The Space Coast — Kennedy Space Center, rocket launches, and astronaut history
Titusville sits across the Banana River from Kennedy Space Center on Florida's Space Coast — the best place to watch rocket launches from public land. Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is one of America's most visited attractions, with the Saturn V rocket hall, Space Shuttle Atlantis pavilion, and bus tours to the actual launch pads. The Apollo/Saturn V Center features a fully restored 363-foot Saturn V rocket (the rocket that went to the Moon) displayed horizontally in a dedicated hall. SpaceX Falcon 9 launches from adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are frequent and visible from T…
Cape Canaveral has been America's primary rocket testing ground since 1949. The Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs all launched from here. Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins departed Earth from Launch Complex 39A on 16 July 1969 — landing on the Moon four days later. The Space Shuttle program flew 135 missions from Kennedy Space Center between 1981 and 2011. Atlantis, the final shuttle to fly, is displayed vertically in its pavilion with landing gear down, as if it just returned from orbit. The commercial spaceflight era has revived the Space Coast — SpaceX, Boeing, and Blue O…