Debus, K. H.

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N 6 k  l 3 0 3  34 r. 
T H E  N A T I O N ’ S  FIRST S P A C E  PORT KURT H. DEBUS 
Director 
NASA John F. Kennedy Space Center 
The Nation’s first space port is now under construc- 
tion at the John F. Kennedy Space Center, NASA. 
Our chairman, Mr. Holmes, had much to do with this 
undertaking during his tour in NASA, and we are 
happy to acknowledge his truly fine support. This 
paper covers some of the unusual developments in the 
facilities and equipment areas as well as our manage- 
ment plans and some future considerations for which 
provision has been made in our planning and designs. 
To establish a frame of reference, it is necessary to 
go back to 1961, when NASA and the Department of 
Defense undertook a study to select a suitable location 
for the space port. Major General Leighton Davis 
represented the Department of Defense, and I repre- 
sented NASA. W e  surveyed eight possible sites, 
including Hawaii, Christmas Island, locations in 
Texas and Georgia (including offshore islands), and 
the Cape Kennedy area. 
Ais island base would offer distinct advantages but 
would also create serious problems in construction and 
logistics. Cape Kennedy offered the completely in- 
strumented Atlantic Missile Range, plus communities 
to house our people, and good transportation net- 
works. Further, there was available an undeveloped 
tract of lowland and swamp on northern Merritt 
Island, contiguous to the Cape, which would provide 
adequate room for building as well as the necessary 
buffer zones between the operational areas and the 
populated Florida mainland. 
General Davis and I, therefore, recommended ac- 
quisition of the Merritt Island site of approximately 
88,000 acres. NASA and the Department of Defense 
accepted the recommendation. In 1962 the Congress 
authorized NASA to acquire the property and has 
thus far authorized $74 million, of which we have 
committed $63 million to date. 
The Merritt Island location lies between the Cape 
FIGURE 1.-Merritt Island location. 
and the mainland (fig. 1). We  are building cause- 
ways to provide direct access from U.S. Highway 1 
to the NASA complex and the Cape. These arteries 
will be open to official traffic September 1 this year. 
W e  anticipate that they will become the principal 
means of access both to the Kennedy Space Center 
and to the Atlantic Missile Range. 
About 42 percent of the total area west of Highway 
A-1-A, which bisects Merritt Island, has been placed 
under control of the U.S. Bureau of Sports Fisheries 
5 1  
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19640020420 2020-03-11T17:13:27+00:00Z
52 @ 'PEACEFUL USES OF SPACE 
Fiscal year 
1962 _._._._____.__ 
1963 __.._.________ 
1964 ______..______ 
1965 ......_...____ 
and Wildlife for land management. This is subject 
to recall by NASA in the event of future need. 
Sportsmen will be interested in the fact that the 
Bureau has posted much of the tract as a wildlife 
refuge for the seasonal concentrations of waterfowl. 
We have also outleased some producing citrus groves, 
which will continue to play a part in the local 
economy. 
Having received authorization to acquire the land, 
and more than 92 miles of shoreline on the Banana 
and Indian Rivers and the Atlantic Ocean, we set to 
work on the master plan for site development. From 
this we derived the funding requirements reflected in 
the Space Authorization Acts of fiscal years 1963, 
Land acquisition Construction 
$57,750,000 .____________.__________ 
$27,750,000 $261,466,000 
_ . ._ ~ __ ______.__ $274,491,000 
_..________ ~ __. _____. $89,520,000 
(requested) 
, 
1964, and 1965. As the following tabulation indicates, 
we have reached the investment peak; and the de- 
mands on construction funds will taper off quickly in 
the next and subsequent years until we are required 
to accommodate vehicles much larger than Saturn V. 
FIGURE 2.-Merritt Island industrial and launch areas. 
THE NATION’S FIRST SPACE PORT 53 
Our planning focused on two major areas. One, 
in the southern portion of the site, is an industrial 
area directly west of Cape Kennedy across the Banana 
River (fig. 2). More than 50 structures are under 
construction. All the utilities and services expected 
of a municipality will be provided, such as a post 
office, fire and police stations, rail yard, heliport, and 
roads, and a communications center and dispensary 
which are already open and in business. 
The foundation of the Kennedy Space Center Head- 
quarters is being prepared (fig. 3). This will serve 
as the administrative center for the entire Merritt 
Island launch area. W e  expect to vacate our cramped 
quarters on Cape Kennedy next Spring and transfer 
into the new structure. 
Another large structure site in the industrial area 
will house the field office of the Manned Spacecraft 
Center (fig. 4). This is the Operations and Checkout 
Building, in which Gemini and Apollo spacecraft 
will be assembled and inspected prior to mating with 
their launch vehicles. Here, too, quarters will be 
provided for the astronauts who will live at the launch 
site for several weeks prior to flight. 
