space telescope confirmed was Kepler-22b , orbiting within the habitable zone of its star. NASA also launched a number of different satellites to study Earth, such as Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) in 1960, which was the first weather satellite. NASA and the United States Weather Bureau cooperated on future TIROS and the second generation Nimbus program of weather satellites. It also worked with

8844-509: The Launch Complex 39 Press Site. The vehicle remained at the turn basin until 2012, when it was moved to the Space Center Houston . The Shuttle Launch Experience, designed by Bob Rogers and the design team BRC Imagination Arts, opened May 25, 2007. The attraction puts guests through a simulated Shuttle launch. Delaware North Companies invested six years and US$ 60 million into the attraction. Astronauts, NASA experts and attraction-industry leaders were consulted during development. The attraction

8978-448: The Martian interior. The 2021 Perseverance rover carried the first extraplanetary aircraft, a helicopter named Ingenuity . NASA also launched missions to Mercury in 2004, with the MESSENGER probe demonstrating as the first use of a solar sail . NASA also launched probes to the outer Solar System starting in the 1960s. Pioneer 10 was the first probe to the outer planets, flying by Jupiter , while Pioneer 11 provided

9112-421: The Mercury Seven. In addition to being the first American astronauts, they set several firsts in American spaceflight, both auspicious and tragic. Alan Shepard was the first American in space and later became one of the twelve people to walk on the Moon. John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth and after his induction went on, in 1998, to become the oldest man to fly in space, aged 77. Gus Grissom

9246-516: The Moon " by The Police was shot at the Kennedy Space Center on October 23, 1979. It features the band members miming to the track amidst spacecraft displays, interspersed with NASA footage. Stewart Copeland strikes his drumsticks on a Saturn V Moon rocket. Also, the music video for the 1992 Eurodance song " Rhythm is a Dancer " by Snap! was filmed at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex's rocket garden. NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA / ˈ n æ s ə / )

9380-402: The Moon and going to Mars. Embracing this approach, NASA's Commercial Crew Program started by contracting cargo delivery to the International Space Station and flew its first operational contracted mission on SpaceX Crew-1 . This marked the first time since the retirement of the Space Shuttle that NASA was able to launch its own astronauts on an American spacecraft from the United States, ending

9514-404: The Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s and installed James E. Webb as NASA administrator to achieve this goal. On May   25, 1961, President Kennedy openly declared this goal in his "Urgent National Needs" speech to the United States Congress, declaring: I believe this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on

9648-427: The Moon and returning him safely to Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. Kennedy gave his " We choose to go to the Moon " speech the next year, on September   12, 1962 at Rice University , where he addressed the nation hoping to reinforce public support for

9782-514: The Planet Play building, shows two films: Journey to Space and Asteroid Hunters. In 1999, the attraction "Robot Scouts" opened as a walk-through exhibit highlighting NASA's unmanned planetary robot probes. The attraction, designed originally by award-winning experience designer Bob Rogers (designer) and the design team BRC Imagination Arts, explores how robots help to pave the way for human spaceflight. During their visit, guests were guided through

9916-668: The Russians be included. In 1993, the Clinton Administration announced that the Space Station Freedom would become the International Space Station in an agreement with the Russian Federation. This allowed the Russians to maintain their space program through an infusion of American currency to maintain their status as one of the two premier space programs. While the United States built and launched

10050-577: The Russians to fly to the International Space Station for four days, despite the opposition of NASA to the idea. Advocates of this new commercial approach for NASA included former astronaut Buzz Aldrin , who remarked that it would return NASA to its roots as a research and development agency, with commercial entities actually operating the space systems. Having corporations take over orbital operations would also allow NASA to focus all its efforts on deep space exploration and returning humans to

10184-422: The Solar System. Mars has long been a planet of intense fascination for NASA, being suspected of potentially having harbored life. Mariner 5 was the first NASA spacecraft to flyby Mars, followed by Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 . Mariner 9 was the first orbital mission to Mars. Launched in 1975, Viking program consisted of two landings on Mars in 1976. Follow-on missions would not be launched until 1996, with

