ABSTRACT
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is in the midst of a process of evolution and change, largely dictated by tight budgets, dwindling resources and a shrinking work force. Change has been a hallmark of KSC from the first manned launches of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo and into the Shuttle program. The John F. Kennedy Space Center is a world leader in space launch, landing, and payload processing operations. It is the home to NASA’s Space Shuttle fleet of four orbiters—Atlantis, Columbia, Discovery, and Endeavor—which transport astronauts and a wide variety of payloads into earth orbit and beyond, and prepare for their return. Kennedy Space Center is located on 140,000 acres surrounded by the Merrit Island National Wildlife Refuge. Additional facilities used by NASA are located on the adjacent 15,804-acre Cape Canaveral Air Station. KSC has a diverse group of customers and stakeholders in private industry, academia, and the public sector.