The first of the mission facilities will be ready for 
occupancy in June. This will be comprised of a group 
of buildings identified as the Fluid Test Complex (fig. 
S) ,  where MSC will first check out Gemini capsules. 
These structures are located along the eastern edge of 
the industrial area and will be used for preflight tests 
FIGURE 3.-Kennedy Space Center Headquarters. FIGURE 4 . 4 p e r a t i o n s  and Checkout Building. 
FIGURE >.-Fluid Test Complex 
54 PEACEFUL USES OF SPACE 
of life-support equipment and propulsion systems of 
Gemini and, later, the Apollo spacecraft. 
The Central Instrumentation Facility will be located 
next to the Kennedy Space Center Headquarters. It 
will function as the primary distribution point for 
data received from NASA and Atlantic Missile Range 
instrumentation during checkout and launch of heavy 
space vehicles from Complex 39. 
Mechanical engineering buildings, laboratories, and 
warehouses round out the industrial area complex. 
Seven miles north of the industrial area, construc- 
tion is in progress on Launch Complex 39 (fig. 6 ) .  
It involves an investment of nearly $450 million, 
which is without precedent in the category of U.S. 
launch facilities. But, then, so is the complex itself. 
The real distinction of Complex 39 is the operational 
concept which shaped its design. 
Conventionally, the stages of large space vehicles 
have been separately transported to the launch pads 
and assembled, using heavy service structures for this 
purpose. This means that the vehicle is fully exposed 
to weather and the corrosive effects of the beach 
atmosphere. This is true of the present Saturn I 
facilities, such as Complex 37, pictured in figure 7 .  
In effect, this constrains the launch preparations to a 
fixed facility and has the major disadvantage of 
concentrating prelaunch assembly and checkout opera- 
tions right on the pad. This not only denies any 
flexibility but ties up the entire launch complex for 
months in the case of man-rated vehicles. It also 
rules out any possibility of rapid and successive 
launches which should be anticipated in lunar missions 
or the resupply of orbiting space platforms. 
Complex 39 was designed, therefore, to eliminate 
these imposed conditions. For the first time, we will 
have a mobile facility. With the advent of Saturn V, 
we can assemble and prepare the entire machine for 
flight in a controlled environment, then transport it 
to the pad, fuel, and launch it in minimum time. 
FIGURE 6.-Launch Complex 39. 
~~~ 
THE NATION’S FIRST SPACE PORT 55 
FIGURE 7.-Complex 37. 
The assembly and checkout functions will be ac- 
complished in a hangar, instead of on an exposed 
service structure. It will be possible to move the 
entire vehicle, not just pieces of one, out of the way 
of such hazards as storms. Since the pad is not tied 
up, except for a relatively short period during the 
actual launch, we can schedule successive launches 
from the same facility. W e  will carry the service 
tower with the launch vehicle and transfer them as 
a package from hangar to pad, or vice versa if 
necessary. 
As is true in other facets of the Saturn program- 
such as manufacturing, testing, human engineering, 
and launch operations-the construction phase is also 
a first. It involves the construction of some very large 
structures and the fabrication and assembly, on site, 
of a crawler-transporter capable of moving the com- 
plete Saturn/Apollo configuration between assembly 
building and launch pad. 
The Vertical Assembly Building (VAB), in which 
the Saturn V/Apollo will be assembled and checked 
out, will be a smooth steel box of rather large propor- 
tions--710 feet long, 518 feet wide, and 552 feet 
high, which is a little higher than Florida’s palm 
trees. Much of the structural steel is already in place 
(fig. 8 and 9 ) .  The challenge which this structure 
posed to the architects and engineers of the design 
team has been very well stated by Max Urbahn, who 
headed this group: 
The VAB is not so much a building to house a moon 
vehicle as a machine to build a moon craft. The Launch 
Control Center that monitors and tests every component 
thr! goes into an Apo!lo vehic!e is not so much B building 
as an almost living brain. 
In the high bay area of the VAB (fig. lo) ,  beneath 
a ceiling 50 stories high, there will be multilevel 
- - .  
FICIIRE 8.-Vertica! Assembly Building. 
56 PEACEFUL USES OF SPACE 
FIGURE 9 . 4 n s t r u c t i o n  of Vertical Assembly Build- 
ing showing structural steel in place. 
platforms, each as large as a three-story house, 
suspended from the walls. These structures will 
enclose the Saturn V/Apollo and provide access to 
the entire vehicle at any height. The VAB will 
accommodate four complete vehicles simultaneously 
and thus facilitate a high-launch rate. Only two of 
the four bays will be equipped initially. 
The low bay area, although less imposing, is by 
any other measure a very large structure (fig. 11). 
