Space Race

We took the day off and went to the John F. Kennedy Space Center it was quite fun and very

informative. The Space Center is located on Merritt Island, Florida and it is the launch site that has been used for every NASA human space flight since December 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for the U.S. government's civilian space program from three pads at the adjoining Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Its Vehicle Assembly Building is the fourth-largest structure in the world by volume, and was the largest when completed in 1965.

From 1969–1972, it was the departure point for all six Apollo manned Moon landing missions using the Saturn V, the largest and most powerful operational launch vehicle in history, and was used from 1981–2011 for all Space Shuttle launches. The Shuttle Landing Facility, located just to the north, was

used for most Shuttle landings and is among the longest runways in the world. We saw movies, attractions, rode on rides and met a real live astronaut that had been to space a couple of times! Now that sounds like fun.

Robert Springer

Hubble

Home to Atlantis

this robot was kinda creepy

This robot was used in "Lost in Space"

different rockets that carried stuff into space

space telescope 

Because much of the installation is a restricted area and only nine percent of the land is developed, the site also serves as an important wildlife sanctuary; Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore are other features of the area. You can encounter Bald Eagles, American alligators, wild boars, Eastern Diamondback rattlesnakes, Florida panthers and Florida manatees.

space-looking building

Merritt Island owes its name to the king of Spain. The entire island was part of a land grant given by the king to a nobleman named Merritt. In 1605, Spanish explorer Alvar Michaux visited while on a diplomatic mission to the local tribes living in the Indian River area. He called the local tribe the Ulumay. 

In April, 1788, a french botanist, Alvar Michauxt traveled in Merritt Island, he spent five days looking for plants. He wrote a letter on April 24, 1788 from St Augustine. In 1837, Fort Ann was constructed on the east coast of Merritt Island, to protect the area against the Seminole Indians. Merritt Island's recent history dates back to the mid-19th century and centers on the growth of citrus, stressing the cultivation of pineapples and oranges. The Indian River oranges and grapefruit come from this sandy area.

The island's population grew in the 1950s and 1960s as the space race began and nearby NASA expanded. Construction of a barge canal to the intercoastal waterway from the Atlantic Ocean cut off the northern half of the island for many years. To this day, the northern portion of the island remains slightly less developed, with a few areas remaining as cattle pasture or citrus land. The small towns on the island vanished with the coming of the space age, and now only live on in the names of streets and historic churches.

Sea Ray operated a factory on Merritt Island from 1978 to 2012. At one time it employed 1200 people. It closed the plant in 2013.