KSC Headquarters Building

Last updated

Kennedy Space Center Headquarters
KSC new HQ building.jpg
The new KSC Headquarters Building as of April 2019
KSC Headquarters Building
Alternative namesCentral Campus Facility
General information
StatusCompleted
Type Office
Location John F. Kennedy Space Center industrial complex
Coordinates 28°31′27″N80°39′4″W / 28.52417°N 80.65111°W / 28.52417; -80.65111 Coordinates: 28°31′27″N80°39′4″W / 28.52417°N 80.65111°W / 28.52417; -80.65111
GroundbreakingOctober 10, 2014
CompletedApril 3, 2019
ManagementKennedy Space Center Operations Directorate
Height
Roof104 feet (32 m)
Top floor95 feet (29 m)
Technical details
Floor count8
Floor area200,017 square feet (18,582.2 m2)
Lifts/elevators6
Design and construction
ArchitectSteve Belflower, Kirk Hazen (HuntonBrady Architects of Orlando)
Main contractor NASA
Website
Official website

The Kennedy Space Center Headquarters Building is an eight-story office building that houses the administrative offices of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Constructed in April 2019, and also known as the Central Campus Facility, it incorporates the offices of the space center director, management staff, personnel, procurement and several hundred contractor and support workers. The building also houses the KSC Library, travel office, film and photo archives, photo processing shops, the Engineering Document Center, print shop, mail room, credit union and KSC security offices. [1] The new eight story building houses 200,000 sq (18,580 sq m) of floor space, filled with modern offices (designed to resemble the original decor in the former building) and its other facilities integrated into one roof, and has air conditioning and energy-efficient adjustable LED lighting installed throughout.

Contents

Background

As part of NASA's recent directives to expand and modernize the space center industrial complex to allow greater potential in the next space exploration programs, the Kennedy Space Center management office (including Robert D. Cabana) contracted Orlando-based architects and engineers to design and build a new headquarters building to replace the deteriorating current (now former) building adjascent to the site.

The center's Master Plan directrive spans a 20-year horizon and details the land uses, business policies and infrastructure needed for the center to remain the prime launch site for the rising industry of government and commercial providers. [2]

Original Building

Plaza view of the original building KSCheadquartersbuilding.jpg
Plaza view of the original building
Headquarters Building
Kennedy Space Center Headquarters.jpg
Aerial view of the original KSC Headquarters looking south
USA Florida location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location John F. Kennedy Space Center industrial complex
Nearest city Titusville, Florida
Built1965
Architect Charles Luckman
Architectural style International
MPS John F. Kennedy Space Center MPS
NRHP reference No. 99001644 [3]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 21, 2000
Removed from NRHPc. 2019

KSC headquarters used to reside in a former three-story six-winged concrete foam structure. It is located on 1 Street in the Industrial Area of KSC on Merritt Island, Florida, and was formally opened on May 26, 1965, and contained 439,446 square ft (40,824 square m) of floor space. [4]

The old building - which is over 50 years old, was vacated at the end of April 2019 (as employees moved into the new 8 story facility), and originally left partially occupied to allow the possibility of interior renovations. However sadly due to a combination of material decay, rising electrical power costs, unattended and empty areas, and the hazardous asbestos lining the entire walls, it was deemed too costly to renovate. This building is in the process of being demolished and has been abandoned by NASA as of January 2020.

Notes

  1. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/central_campus_bulding_fact_sheet.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  2. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/KSC-central-campus.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. HQ Building http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/hq.html


Related Research Articles

Kennedy Space Center United States space launch site in Florida

The John F. Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of human spaceflight. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS). The management of the two entities work very closely together, share resources and operate facilities on each other's property.

Vehicle Assembly Building Spacecraft assembly building operated by NASA at the Kennedy Space Center

The Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, is a large building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC), designed to assemble large pre-manufactured space vehicle components, such as the massive Saturn V and the Space Shuttle, and stack them vertically onto one of three mobile launcher platforms used by NASA. As of March 2022, the first Space Launch System (SLS) rocket was assembled inside in preparation for the Artemis 1 mission.

University of Houston–Clear Lake Public university

The University of Houston–Clear Lake (UHCL) is a public university in Pasadena and Houston, Texas, with branch campuses in Pearland and Texas Medical Center. It is part of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1971, UHCL had an enrollment of more than 9,000 students for fall 2019.

Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 Historic Apollo Moonport

Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built as the Apollo program's "Moonport" and later modified for the Space Shuttle program.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Science museum on Merritt Island, Florida

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is the visitor center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida. It features exhibits and displays, historic spacecraft and memorabilia, shows, two IMAX theaters, and a range of bus tours of the spaceport. The "Space Shuttle Atlantis" exhibit contains the Atlantis orbiter and the Shuttle Launch Experience, a simulated ride into space. The center also provides astronaut training experiences, including a multi-axial chair and Mars Base simulator. The visitor complex also has daily presentations from a veteran NASA astronaut. A bus tour, included with admission, encompasses the separate Apollo/Saturn V Center. There were 1.7 million visitors to the visitor complex in 2016.

