john f. kennedy space center brevard county, florida - Environmental ...

Space Shuttle Program Historic Properties 1-4
NASA Kennedy Space Center
In 1962, an Air Force request for space to install new Titan rocket facilities (Complexes
40 and 41) at the south end of KSC’s newly purchased land prompted re-evaluation of the
total land buy. Negotiations between NASA and the Air Force resulted in the purchase of
an additional 23 mi 2 of land in 1963, including the towns of Allenhurst and Shiloh. This
land was purchased by the ACOE with Air Force money in compensation for 346.9 ac
taken by CCAFS. Total holdings of KSC-owned land increased to 219.9 mi 2 . The State of
Florida provided an additional 87.7 mi 2 , bringing the total of donated submerged land to
55,795 ac. In 1983, KSC increased its holdings when the Florida East Coast (FEC)
Railway requested a buy-out of its property east of Titusville, including the Jay-Jay rail
yard. NASA acquired 185.1 ac as the result of this purchase.
Today, NASA KSC maintains operational control over 3800 acres, all located in Brevard
County (Figure 2). The major facilities are located within the Industrial Area (Photo 1.1),
the LC 39 Area (Photo 1.2), the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) Area (Photos 1.2 and
1.3), and the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) Area. The Industrial Area was developed to
support administrative/technical functions, and also to provide areas in which hazardous
payload processing operations could be performed. This area, which includes the
Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building, is located mostly east of Kennedy Parkway
South and south of NASA Parkway East. The LC 39 and VAB Areas were developed
primarily to support launch vehicle operations and related launch processing activities. It
contains the VAB, Launch Control Center (LCC), Orbiter Processing Facilities (OPF),
Launch Pads A and B, and other support facilities. The SLF Area is located west of
Kennedy Parkway North between Banana Creek to the south and Beach Road to the
north. This area contains the SLF Runway, the Mate-Demate Device (MDD), and landing
aids systems support facilities.
Photo 1.1. Aerial view of the KSC Industrial Area, 1975.
(Source: NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center, KSC-375C-0604.16)
October 2007
Archaeological Consultants, Inc.