10318-602: The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, NASA was forced to rely on Russian Soyuz launches for its astronauts and the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle accelerated the station's completion. In the 1980s, right after the first flight of the Space Shuttle, NASA started a joint program with the Department of Defense to develop the Rockwell X-30 National Aerospace Plane. NASA realized that

10452-418: The Space Shuttle allowed NASA to begin recruiting more non-military scientific and technical experts. A prime example is Sally Ride , who became the first American woman to fly in space on STS-7 . This new astronaut selection process also allowed NASA to accept exchange astronauts from U.S. allies and partners for the first time. The first Space Shuttle flight occurred in 1981, when the Columbia launched on

10586-505: The Space Shuttle and expand space exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Constellation was intended to use a significant amount of former Space Shuttle equipment and return astronauts to the Moon. This program was canceled by the Obama Administration . Former astronauts Neil Armstrong , Gene Cernan , and Jim Lovell sent a letter to President Barack Obama to warn him that if the United States did not get new human spaceflight ability,

10720-544: The Space Shuttle began flying, selling it as an orbital laboratory, repair station, and a jumping off point for lunar and Mars missions. NASA found a strong advocate in President Ronald Reagan , who declared in a 1984 speech: America has always been greatest when we dared to be great. We can reach for greatness again. We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful, economic, and scientific gain. Tonight I am directing NASA to develop

10854-450: The Space Shuttle program). Since it would not be practical (or meaningful) to induct all astronauts who ever flew in space, all subsequent inductees (Space Shuttle program and beyond) are considered based on their accomplishments and contributions to the human spaceflight endeavor which would set them apart from their peers. Over four dozen astronauts from the Space Shuttle program have been inducted since 2001. Among these are Sally Ride ,

10988-660: The Space Shuttle, while a massive technological accomplishment, would not be able to live up to all its promises. Designed to be a single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane, the X-30 had both civil and military applications. With the end of the Cold War , the X-30 was canceled in 1992 before reaching flight status. Following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, President Bush started the Constellation program to smoothly replace

11122-483: The Space Shuttle. Due to technical challenges, the spacecraft was cancelled in 2001. Despite this, it was the first time a commercial space company directly expended a significant amount of its resources into spacecraft development. The advent of space tourism also forced NASA to challenge its assumption that only governments would have people in space. The first space tourist was Dennis Tito , an American investment manager and former aerospace engineer who contracted with

11256-507: The Space Station Freedom was controversial, with much of the debate centering on cost. Several redesigns to reduce cost were conducted in the early 1990s, stripping away much of its functions. Despite calls for Congress to terminate the program, it continued, in large part because by 1992 it had created 75,000 jobs across 39 states. By 1993, President Bill Clinton attempted to significantly reduce NASA's budget and directed costs be significantly reduced, aerospace industry jobs were not lost, and

11390-547: The Stars" opened in the Apollo/Saturn V Center to commemorate the fallen astronauts of Apollo 1 . The permanent tribute showcases personal memorabilia from the three astronauts, with photos and video from their professional and personal lives. The exhibit also displays the charred three-section Block I hatch from the fire, and a redesigned Block II hatch. The Block II hatch flew on all following Apollo missions that could open quicker in

11524-475: The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, displaying the inducted men and women. In the center of the hall is an interactive kiosk with an inductee database, a mission index, and a virtual photo opportunity with the Mercury 7 astronauts . The Boeing company is the title sponsor of Heroes & Legends, which marked the first time the visitor complex entered an agreement with a corporate sponsor in more than 50 years. The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, located inside

11658-578: The U.S. risked become a second or third-rate space power. As early as the Reagan Administration, there had been calls for NASA to expand private sector involvement in space exploration rather than do it all in-house. In the 1990s, NASA and Lockheed Martin entered into an agreement to develop the Lockheed Martin X-33 demonstrator of the VentureStar spaceplane, which was intended to replace

