Cape Kennedy

Not to be confused with Kennedy Space Center.

Cape Kennedy
General Information
Owner	US Department of Defence
Operator	US Air Force
Type	US Air Force Station
Location	Cape Canaveral, Brevard County, FL
Use	Lanch complex
Formed	1949
Maps
	Cape Kennedy on US map

Cape Kennedy (green)
Kennedy Space Center (white)

The Cape Kennedy Air Force Station, mostly referred to as Cape Kennedy or just "The Cape", later renamed to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or just Cape Canaveral, is a launch complex operated by the US Air Force and also used by NASA. It is located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida.

History

Cape Kennedy was used by NASA as launch site for their Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.

On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 launched from Cape Kennedy with the purpose of the first American manned Moon landing.

On August 24, 1974, a Saturn V rocket exploded on the launch pad at Cape Kennedy during the final countdown for Apollo 23. 12 people died, including former flight director and new director of the Johnson Space Center, Gene Kranz.

Gallery

Apollo 11 at Cape Kennedy

Apollo 23 at Cape Kennedy

Cape Kennedy seen from Mission Control in Houston

Explosion of Apollo 23 at Cape Kennedy

Behind the scenes

The footage used in the show for Cape Kennedy for several launches is actually showing Launch Complex 39, which is at the Kennedy Space Center, not at Cape Kennedy. In reality, no Saturn V rocket was ever launched from Cape Kennedy. In fact, one of the reasons to build the new space center was because the Cape did not have the capacities to launch the much bigger Saturn V rockets. The show uses the names "Cape Kennedy" and "Kennedy Space Center" as if they are the same location when in reality, both are different facilities.

Further footage used in season 2 also showed images from KSC but was labeled as "Cape Kennedy", like those of the Vehicle Assembly Building.

See also

• Other USAF facilities:
  • Edwards Air Force Base
  • Ellington Air Force Base
  • US Air Force Plant 42
  • Vandenberg Air Force Base
• Other NASA facilites:
  • Johnson Space Center (JSC, later CSC)
  • Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
  • Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC)
  • Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC)
  • Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
  • NASA Flight Research Center (Edwards AFB) (FRC)
  • McMurdo Station (NASA annex)
  • Carl Sagan Center for Planetary Science

External links

  Cape Kennedy on Wikipedia (today: Cape Canaveral Space Force Station)

  Official Website