NASA will hold a briefing at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at 9 a.m. Friday, July 8, on the restricted airspace over East Central Florida for the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery. Immediately following the briefing at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), there will be a dedication ceremony for the new NASA Air Traffic Control Tower at KSC.
The briefing will take place in the SLF’s new media facilities, which were built for the Return to Flight mission, known as STS-114, and the landing of Shuttle Discovery. The facilities are co-located with the new control tower. The dedication and ribbon cutting will be held at the base of the tower and media will then be given an inside tour.
The structure rises 110 feet over the midpoint of the runway and offers air traffic controllers a magnificent 360-degree view of Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and north Brevard County. It replaces the small, portable tower installed at the edge of the runway in 1986. The new control tower will manage all landings and departures from the SLF, including air traffic within the Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral restricted airspace.
The facility includes a 24-hour weather-observing facility providing official hourly weather observations for the SLF and the Cape Canaveral vicinity, including special observations for all launches and landings. State-of-the-art, weather-observing equipment has been installed for Space Shuttle landings and for serving conventional aircraft landing at the SLF. At this location, weather observers will have a multi-directional view of the weather conditions at the runway and Launch Complex 39.
Tower personnel can also control all SLF runway ground traffic, runway lighting, navigational aids and gate access, and monitor current runway weather conditions. The new SLF Media Operations Facility for press operations and invited guest activities is located on the ground level of the new tower facility.
Media wishing to attend these events should be at the NASA News Center at KSC at 9 a.m. to be transported by bus to the SLF. Mission STS-114 media badges will be in effect. The event is expected to conclude at approximately 11 a.m.
