Before the middle of the 20th Century, Cape Canaveral was a little-known point of land on the East Coast of Florida. But, by the 1960s the Cape was the focal point for America’s efforts to explore and utilize space. A name change and establishment of a separate civilian space center resulted in continuing confusion.
Marianna Triplett was working at the Pentagon, continuing the effort to transfer millions of men and women back to civilian life after they served in the military during World War II. One day during 1948, a U.S. Army general called her into his office and said he wanted to transfer her to Florida to assist with a “hush-hush secret program.” The new effort building Cape Canaveral Space Force Station would lead to some of the most historic achievements of the decades to come.
In early 1962, preparations were underway for John Glenn’s historic flight as the first American to orbit the Earth. He named his Mercury spacecraft “Friendship 7,” and he wanted the illustrator who created the design for the logo to paint it on his capsule. In doing so, artist Cecelia Bibby stepped into what was otherwise an all-male domain.
During the 30-year history of the Space Shuttle Program, many important payloads were launched. From the Hubble Space Telescope to the International Space Station, history was made. However, the most crucial cargo was human. The team assigned to ensure crews were safely sealed into their spacecraft before they rocketed into orbit was the Closeout Crew led by Travis Tod Thompson.
On Aug. 14, 2017, a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. It was a commercial resupply mission delivering supplies to the International Space Station. Four days later, the agency’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite-M lifted off on a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Well before the final Space Shuttle touched down in 2011, the burgeoning commercial space industry was expressing interest in expanding business pursuits in space. At the same time, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center found itself in a unique position. For over 30 years most of the center’s resources were dedicated for the expressed purpose of supporting the Space Shuttle Program. Now Kennedy was left with excess facilities and capacity with no program requirements or funding.
A year ago on Oct. 9, 2020, Disney+ launched a TV series re-boot of the motion picture The Right Stuff. In the revised version, the historic facts were, by in large, presented accurately. However, the personal lives of the Original 7 Mercury astronauts were depicted like the fictitious characters of a soap opera. After eight episodes, the streaming network mercifully pushed the “abort button” and cancelled the series.
On Sept. 16, 2021, SpaceX launched its Inspiration4 mission with four civilian crewmembers. It was the company’s first fully private flight sending humans to orbit. It was an example of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center serving as a premier multi-user spaceport, supporting an ever-expanding commercial industry, providing transportation to space for both people and cargo.
From the Space Shuttle’s first flight in 1981 to its final mission in 2011, thousands of professionals made the program a technical marvel. On the front line were highly skilled mechanics, technicians and engineers whose innovative work launched landmark missions such as deployment of the Space Telescope and assembly of the Space Station. For one elite group of spacecraft operators, their workstation was the space program’s “inner sanctum” — the shuttle’s crew modules.
“Liftoff of Discovery with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one American legend,” said launch commentator Lisa Malone of NASA Public Affairs as the Space Shuttle mission STS-95 flew into orbit on Oct. 29, 1998. While it was a flight in the late 1990s, it was reminiscent of NASA’s storied past. An international crew lifted off with John Glenn, a member of the Mercury program’s Original Seven astronauts.