NASA’s ‘Rocket Ranch’ Operates in Harmony with Diverse Wildlife

By Bob Granath

Employees at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center work in high-tech facilities alongside hundreds of wildlife species in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. The diverse, 144,000-acre landscape provides a habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife and plants.

The refuge covers the entire Florida spaceport where the world’s most advanced technology launched astronauts to the Moon and today continues space exploration. NASA and agencies such as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service help conserve home for many varieties of animals within this 35-mile long barrier island. Additionally, the landscape includes a rich abundance of plants and animals from both the subtropical and temperate climates.

The Merritt Island refuge also encompasses fresh-water impoundments, brackish marshes and salt-water estuaries where the tide meets a stream. The landscape provides a habitat for more than 25 types of mammals, as well as 65 amphibian and reptile species. Additionally, there are more than 320 species of birds, including Florida scrub jays, ospreys, wood storks and several wading bird rookeries.

Strategically located on the Atlantic Flyway, the site is a major bird migration corridor and is a key resting stop for many. The refuge’s habitats support one of the highest number of endangered and threatened species found within the National Wildlife Refuge System. This unique relationship between animals in the refuge and NASA bears testimony to the fact that that nature and technology can coexist.

In 1985, plans were underway to build a new, high-tech Kennedy Logistics Facility. But first, wildlife experts performed an environmental impact survey. Thjey found that animals inhabiting the construction site included endangered gopher turtles and indigo snakes. The turtles and snakes were rounded up and relocated within the refuge prior to the start of construction.

The refuge provides a habitat for numerous active bald eagle nests. These majestic birds have long been an important symbol for American human spaceflights, depicted on more than a dozen mission patches. One of the most memorable was designed for the first Moon landing mission, Apollo 11.

Periodically, NASA Aircraft Operations in Kennedy’s Spaceport Integration and Services Directorate teams up with environmental ecologists for “Eagle Flights” to monitor the nests of these majestic birds. Spaceport Integration is responsible for the overall management and direction of center activities.

The aerial survey uses one of the agency’s helicopters, taking off near the center’s Shuttle Landing Facility. The flights cover areas near well-known spacecraft processing buildings and some of the more remote areas of the space center.

The importance of these surveys was underscored following a severe thunderstorm that blew through Kennedy in March 2013 with winds exceeding 60 miles per hour. After the storm, environmental ecologists boarded a helicopter to conduct an “eagle flight” and found that several nests in leafless pine trees, called “snags,” were blown to the ground.

One of the nests blown down by the high winds contained two baby eagles. Wildlife ecologist Becky Bolt of Integrated Mission Support Services, NASA’s Kennedy Environmental and Medical Contractor, was one of those who helped rescue the birds.

“We do a survey of the eagle nesting areas about three times a year,” she said. “A couple of days after the big storm, we found three eagle nests had been blown to the ground. One had an eaglet standing in the nest. We then spotted another lying on the ground, about 100 yards away.”

After receiving medical attention, one of the eaglets was returned to the wild in a reconstructed nest. The second eaglet remained at the Audubon Center where treatment continued for an eye problem. It was found that she had clear vision in only one eye.

“The veterinarians at Audubon determined that the eagle could not survive in the wild with only one good eye,” Bolt said. “She was given to SeaWorld in Orlando to be trained for educational programs.”

Eight months later, the eagle was sent to SeaWorld in San Antonio. The attraction’s animal encounters now include what is described as the “grace and nobility of the magnificent eagle.”

During a visit to San Antonio, Bolt noted that wildlife conservation experts at the Texas SeaWorld named the eagle “Star.”

“For many people, this may be their only opportunity to see an eagle up-close,” she said. “Kids, especially, enjoy seeing the bird one-on-one.”

The sprawling space center averages about 14 to 15 eagle nests each year, with a pair of eagles usually returning to the same spot. A nest along Kennedy Parkway, south of the center’s Vehicle Assembly Building has been there for more than 35 years.

A large portion of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is outside the NASA security perimeter and open to the public. The refuge’s Visitor Information Center is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily Nov. 1 through April 30. May 1 through Oct. 31, the visitor center is open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Refuge roads, trails and boat ramps are open daily from sunrise to sunset.

One of the best place to see wildlife is along the Black Point Wildlife Drive. The seven-mile, one-way path follows a road around several shallow marsh impoundments and through pine flatwoods. This provides an excellent place to see waterfowl, wading birds, shorebirds and birds of prey. Alligators, river otters, bobcats and various species of other wildlife may be visible as well. A self-guiding brochure (available near the drive entrance) provides information on things to see. Driving time is approximately 40 minutes.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Following months of being closed due to the coronavirus health emergency, the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center, the manatee observation deck and northwest Haulover Canal access road have been reopened. The Black Point Wildlife Drive, Gator Creek Drive and the Hammock hiking trails remained open to the public.

.

© 2020 SpaceAgeChronicle.com All Rights Reserved.

Helicopter Survey of Wildlife at Florida’s Spaceport

Check out this short YouTube video featuring an airborne eagle survey that helps protect wildlife at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Aircraft Operations in Spaceport Integration and Services at the Florida Spaceport joins forces with environmental experts to survey local eagle nests and other wildlife. The 2015 video is narrated by NASA’s Mike Curie and written by Bob Granath. It was produced in collaboration with NASA Public Affairs Officer Greg Harland and Wildlife Ecologist Becky Bolt.

Video courtesy of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center