Exhibit: Kennedy Space Center: Through the Years of Space Exploration
Special Collections & University Archives Posted: June 15th, 2016This exhibit of materials from UCF Libraries Special Collections & University Archives features items from the NASA Photograph Collection, NASA Ephemera Collection, Wagar Space Collection, Scott H. Simpkinson Papers, and University Archives. The exhibit emphasizes the importance of learning from the past and documents the local history of the space agency, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), and its missions from the 1950s to present day. The exhibit will be on display June 13 to September 2, 2016, in the John C. Hitt Library 5th floor exhibit area adjacent to Special Collections and University Archives.
In spring 1954, the Congress of the United States passed the National Aeronautics and Space Act which President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law in July of that same year. NASA began operations on October 1, 1958, to explore space for the benefit of all mankind with 8,000 employees and an annual budget of roughly $100 million. In 1962, NASA requested 200 square miles of land in Brevard County from the state of Florida to begin the construction of John F. Kennedy Space Center. Within a few years, the population of Brevard County jumped from around 23,000 to 111,000. Many industrial contractors settled in the region to support the operation. Cape Canaveral, once filled with sand bars and citrus groves, became a major launch site for NASA.
On July 16, 1969, a Saturn V rocket was launched from Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida, carrying three astronauts into space. Part of NASA’s Apollo program, the Apollo 11 spaceflight successfully landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin becoming the first humans to step onto the lunar surface fulfilling the national goal proposed by John F. Kennedy during his State of the Union speech before the U.S. Congress:
“I believe this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth.”
Since then, NASA has launched over one hundred reusable spacecraft and placed many satellites in orbit around the earth improving communications and exploring the universe.
For more information on the collections, please contact Special Collections & University Archives Department at (407) 823-2576, speccoll@ucf.edu.
We hope you enjoy the exhibit!
Hey Special Collections & University Archives Dept,
Thanks for updating us on this new exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center. I think it will be a great one to visit before summer is out. Too bad more professors won’t be able to assign extra credit for going since it ends in September.
I will do my best to make it. Thank for the helpful information.
Dennis