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In January 1953, its namewas changed from the Long-Range Proving Ground to the Missile FiringLaboratory. In July 1960, it became part of NASA’s Marshall SpaceFlight Center’s Launch Operations Directorate. The directorate was disbanded in March 1962.The U.S. Congress approved the development of the strip of land onFlorida’s east coast called Cape Canaveral in 1961, shortly after PresidentJohn F. Kennedy announced plans to fly American astronauts to theMoon. In July 1962, the site was established as a separate NASA installation and renamed the Launch Operations Center.

NASA built theAtlantic Missile Range at Cape Canaveral, adjacent to the northern partof Merritt Island, where Kennedy Space Center was eventually located.Later, the Cape Canaveral peninsula became the Eastern Test Range, siteof the Mercury and Gemini launches. NASA began acquiring land acrossthe Banana River from Cape Canaveral in 1962.President Lyndon Johnson renamed the facility the John F. KennedySpace Center in November 1963, less than a week after the death ofPresident Kennedy.By 1967, Kennedy Space Center’s Complex 39 was operational. Thecomplex was strategically located next to a barge site and consisted of avariety of structures including a vehicle assembly building, processingfacilities, press site, crawlerways to Complex 39 launch pads, and theLaunch Control Center.Twelve Saturn V/Apollo missions were launched from Kennedybetween 1967 and 1972, and in 1973, the Skylab space station was**DB Chap 6(381-403)1/17/022:05 PMPage 397FACILITIES AND INSTALLATIONS397placed into a high circular orbit, followed by three-member crews aboardSaturns later that year.

The Saturn/Apollo era ended in 1975 with thelaunch of a Saturn IV/Apollo crew on a joint mission with the SovietUnion.In 1979, a three-mile-long Shuttle Landing Facility and an OrbiterProcessing Facility were built, and the Orbital Flight Test Program beganat Kennedy Space Center.

NASA launched the first Shuttle mission fromKennedy on April 12, 1981.MissionKennedy Space Center had primary responsibility for ground turnaround and support operations, prelaunch checkout, and launch of theSpace Shuttle and its payloads, including NASA’s eventual space station.The center’s responsibility also extended to the facilities and groundoperations at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California and designatedlanding sites.Langley Research CenterLocationLangley Research Center is located at Langley Field in Hampton,Virginia, approximately 241 kilometers southeast of Washington, D.C.DirectorRichard H.

Petersen (November 1984–December 2, 1991)Donald P. Hearth (September 1975–November 1984)Edgar M. Cortright (May 1968–September 1975)Floyd L. Thompson (May 1960–May 1968)Henry J.E. Reid (October 1958–May 1960)Deputy DirectorPaul F. Holloway (February 1985–October 14, 1991)Richard H. Petersen (July 1980–November 1984)Oran W. Nicks (November 1970–July 1980)Charles J. Donlan (November 1967–May 1968)HistoryIn 1916, the NACA selected a site near Hampton, Virginia, forLangley Field, its experimental air station. It was named after SamuelPierpont Langley, the third secretary of the Smithsonian Institution and anaeronautical pioneer.

Construction of the Langley Memorial AeronauticalLaboratory, the first national civil aeronautics laboratory began in 1917.**DB Chap 6(381-403)3981/17/022:05 PMPage 398NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOKUntil 1940, Langley was the only NACA laboratory. In 1948, the NACAchanged the laboratory’s name to the Langley Aeronautical Laboratory.When NASA was formed in 1958, it was renamed Langley ResearchCenter.In 1958, NASA selected Langley to manage Project Mercury, the firstU.S.

human spaceflight project. Heading the project was Langley’s SpaceTask Group, a group of NASA employees that led the original sevenastronauts through the initial phases of their spaceflight training. Thegroup later expanded and moved on to become the Manned SpacecraftCenter (later Johnson Space Center). Since 1959, Langley managed theScout launch vehicle program, a four-stage solid fuel satellite systemcapable of launching a 175-kilogram satellite into an 800-kilometer orbit.The first Scout launch took place in 1960.The center was also responsible for NASA’s Lunar Orbiter project inthe 1960s and the Viking project that orbited and landed spacecraft onMars in 1976.

In the late 1960s, environmental space science became amajor research thrust at Langley. Its goal was to preserve Earth’s ecological balance and prevent undesirable environmental conditions.In the early stages of the Space Shuttle program, Langley conductedthousands of hours of wind tunnel testing on the orbiter. The center alsowas responsible for optimizing the design of the Shuttle’s thermal protection system.Langley also investigated technologies necessary for the design andoperation of the space station.

The Long Duration Exposure Facility,launched from the Shuttle in 1984, was conceived, designed, and developed at Langley (see Chapter 3, “Aeronautics and Space Research andTechnology,” for a description of this project).In 1985, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated five Langleyfacilities as National Historic Landmarks: Variable-Density Tunnel (builtin 1921), Full-Scale Tunnel (1930), Eight-Foot High-Speed Tunnel(1935), Rendezvous Docking Simulator (1963), and Lunar LandingResearch Facility (1965).

Langley has also received five Robert J.Collier Trophies: in 1929 for the low-drag engine cowling, in 1946 forde-icing research, in 1947 for supersonic flight research, in 1951 for theslotted throat transonic wind tunnel, and in 1954 for the transonic arearule.MissionLangley Research Center’s primary mission was the research anddevelopment of advanced concepts and technology for future aircraft andspacecraft systems, with particular emphasis on environmental effects,performance, range, safety, and economy. Langley also had responsibility for systems analysis and independent evaluation and assessment ofNASA programs prior to the commitment of major development funding.The center was the NASA expert for airborne systems, aerodynamics,mission and systems analysis, and hypersonic technologies.**DB Chap 6(381-403)1/17/022:05 PMPage 399FACILITIES AND INSTALLATIONS399Lewis Research CenterLocationLewis Research Center is located approximately thirty-two kilometers southwest of Cleveland, Ohio, adjacent to the Cleveland HopkinsInternational Airport.

Additional facilities were located at Plum BrookStation, about five kilometers south of Sandusky, Ohio.DirectorJohn M. Klineberg (May 1987–July 1, 1990)John M. Klineberg, Acting (June 1986–May 1987)Andrew J. Stofan (July 1982–June 1986)John F. McCarthy (October 1978–July 1982)Bernard Lubarsky, Acting (August 1977–October 1978)Bruce T. Lundin (November 1969–August 1977)Abe Silverstein (November 1961–October 1969)Eugene J. Manganiello, Acting (January 1961–October 1961)Edward R.

Sharp (October 1958–December 1960)Deputy DirectorLawrence J. Ross (December 1987–July 1, 1990)John M. Klineberg (July 1979–May 1987)Bernard Lubarsky (1974–July 1979)Eugene J. Manganiello (December 1961–1972)HistoryIn 1940, the NACA selected Cleveland as the site of the new NACAaircraft engine research laboratory. Groundbreaking took place in 1941,and the NACA Aircraft Research Laboratory was officially dedicated in1943. During World War II, the laboratory concentrated on investigatingthe problems of aircraft reciprocating, or piston, engines. Lewis engineersalso contributed to solving engine cooling problems on the Super Fortress(B-29) bomber.

Before the end of the war, the turbojet engine began torevolutionize the field of aircraft propulsion. The Altitude Wind Tunnel,completed in 1944, contributed to the early testing of American-built jetengines and started the center on what would become its major focus: jetpropulsion studies.In 1948, the name of the laboratory was changed to NACA LewisFlight Propulsion Laboratory, in memory of George W. Lewis, theNACA’s director of research from 1924 to 1947.

The center broadened itsscope of research to include turbojet engines, ramjets, and rockets andconstructed new facilities, including two supersonic wind tunnels and thePropulsion Systems Laboratory.**DB Chap 6(381-403)1/17/024002:05 PMPage 400NASA HISTORICAL DATA BOOKThe center became one of the original NASA centers when theagency was established in 1958. The Centaur rocket was one of the mostimportant contributions Lewis made to the space program.During the energy crisis of the 1970s, Lewis worked with the U.S.Department of Energy to investigate wind and solar power and to improvethe fuel efficiency of automobile engines. Engineers also began work onthe advanced turboprop engine.