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Ten-year-old Pat Duggin had a backyard seat for what he describes as free fireworks from Cape Canaveral. The son of an Air Force chief master sergeant, he has vivid memories of seeing the night sky burst into light with the Pioneer 10 probe heading toward Jupiter aboard an Atlas-Centaur rocket in 1972.
Planning for a crew’s health in deep space is as essential as for a successful rocket launch, experts say. Researchers at the Florida Institute of Technology and the University of Central Florida have active roles in that work to ensure astronauts’ physical and mental health for the 140-million-mile trek from Earth to Mars. Radiation, isolation, distance, gravity fields and closed environments are the high-risk factors of all space exploration that scientists take into account while planning for the great crewed journeys.
The Hubble Space Telescope 340 miles in orbit above the Earth has mesmerized stargazers with images of the universe’s beauty and mysteries for decades and is still going strong.
The first observatory designed to be serviced in space, it is considered to be the most productive scientific instrument ever built. Hubble’s saga is as much one of high drama as it is scientific discovery. Its story arcs with tragedy, heroes and ultimate victory over the years after its launch and five service trips — all launched from the Kennedy Space Center.
In tributes unique among NASA’s field centers, the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex preserves the feats of the nation’s astronauts. The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame is part of the Legends and Heroes exhibit. In addition, a vast collection of astronaut memorabilia and the stunning black granite Space Mirror Memorial honor their service and sacrifices.
A reusable laboratory flown on the space shuttles, Spacelab’s launch from the Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 28, 1983, paved the way for the International Space Station.
Emblazoned with the American flag and NASA logo, the Vehicle Assembly Building looms suddenly into view as visitors approach the Kennedy Space Center. The landmark that helped put Brevard County on the world map has more than earned its distinction as a symbol of America’s space program since its completion in 1966.
