NASA Giving Kennedy Space Center Visitors Up-Close Access to Launch Pad for the First Time

For the first time in the 50-year history of Kennedy Space Center, NASA on Friday will begin allowing public visitors to tour one of the launch pads from which the space shuttles and Apollo Saturn V moon rockets were launched.

The KSC Up-Close: Launch Pad Tour, the latest to open of three special Kennedy Space Center 50th anniversary rare-access tours, takes visitors from Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex inside the highly secure Launch Complex 39.

Guided by a knowledgeable space expert, visitors will travel nearly a quarter-mile inside the perimeter security fence to Launch Pad 39-A, from which a majority of space shuttles and all six Apollo missions that landed on the moon were launched. Near the launch pad, visitors will exit the tour bus for photo opportunities, including close views of the 350-foot-high fixed service structure, rotating service structure, propellant storage containers, water tanks that feed the noise suppression system, flame trench and other aspects of the launch pad complex.

“Visitors will travel the same route as astronauts to the launch pad, so they can imagine being an astronaut,” said Bill Moore, chief operating officer of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. “You’re going to be close to where history has been made and will be made in the future with new programs currently under development for space exploration.” “The launch pad is the last place that I was on Earth before reaching the heavens,” said former space shuttle astronaut Jon McBride. “You can walk in my shoes.”

The tour then drives by for views of Launch Pad 39-B, site of launches for the Saturn 1B/Skylab missions and of many space shuttle launches. It is now being modernized for launching NASA’s new Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket for future missions to carry astronauts in the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle into deep space. NASA is also preparing Kennedy Space Center to accommodate commercial spacecraft and launch vehicles.

The Launch Pad Tour will run through the end of 2012 with a limited number of daily tours. NASA and the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex previously opened two other behind-the-scenes tours scheduled to run through year’s end.

One tour, launched in June, takes visitors inside NASA’s Launch Control Center (LCC), where directors and engineers supervised all space shuttle and Apollo missions and will oversee future space missions.

The other tour, which began in November, takes visitors inside the 525-foot-tall Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB), the massive building in which the Apollo Saturn V rockets and space shuttles were assembled. The shuttle Atlantis can currently be seen in the VAB, with guests having a good chance of getting an up-close view of a space shuttle through October.

Visitors have not had access inside the VAB or LCC since the 1970s, during the period after the Apollo and Skylab programs ended and before the first space shuttle launch in 1981.

“These are all very rare opportunities that NASA has worked with us to provide to our visitors from Florida, across the United States and overseas,” Moore said. “With exciting new space exploration programs coming to Kennedy Space Center, we may never have access to such historic places like this again.”

The Launch Pad Tour also includes drive-by views of the VAB, the mobile launch platform and one of the crawler transporters that was used to move Apollo rockets and shuttles to the launch pads and is now being updated to move the Space Launch System rocket. The tour culminates at the Apollo/Saturn V Center. Price is $25 for adults and $19 for children ages 3-11 plus tax, in addition to general admission price.

In celebration of Kennedy Space Center’s 50th anniversary, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is offering two special offers with a savings up to 30 percent on admission, food and merchandise, as well as secure access to view rocket launches. Details of Kennedy Space Center’s 50th Gold Admission Package and $50 Annual Pass are available at http://kennedyspacecenter.com/annual-pass-offer.aspx.

From the earliest days of America’s storied space program, Kennedy Space Center has captured the world’s attention and fed its imagination as the epicenter of mankind’s greatest adventure. Its remarkable collection of rockets, launch pads, NASA aerospace technology components and rocket launch viewing opportunities offer authenticity and access unlike any other Central Florida destination.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex features many attractions and year-round interactive programs, including meeting real astronauts. The standard bus tour, included with admission, explores the history of the Apollo moon and space shuttle programs with panoramic views of launch pads and the VAB’s exterior and stops at the LC-39 Observation Gantry and the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where visitors see a fully restored, 363-foot Saturn V moon rocket and relive the historic Apollo missions that saw man land on the moon. Other Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex attractions and activities include Shuttle Launch Experience, an incredible simulated journey of vertically launching into space and orbiting Earth aboard the space shuttle, as well as the Astronaut Training Experience (R) (ATX(R)), Rocket Garden, two IMAX(R) theaters, Astronaut Encounter, Lunch With an Astronaut, U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame(R), Exploration Space: Explorers Wanted, and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.

In addition, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the future home of the space shuttle Atlantis, with a multimillion-dollar exhibit scheduled to open in July 2013.

About Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex opens daily at 9 a.m. Closing times vary by season. Admission includes the Kennedy Space Center Tour, Shuttle Launch Experience, 3D IMAX(R) space films, Astronaut Encounter, Exploration Space: Explorers Wanted and all exhibits. Admission also includes the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame(R), featuring historic spacecraft and the world’s largest collection of personal astronaut memorabilia, open from noon until 6:00 p.m. daily. Parking, wheelchairs, strollers and pet kennels are free of charge. Admission is $45 + tax for adults and $35 + tax for children ages 3-11. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Commander’s Club Annual Pass is $58 + tax for adults and $48 + tax for children ages 3-11. For more information, call 877-313-2610 or visit www.KennedySpaceCenter.com.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is operated by Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts at KSC Inc., a division of Delaware North Companies, one of the world’s leading hospitality and food service providers. For more information, visit www.DelawareNorth.com.