11792-569: The US's premier aeronautics agency, NACA formed the core of NASA's new structure by reassigning 8,000 employees and three major research laboratories. NASA also proceeded to absorb the Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard, the Army's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency under Wernher von Braun . This left NASA firmly as the United States' civil space lead and

11926-422: The aforementioned exhibit. 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 was offered and now rocket launch viewing, from the visitor complex, offering close views of the launch pads . The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame hosts a yearly induction ceremony. The Astronaut Training Experience

12060-674: The astronauts, two recovered pieces of the Shuttles, footage of the physical and emotional recovery, and the return to flight. This exhibit replaced the Space Shuttle Explorer which was a full-scale, high-fidelity replica of the Space Shuttle which visitors were able to board. Explorer was removed from the KSC Visitor Center on December 11, 2011, and relocated to the Vehicle Assembly Building's turn basin dock adjacent to

12194-504: The attraction by a robot named StarQuester 2000, who explained to them the mission of the "Robot Scouts: Trailblazers for Human Exploration", with the help of the other then-active robots, including the Voyagers, the Vikings, Cassini , and even the Hubble Space Telescope. The experience culminated in a visit to a diorama of a Mars base, which even included a simulated Martian sunset. The attraction

12328-645: The attraction was later made part of the exhibit for the Space Shuttle Atlantis , with the former gift shop space being used for several simulators that allowed guests to try their hand at landing and docking the Space Shuttle. The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame is now located in Heroes & Legends, which replaced the previous Early Space Exploration exhibit inside the visitor complex's main entrance. The US$ 20 million exhibit, which opened in 2016, focuses on America's first astronauts and nine characteristics of

12462-432: The benefits of space exploration along with the existing focus on human space exploration. In 1995, Delaware North Companies was selected to operate the visitor center. Between 1995 and 2007, the visitors center went through many changes, including the improvement of restaurants, retail shops, buses, and new exhibits. It is also when the visitor complex got its current name, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Since then,

12596-475: The center on December 24, 1968, following the Apollo 8 orbit of the Moon. Beginning July 22, 1966, public tours were offered on 40-passenger buses. Operated by TWA , a 1.5-hour tour that included the Vehicle Assembly Building and a 3-hour tour including launch facilities were available. Tickets ranged from $ 0.50 for children 12 and under to $ 2.50 for adults for the longer tour. More than 1,500 people toured that first day and additional busses were quickly added to

12730-407: The event of an emergency. In 2010, the attraction Exploration Space; Explorers Wanted, also designed by BRC Imagination Arts, functioned as part immersive experience, and part futuristic recruitment center. It is now known as Journey to Mars: Explorers Wanted with a focus on Mars exploration. The attraction, which employs large-scale video projections, dimensional exhibits and interactive experiences,

12864-524: The facility has been entirely self-supporting and receives no taxpayer or government funding. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex was voted the 8th best museum in the United States by Trip Advisor in 2016. The Visitor Complex has had a visitation increase in the 2010's, in part due to the addition of the Space Shuttle Atlantis on display, the decreasing popularity of nearby SeaWorld due to changing attitudes to welfare of animals in captivity as KSC

12998-433: The fifth most popular tourist attraction in Florida. When nearby Walt Disney World opened in 1971, visitor center attendance increased by 30%, 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 began with added focus on

13132-413: The first American to walk in space (also killed in the Apollo 1 accident); Jim Lovell , commander of the famously near-tragic Apollo 13 ; and John Young , whose six flights included a moonwalk and command of the first Space Shuttle mission. The third class was inducted in 1997 and consisted of the 24 additional Apollo, Skylab , and ASTP astronauts. Notable members of the class were Roger Chaffee ,

