CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA’s Kennedy Space Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary by opening its gates for virtual tours through a partnership with Google Maps.

The launch pads that sent Americans to the moon, probes to distant planets and space shuttles into Earth orbit are just a few clicks away through Google’s largest special collection of Street View imagery to date, totaling 6,000 panoramic images of Kennedy.

Google Maps with Street View lets you explore Kennedy’s facilities, roads and structures through 360-degree street-level imagery that includes the Apollo/Saturn V Center, Space Shuttle Main Engine shop, Orbiter Processing Facility-3, the Launch Control Center, the Space Station Processing Facility and the center’s iconic Vehicle Assembly Building.

Users may go directly to Google Maps, search for “NASA Shuttle Landing Facility,” and drag the orange “pegman” icon on the left-hand side to an area outlined in blue. From there, users can navigate around the area by moving up and down pathways and looking around in 360 degrees. The entire collection of images also is available in the Google Street View gallery:

http://www.google.com/streetview

The Street View feature in Google Maps enables users to see Kennedy as it transitions to the multipurpose launch complex of the future, revamping existing infrastructure and facilities to provide the flexibility to host a variety of commercial and government spacecraft, rockets and other craft.

View the debut video at:

http://go.nasa.gov/NLqiSU

NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, which is based at Kennedy, is spurring the innovation and development of commercial spacecraft and launch vehicles to transport our astronauts to and from low Earth orbit and the International Space Station. Kennedy will be the starting point for NASA’s Orion crew capsule and Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, which will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. NASA’s Launch Services Program is preparing for at least 25 missions to various destinations across our solar system, including Mars, Pluto and our sun.

For more information about Kennedy’s 50th anniversary, visit:

http://go.nasa.gov/y0VdRi

For more information about Kennedy, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/kennedy