One of the NASA's ten field centers including the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex offering public tours of the center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station
General Information
Unavailable Attractions:
For guests health and safety, the following attractions are unavailable:
The full Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour
Astronaut Appearances
Adult (age 12+): $57.00
Child (age 3-11): $47.00 Multiday Admission
Adult (age 12+): $82.00
Child (age 3-11): $67.00
Merritt Island, FL 32953
How to Get There
From Orlando (52 miles): Get on FL-408 E. Continue on FL-408 E. Take FL-417 Toll S and FL-528 E to FL-407 N/Challenger Memorial Pkwy in Brevard County. Take exit 37 from FL-528 E. Continue on FL-407 N/Challenger Memorial Pkwy to destination.
Kennedy Space Center, on Merritt Island about an hour from Orlando, has been NASA's primary human-spaceflight launch site since the late 1960s — Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle missions all flew from its Launch Complex 39. It's still an active, working spaceport next door to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, but almost everything visitors see is at the public Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, which draws well over a million visitors a year.
Because so much of the surrounding land is restricted and undeveloped, the site doubles as a wildlife sanctuary bordered by Mosquito Lagoon, the Indian River, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, and Canaveral National Seashore.
Things to Do
Space Shuttle Atlantis
The centerpiece exhibit: the retired orbiter Atlantis, displayed at a 43-degree angle with its payload bay doors open — a view once reserved for astronauts. The building also houses the Shuttle Launch Experience simulator, a life-size Hubble replica, and "Forever Remembered," a memorial to the astronauts lost aboard Challenger and Columbia.
Apollo/Saturn V Center
Reachable only by the included bus tour, this hangar-sized building is built around a full restored Saturn V rocket displayed horizontally, alongside an Apollo command module, a Moon rock visitors can touch, and two immersive theaters recreating the Apollo 8 launch and Apollo 11 landing.
Rocket Garden
A walk-through outdoor collection of historic rockets that actually launched astronauts and satellites from the Cape — including Mercury-Redstone, Titan II, and a Saturn IB — plus climb-in capsule mock-ups from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs.
Heroes & Legends / U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame
Traces the story of America's first astronauts through personal artifacts, including Gus Grissom's 1961 flight suit and the Gemini 9A capsule, and houses the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Bus Tour & Space Mirror Memorial
Admission includes a bus tour past Launch Complex 39 and the Vehicle Assembly Building. On the grounds, the Space Mirror Memorial — a black granite wall engraved with the names of astronauts who died in the line of duty — is a quieter stop worth a pause.
Journey to Mars & IMAX
Rounding out the complex are the Mars-focused "Journey to Mars: Explorers Wanted" exhibit, the NASA Now gallery of current spacecraft, and two IMAX theaters, plus Planet Play, a play structure for younger kids.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles "Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex" and "Kennedy Space Center", which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