13266-662: The first American woman in space; Story Musgrave , who flew six missions in the 1980s and 90s; and Francis Scobee , commander of the ill-fated final Challenger mission . The 2010 class consisted of Guion Bluford Jr. , Kenneth Bowersox , Frank Culbertson and Kathryn Thornton . The 2011 inductees were Karol Bobko and Susan Helms . The 2012 inductees were Franklin Chang-Diaz , Kevin Chilton and Charles Precourt . Bonnie Dunbar , Curt Brown and Eileen Collins were inducted in 2013, and Shannon Lucid and Jerry Ross comprised

13400-420: The first close up view of the planet. Both probes became the first objects to leave the Solar System. The Voyager program launched in 1977, conducting flybys of Jupiter and Saturn , Neptune , and Uranus on a trajectory to leave the Solar System. The Galileo spacecraft, deployed from the Space Shuttle flight STS-34 , was the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, discovering evidence of subsurface oceans on

13534-510: The first crew to make it habitable and operational. Skylab hosted nine missions and was decommissioned in 1974 and deorbited in 1979, two years prior to the first launch of the Space Shuttle and any possibility of boosting its orbit. In 1975, the Apollo–Soyuz mission was the first ever international spaceflight and a major diplomatic accomplishment between the Cold War rivals, which also marked

13668-450: The first humans to see the Earth as a globe in space, the first to witness an Earthrise , and the first to see and manually photograph the far side of the Moon. The first lunar landing was conducted by Apollo   11. Commanded by Neil Armstrong with astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins , Apollo   11 was one of the most significant missions in NASA's history, marking the end of

13802-404: The fleet of former Greyhound buses. TWA continued operating tours through at least the bicentennial celebrations in 1976. As NASA neared the Moon, popularity grew. By 1969, the visitor center was the second most visited Florida attraction, behind Tampa's Busch Gardens. Even during the gap between the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs, attendance remained at over one million guests and it ranked as

13936-414: The four Great Observatories , and associated programs. The Launch Services Program oversees launch operations for its uncrewed launches . NASA traces its roots to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Despite being the birthplace of aviation, by 1914 the United States recognized that it was far behind Europe in aviation capability. Determined to regain American leadership in aviation,

14070-402: The intention of educating children on some of the technologies used in space exploration. Step. Power. Launch. is an attraction where visitors jump on pressure pads to power up a rocket on a screen. There are 3 sections: Earth, Moon And Mars. When the rocket is completely fueled up, smoke begins to spew from beneath the screen and a launch sequence is shown. This 3D IMAX theater, located inside

14204-451: The last flight of the Apollo capsule. Flown in 1975, a U.S. Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz capsule. During the 1960s, NASA started its space science and interplanetary probe program. The Mariner program was its flagship program, launching probes to Venus , Mars , and Mercury in the 1960s. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was the lead NASA center for robotic interplanetary exploration, making significant discoveries about

14338-423: The launch of STS-1 , NASA announced that Space Shuttle Atlantis would be provided to the visitors center for display after its last flight on STS-135 and subsequent decommissioning. The exhibit officially opened on June 29, 2013, offering a nearly 360° view of the shuttle. Atlantis is positioned at a 43.21° angle with the payload bay doors open; a view only previously seen in space. The exhibit also includes

14472-434: The majority of the International Space Station, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the European Space Agency all contributed components. Despite NASA's insistence that costs would be kept at a budget of $ 17.4, they kept rising and NASA had to transfer funds from other programs to keep the International Space Station solvent. Ultimately, the total cost of the station was $ 150 billion, with the United States paying for two-thirds.Following

14606-609: The moon of Enceladus , which could harbor life. Finally launched in 2006, the New Horizons mission was the first spacecraft to visit Pluto and the Kuiper Belt . Beyond interplanetary probes, NASA has launched many space telescopes . Launched in the 1960s, the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory were NASA's first orbital telescopes, providing ultraviolet, gamma-ray, x-ray, and infrared observations. NASA launched

14740-509: The original owners of the Hall of Fame by the Grissom family when it opened. After the Hall of Fame went into bankruptcy and was taken over by a NASA contractor in 2002, the family requested that all their items be returned. All of the items were returned to Grissom's family except the spacesuit, because both NASA and the Grissoms claim ownership of it. NASA claims Grissom checked out the spacesuit for

