Space Trip
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
America’s Spaceport
America’s Spaceport
John F. Kennedy Space Center
“This generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be a part of it . . . we mean to lead it.”
President John F. Kennedy Sept. 12, 1962
Origins Origins
T
he John F. Kennedy Space Center -- America’s Spaceport -- is the doorway to space. From its unique facilities, humans and machines begin to explore the solar system, reaching out to the sun, the moon, the planets and beyond. While these spectacular achievements fire the imagination of people throughout the world and enrich the lives of millions, they represent only a beginning. At America’s Spaceport, humanity’s long-cherished dream of establishing permanent outposts on the new space frontier is becoming a reality. Yet, our leap toward the stars also is an epilogue to a rich and colorful past . . . an almost forgotten legacy replete with Indian lore, stalwart adventurers, sunken treasure and hardy pioneers. The sands of America’s Spaceport bear the imprint of New World history from its earliest beginnings. Long before people in modern times erected steel and concrete sentinels, the spaceport was inhabited by dusky-skinned hunters -- the Paleo people -- who crossed the continent from Asia by way of the frozen Bering Sea about 12,000 to 20,000 years ago. When Christopher Columbus landed at San Salvador Island in the Bahamas in the 15th century, the cape area was home to the fierce and often cannibalistic Ais and Timucuan Indians. By the middle 1800s, these aboriginal tribes had virtually disappeared. They became the victims of internal strife, conflict with the Europeans moving into the area and, worst of all, new and deadly diseases -- some unwittingly brought by the recent arrivals and spread to an Indian population with no built-up immunities. The early European explorers came in search of territory, wealth, religious freedom and
America’s Spaceport
America’s Spaceport
John F. Kennedy Space Center
“This generation does not intend to founder in the backwash of the coming age of space. We mean to be a part of it . . . we mean to lead it.”
President John F. Kennedy Sept. 12, 1962
Origins Origins
T
he John F. Kennedy Space Center -- America’s Spaceport -- is the doorway to space. From its unique facilities, humans and machines begin to explore the solar system, reaching out to the sun, the moon, the planets and beyond. While these spectacular achievements fire the imagination of people throughout the world and enrich the lives of millions, they represent only a beginning. At America’s Spaceport, humanity’s long-cherished dream of establishing permanent outposts on the new space frontier is becoming a reality. Yet, our leap toward the stars also is an epilogue to a rich and colorful past . . . an almost forgotten legacy replete with Indian lore, stalwart adventurers, sunken treasure and hardy pioneers. The sands of America’s Spaceport bear the imprint of New World history from its earliest beginnings. Long before people in modern times erected steel and concrete sentinels, the spaceport was inhabited by dusky-skinned hunters -- the Paleo people -- who crossed the continent from Asia by way of the frozen Bering Sea about 12,000 to 20,000 years ago. When Christopher Columbus landed at San Salvador Island in the Bahamas in the 15th century, the cape area was home to the fierce and often cannibalistic Ais and Timucuan Indians. By the middle 1800s, these aboriginal tribes had virtually disappeared. They became the victims of internal strife, conflict with the Europeans moving into the area and, worst of all, new and deadly diseases -- some unwittingly brought by the recent arrivals and spread to an Indian population with no built-up immunities. The early European explorers came in search of territory, wealth, religious freedom and