John F. Kennedy Space Center
John F. Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the NASA space vehicle launch facility (spaceport) at Cape Canaveral on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. The site is midway between Miami and Jacksonville, Florida. It is 55 km long and around 10 km wide, covering 56,700 hectares. Around 17,000 people work at the site. There is a visitor center and public tours and KSC is a major tourist destination for visitors to Florida. Because much of KSC is off limits to development, the site also serves as an important wildlife sanctuary. Operations are currently controlled from Launch Complex 39, the location of the Vehicle Assembly Building. 6 km to the east of the assembly building are the two launch pads. 8 km south
X-Prize
two weeks. This must be essentially the same vehicle: propellant can be replaced, but most of the rest of the vehicle must be reused. Even NASA's space shuttle falls short of this performance requirement, since it takes much more than two weeks to ready a given shuttle between flights. This prize foundation was created to encourage the development of private space travel, which is why government-funded projects are not allowed. The X Prize is designed to help create a space industry, and is modeled after many prizes from the early 20th century that helped prod the development of air flight—notably the $25,000 Orteig Prize that spurred Charles Lindbergh to make his solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. The X-Prize Foundation (based in St. Louis, Missouri) maintains a list of organizations registered
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster Crew of STS-107 on launch day () STS-107 was a space shuttle mission by NASA using the Space Shuttle Columbia. The entire seven member crew was killed on February 1, 2003, when the shuttle disintegrated over Texas during reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.This was the second total loss of a Space Shuttle, the first being Challenger. Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 1 Timeline 2 Effect on US space program 3 Investigation 3.1 The Columbia Accident Investigation Board 4 Shuttle Crew of Flight STS-107 5 External Links Timeline At about 05:54 PST (08:54 EST), a California news photographer observed pieces breaking away from Columbia as it passed overhead, as well as a red flare coming from the shuttle itself. At about 09:00 EST (14:00
Houston, Texas
covers about 600 square miles in area, and is also the largest city in the United States which does not have zoning laws. Houston is world renowned for its energy industry (particularly oil),aeronautics industry and ship channel. The Port of Houston is the second busiest port in the United States, fifth busiest in the world. Because of the economic trades, many residents have moved in from other U.S. states, as well as hundreds of countries worldwide. Officially, Houston has been nicknamed the Space City. "Houston" was the first word uttered on the moon, as Neil Armstrong reported back to NASA. It is known by the locals, however, as the Bayou City. (Other nicknames include "Clutch City", and "Magnolia City".) The city had placed an unsuccessful bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics.