We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Can you tell me why they changed the name of the U. Kennedy Space Center. Jackie Kennedy suggested it might be appropriate to rename Cape Canaveral — after all, her husband had been a big space-exploration buff, and had launched the Apollo program that would eventually put a man on the moon.
LBJ, however, was never one for halfway measures. Nobody objected to renaming the space center, but quite a number of Floridians were peeved about changing the name of the cape, which had been called Canaveral for more than years. It had been sighted by Ponce de Leon in , was named by other Spaniards not long after that, and appears as Cape Canaveral on the earliest French and Spanish maps of the area.
Nonetheless, state historical groups and others persevered in their efforts to get the old name back, and eventually a resolution to that effect was introduced in the U.
The first of these was the Saturn I, which was designed in a number of configurations to meet manned and unmanned NASA applications. The former could accommodate a maximum of four Saturn I launches per year, while Launch Complex 37 could accommodate a maximum of eight Saturn I launches per year. It was clear that if NASA required Saturn-type launches per year, or even 20 Saturn-type launches per year as mentioned in more conservative forecasts, more land than was available on Cape Canaveral would be needed.
NASA also envisioned larger and larger rockets for introduction in the future. These rockets could not be serviced in the relative confines of geographic Cape Canaveral. By early , NASA developed and refined a mobile launch concept, whereby a central processing area would service multiple launch pads.
This would make launch processing more efficient, decrease the time a rocket spent at the launch pad and decrease the amount of land required for each individual launch area. Initial mobile launch concepts called for a vertical transfer of the rocket from a central assembly area to the launch pad by barge or train.
In April, the NASA Future Launch Systems Office issued a report recommending that the assembly area and transfer method be designed specifically for the rocket being used. A design for the specific technical criteria for the next Saturn-type launch complex, designated Launch Complex 39, was scheduled to be decided upon not later than January, A decision was made to design the launch complex to be technically compatible with whatever program NASA would be supporting, even if this proved to be substantially more expensive than existing launch complexes.
Hence, the design of a new launch complex would have to wait until a specific program was adopted. There were three basic methods proposed, each of which would require different launch concepts. The first would employ one huge rocket called Nova, which would send the astronauts on a direct ascent to the Moon. The second called for the launch of multiple Saturn-type rockets followed by an Earth-orbit rendezvous, then a trip to the Moon.
The third called for the launch of multiple Saturn-type rockets followed by lunar-orbit rendezvous. An announcement by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, that the U. The Nova super booster plan was rejected early, because it could not have been accomplished until after at the earliest. Either of the two multiple Saturn-type rocket launching methods would be better, but would still require the construction of a large, new launch site.
By July, the basic technical requirements of the launch site were decided. These requirements included:. Vertical assembly and checkout of the rocket on a mobile launcher umbilical tower housed in an environmentally controlled building,.
Transfer of the assembled rocket and mobile launcher to the launch pad for final checkout, fueling and launch,. Control of launch operations from a remote launch control center with two firing rooms, one for checkout and one for launch,.
A railroad type transfer system of the rocket to the launch pad was initially considered most feasible, but transfer by barge or even roadway were also retained as viable options. The Air Force wanted to reserve that land to allow expansion of Air Force rocket programs.
This forced NASA to review the following possible launch sites:. The name Cape Canaveral was officially restored on October 9, Despite the restoration of the original name, the Space Center in the cape is still referred to as Kennedy. The cape was known as Cape Kennedy between and He named the cape by executive order after President John F. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November He had planned on landing on the moon.
His widow, Jacqueline Kennedy, thought it was appropriate for the cape to be renamed from Cape Canaveral to Cape Kennedy. She suggested the idea to President Lyndon.
They thought the renaming would serve as an excellent memorial for the late President Kennedy. After the official announcement of the change of name, the U. Despite the approval, the new name did not get much popularity.
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