This first comprehensive history of the Kennedy Space Center,
NASA's famous launch facility located at Cape Canaveral, Florida,
reveals the vital but largely unknown work that takes place before
the rocket is lit. Though the famous Vehicle Assembly Building and
launch pads dominate the flat Florida landscape at Cape Canaveral
and attract 1.5 million people each year to its visitor complex,
few members of the public are privy to what goes on there beyond
the final outcome of the flaring rocket as it lifts into space.
With unprecedented access to a wide variety of sources, including
the KSC archives, other NASA centers, the National Archives, and
individual and group interviews and collections, Lipartito and
Butler explore how the methods and technology for preparing,
testing, and launching spacecraft have evolved over the last 45
years. Their story includes the Mercury and Gemini missions, the
Apollo lunar program, the Space Shuttle, scientific missions and
robotic spacecraft, and the International Space Station, as well as
the tragic accidents of Challenger and Columbia. Throughout, the
authors reveal the unique culture of the people who work at KSC and
make Kennedy distinct from other parts of NASA.As Lipartito and
Butler show, big NASA projects, notably the Space Shuttle and the
International Space Station, had much to learn on the ground before
they made it to space. Long before a spacecraft started its ascent,
crucial work had been done, work that combined the muscular and
mundane with the high tech and applied the vital skills and
knowledge of the men and women of KSC to the design of vehicles and
missions. The authors challenge notions that successful innovation
was simply the result of good design alone and argue that, with
large technical systems, real world experience actually made the
difference between bold projects that failed and innovations that
stayed within budget and produced consistent results. The authors
pay particular attention to "operational knowledge" developed by
KSC--the insights that came from using and operating complex
technology. This work makes it abundantly clear that the processes
performed by ground operations are absolutely vital to success.
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