14874-536: The previous Early Space Exploration exhibit, houses the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame and 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 Space Force Station . These were previously housed in the Mercury Mission Control facility, which was on

15008-589: The property due to low attendance and mounting debt. That September, an auction was held and the property was purchased by Delaware North Park Services on behalf of NASA and the property was added to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The Hall of Fame re-opened December 14, 2002. The Hall of Fame, which was originally located just west of the NASA Causeway, closed to the public on November 2, 2015, in preparation for its relocation to

15142-608: The radiation levels on Mars were equal to those on the International Space Station , greatly increasing the possibility of Human exploration, and observed the key chemical ingredients for life to occur. In 2013, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution ( MAVEN ) mission observed the Martian upper atmosphere and space environment and in 2018, the Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy, and Heat Transport ( InSight ) studied

15276-502: The satellites were repaired and relaunched. Despite ushering in a new era of spaceflight, where NASA was contracting launch services to commercial companies, the Space Shuttle was criticized for not being as reusable and cost-effective as advertised. In 1986, Challenger disaster on the STS-51L mission resulted in the loss of the spacecraft and all seven astronauts on launch, grounding the entire space shuttle fleet for 36 months and forced

15410-641: The separation of dark and regular matter during galactic collisions. Finally, the Spitzer Space Telescope is an infrared telescope launched in 2003 from a Delta II rocket. It is in a trailing orbit around the Sun, following the Earth and discovered the existence of brown dwarf stars . Other telescopes, such as the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe , provided evidence to support

15544-504: The setback caused by the Apollo   1 fire, which killed three astronauts, the program proceeded. Apollo   8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon . The crew orbited the Moon ten times on December   24 and   25, 1968, and then traveled safely back to Earth . The three Apollo   8 astronauts— Frank Borman , James Lovell , and William Anders —were

15678-470: The space shuttle be retired. In 2006, the Space Shuttle returned to flight, conducting several mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope , but was retired following the STS-135 resupply mission to the International Space Station in 2011. NASA never gave up on the idea of a space station after Skylab's reentry in 1979. The agency began lobbying politicians to support building a larger space station as soon as

15812-476: The space station spelled an end to the program. In 2003, a second space shuttle was destroyed when the Columbia was destroyed upon reentry during the STS-107 mission, resulting in the loss of the spacecraft and all seven astronauts. This accident marked the beginning of the retiring of the Space Shuttle program, with President George W. Bush directing that upon the completion of the International Space Station,

15946-406: The space-flown Orion EFT-1 designed for NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and a scale model of an SLS launch vehicle. There is also a full-scale model of the crew vehicle Boeing CST-100 Starliner . SpaceX's space-flown Dragon capsule from COTS-2 , which is the first commercial vehicle to dock with the International Space Station (ISS), is also featured. A pressure vessel for CST-100 Starliner,

16080-570: The third astronaut killed in the Apollo 1 fire and the only unflown astronaut in the Hall; Harrison Schmitt , the first scientist and next-to-last person to walk on the Moon ; and Jack Swigert and Fred Haise , the Apollo 13 crewmembers not previously inducted. The philosophy regarding the first three groups of inductees was that all astronauts who flew in NASA's "pioneering" programs (which would include Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Apollo Applications Program (Skylab), and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project) would be included simply by virtue of their participation in

16214-579: The use of fuel cells instead of batteries, and conducted the first American spacewalks and rendezvous operations . The Ranger Program was started in the 1950s as a response to Soviet lunar exploration, however most missions ended in failure. The Lunar Orbiter program had greater success, mapping the surface in preparation for Apollo landings and measured Selenography , conducted meteoroid detection, and measured radiation levels. The Surveyor program conducted uncrewed lunar landings and takeoffs, as well as taking surface and regolith observations. Despite