Launch Control Center United States historic place

The Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center is a four-story building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, used to manage launches of launch vehicles from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39. Attached to the southeast corner of the Vehicle Assembly Building, the LCC contains offices; telemetry, tracking, and instrumentation equipment; and firing rooms.

Launch Complex 39 Press Site United States historic place

The Launch Complex 39 Press Site is a news media facility at Launch Complex 39 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Merritt Island, Florida where journalists have observed every U.S. crewed space launch since Apollo 8 in 1968. The site is just south of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB); 3 miles (4.8 km) west-southwest of Pad A, and 3.4 miles (5.4 km) southwest of Pad B.

Central Instrumentation Facility United States historic place

The Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF) was a building in the Kennedy Space Center industrial area that functioned as the core of instrumentation and data processing operations during the Apollo program and the early years of the Space Shuttle program. It centralized the handling of the center's data including offices, laboratories and test stations; and housed general instrumentation activities serving more than one launch complex. The CIF also included the Central Timing Facility, where a precision clock drove countdown clocks and other timing devices at KSC that required a high degree of accuracy.

Operations and Checkout Building Historic American spaceflight facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida

The Neil Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) is a historic building on Merritt Island, Florida, United States. The five-story structure is in the Industrial Area of NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Its has twin-block facilities that include the crew quarter dormitories for astronauts, suit-up preparations prior to their flights, and the other is a large spacecraft workshop used for manufacturing and checking activities on crewed spacecraft. On January 21, 2000, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

Space Station Processing Facility Building used for making ISS components

The Space Station Processing Facility (SSPF) is a three-story industrial building at Kennedy Space Center for the manufacture and processing of flight hardware, modules, structural components and solar arrays of the International Space Station, and future space stations and commercial spacecraft. It was built in 1992 at the space complex's industrial area, just east of the Operations and Checkout Building.

Founded in 1969, ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, Inc. is a national architectural design firm, located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, that specializes in Science/R&D, biotechnology, educational, athletic and corporate facilities. With an emphasis on innovative and sustainable design, ARC has garnered more than 70 awards from a wide range of professional organizations and publications.

Boston Government Service Center Government complex in Boston, Massachusetts

The Boston Government Service Center (BGSC) is a state government complex in the West End of Boston, Massachusetts. The center was designed in the Brutalist style, led by architect Paul Rudolph. It is one of the major components of the Government Center complex in Downtown Boston. The complex is made up of two connected Brutalist buildings: the Charles F. Hurley Building and the Erich Lindemann Building, as well as a courtyard; sometimes included is the newer, 1998-built, Edward W. Brooke Courthouse.

HLW International

HLW is a design, architecture and planning firm headquartered in New York, NY, with offices in Madison, NJ, Los Angeles, CA, Stamford, CT, London and Shanghai. HLW is one of the oldest design firms in the United States, tracing its beginnings to 1885.

Launch Services Program

Launch Services Program (LSP) is responsible for NASA oversight of launch operations and countdown management, providing added quality and mission assurance in lieu of the requirement for the launch service provider to obtain a commercial launch license. It operates under the Human Exploration and Operations (HEO) Mission Directorate of NASA.

Central Library (Brooklyn Public Library) Central branch of Brooklyn Public Library and historic library building in Brooklyn, New York

The Central Library is the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, located at Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway on Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York City. It contains over a million cataloged books, magazines, and multimedia materials. Each year, over one million people visit the library. The building is a designated New York City landmark.

Exploration Park is a partnership formed in 2011 between NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Space Florida. There are 299 Acres on KSC property, but outside the NASA badge controlled area.

The Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program is one of three NASA programs based at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. EGS was established to develop and operate the systems and facilities necessary to process and launch rockets and spacecraft during assembly, transport and launch. EGS is preparing the infrastructure to support NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and its payloads, such as the Orion spacecraft for Artemis 1. Artemis 1 is the first in a series of increasingly complex missions that will enable human exploration to the Moon and Mars.

Manufacturing of the International Space Station Fabrication of the ISS elements

The project to create the International Space Station required the utilization and/or construction of new and existing manufacturing facilities around the world, mostly in the United States and Europe. The agencies overseeing the manufacturing involved NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, JAXA, and the Canadian Space Agency. Hundreds of contractors working for the five space agencies were assigned the task of fabricating the modules, trusses, experiments and other hardware elements for the station.

77 North Front Street City office building in Columbus, Ohio

77 North Front Street is a municipal office building of Columbus, Ohio, in the city's downtown Civic Center. The building, originally built as the Central Police Station in 1930, operated in that function until 1991. After about two decades of vacancy, the structure was renovated for city agency use in 2011.