16348-467: The various projects, mission architectures and associated timelines relevant to lunar and Mars exploration and science. United States Astronaut Hall of Fame In the 1980s, the six then-surviving Mercury Seven astronauts conceived of establishing a place where US space travelers could be remembered and honored, along the lines of halls of fame for other fields. The Mercury Seven Foundation and Astronaut Scholarship Foundation were formed, and have

16482-513: 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 formerly included 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

16616-417: The west. That building is now closed and the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame resides in a new exhibit at the visitor complex, Heroes & Legends. The Apollo/Saturn V Center, located 6 miles (9.7 km) north inside NASA's gates, 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

16750-454: Was Venus , sharing many similar characteristics to Earth. First visited by American Mariner 2 spacecraft, Venus was observed to be a hot and inhospitable planet. Follow-on missions included the Pioneer Venus project in the 1970s and Magellan , which performed radar mapping of Venus' surface in the 1980s and 1990s. Future missions were flybys of Venus, on their way to other destinations in

16884-434: Was a joint NASA–U.S. Air Force program, with the hypersonic test aircraft becoming the first non-dedicated spacecraft to cross from the atmosphere to outer space. The X-15 also served as a testbed for Apollo program technologies, as well as ramjet and scramjet propulsion. Escalations in the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union prompted President John F. Kennedy to charge NASA with landing an American on

17018-663: Was able to previously accomplish. NASA launched its first commercial satellites on the STS-5 mission and in 1984, the STS-41-C mission conducted the world's first on-orbit satellite servicing mission when the Challenger captured and repaired the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission satellite. It also had the capability to return malfunctioning satellite to Earth, like it did with the Palapa B2 and Westar 6 satellites. Once returned to Earth,

17152-490: Was added to the Rocket Garden. The Juno I on display is painted with serial number "UE", a reference to the vehicle that launched the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1 . 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 —

17286-467: Was also a concern with sharing sensitive space technologies with the Europeans, which had the potential to dilute America's technical lead. Ultimately, an international agreement to develop the Space Station Freedom program would be signed with thirteen countries in 1985, including the European Space Agency member states, Canada , and Japan . Despite its status as the first international space program,

17420-567: Was considered an alternative, and the increasing interest in STEM fields for children. NASA renewed the contract with Delaware North Companies through 2028. Included in the base admission is tour-bus transportation to Launch Complex 39 and the surrounding KSC property, and the Apollo/Saturn V Center . Previously, it used to include admission to the Astronaut Hall of Fame , 6 miles (9.7 km) to

17554-492: Was launched in 1990 on STS-31 from the Discovery and could view galaxies 15 billion light years away. A major defect in the telescope's mirror could have crippled the program, had NASA not used computer enhancement to compensate for the imperfection and launched five Space Shuttle servicing flights to replace the damaged components. The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was launched from the Atlantis on STS-37 in 1991, discovering

17688-413: Was the first American to fly in space twice and was the commander of the ill-fated Apollo 1 , which resulted in the first astronaut deaths directly related to preparation for spaceflight. Thirteen astronauts from the Gemini and Apollo programs were inducted in the second class of 1993. This class included the first and last humans to walk on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Eugene Cernan ; Ed White ,

17822-526: Was transferred to the KSC Visitor Complex, Inspiration was acquired by LVX System and was placed in storage at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center; in 2016, the shuttle was loaded on to a barge to be taken for refurbishment before going on an educational tour. The building was purchased at auction by visitor complex operator Delaware North and renamed the ATX Center, and for

17956-539: Was urged by U.S. Rep. Olin Teague of Texas to create a visitors' program. By 1964, more than 250,000 self-guided car tours, permitted between 1 and 4 pm. ET on Sundays, were seen at Kennedy Space Center (KSC). In 1965, KSC Director Kurt H. Debus was authorized to spend $ 2 million on a full-scale visitor center, covering 42 acres. Spaceport USA, as it was soon titled, hosted 500,000 visitors in 1967, its first year, and one million by 1969. Ten-thousand visitors toured

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