Here the upper stages of the Saturn V/Apollo will be 
received and inspected before the 175-ton transfer 
aisle crane picks them up and moves them into the 
high bay for sequential assembly atop the booster. 
The entire building will be ready by early 1966. 
The Launch Control Center (fig. 12) is a semi- 
detached wing of the VAB that will house all systems 
required in checkout and launch operations. W e  
plan to employ digital data transmission techniques of 
data and quality. This Center will be located 3 miles 
from the launch pads; thus, there is no need for the 
conventional, bomb shelter-type construction. Instead, 
the launch team will enjoy a picture window view of 
pad work and the actual launching. 
The Launch Control Center will be connected with 
the vehicle through the launch umbilical tower (fig. 
13) on which it will be assembled within the VAB. 
The mobile LUT, as we call it, resembles a con- 
ventional launch pad; but it is much larger and, 
more significantly, it is movable. Its mobility is the 
key to the operation of Complex 39. The LUT has 
a supporting platform one-half acre in size and 25 
feet thick. Inside are 30 compartments on two levels, 
where much of the electrical and pneumatic equip- 
ment normally housed under the launch pad can be 
FIGURE 10.-High bay area of Vertical Assembly Building. 
~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~ ~~ 
THE NATION'S FIRST SPACE PORT 57 
FIGURE 11.-Low bay area of Vertical 
Assembly Building. 
FIGURE 12.-The Launch Control Center, a wing of 
Vertical Assembly Building. 
placed. Through the LUT's systems, the launch crew 
can supply pneumatic, electrical, and propellant feeds 
to the vehicle at various levels. 
When the vehicle is ready for transfer to the pad, 
the crawler-transporter (fig. 14) will come into use. 
This machine is really an oversized version of the 
heavy crawlers developed by the earth-moving in- 
dustry and often employed in strip mining. Its pro- 
portions are such that it could not be transported 
from point of manufacture to Merritt Island, so it is 
being brought to us in manageable pieces and as- 
sembled on site. It will weigh 5.5 million pounds 
when completed and can transport up to 1 2  million 
pounds. 
Several days before launch the crawler will pick up 
the LUT and the space vehicle (fig. 15) and move 
them to the pad. It will then reverse its course to- 
ward the VAB, traversing a specially prepared road- 
way some 8 feet thick, and transport the arming 
I 
I 
I 
FIGURE 13.-Launch umbilical tower (LUT) . 
FIGURE 14.-The crawler-transporter. 
~~ 
58 PEACEFUL USES OF SPACE 
-.a&- 
FIGURE 15.-Transfer of launch umbilical tower and 
vehicle by the crawler from the Vertical Assem- 
bly Building to the launch pad. 
tower (fig. 16) to the pad. This tower will be 340 
feet tall; it  will provide 360-degree access during 
the installation of sensitive or residual ordnance at 
stage junctions, and during fueling of the spacecraft. 
The arming tower will be withdrawn 7 hours prior 
to launch. 
As mentioned in connection with the crawler- 
transporter, much of the ground support equipment 
is being assembled at the space port. W e  have 
reached the phase in manned spaceflight where the 
facilities and equipment necessary for launch opera- 
tions are so large as to make it impractical to assemble 
them elsewhere. Thus, the first of the LUT's is also 
arriving in piecemeal fashion and is now in process 
of erection where the crawler is under assembly. 
The crawlerway is being graded in preparation for 
paving from the VAB area to the pads near the ocean 
beach. Good progress is being made in the entire 
construction project. The Army Engineers are super- 
vising the facilities construction for NASA. 
Similarly, in the less technical aspects of the 
Kennedy Space Center activities, we have placed in- 
creasing reliance on industry. In the past, the Air 
Force provided this kind of support through a base 
contractor at Cape Kennedy. The Merritt Island 
launch area is, however, an exclusive NASA respon- 
sibility. So we decided to divide the support func- 
tions into four areas: administration and maintenance, 
instrumentation, base operations, and launch support 
operations. 
FIGURE 16.-Arming tower. 
We  then selected firms specialized in the first three 
of these fields of activity and negotiated contracts 
with them with a basic value of from $1 million to 
$7 million for fiscal year 1965. The launch support 
operations contract has not yet been concluded. Each 
of the support contracts contains an incentive award 
provision, plus an option to extend it for 2 additional 
years, or a total of 3 years; in this way we hope to 
retain and preserve the experience gained by the 
con tractor. 
To put it briefly, the Merritt Island launch area can 
accommodate the next class of space boosters beyond 
THE NATION'S
Saturn V, perhaps of 25 to 40 million pounds thrust.
We have conducted studies of noise levels, explosive
safety distance requirements, and other factors; the
results indicate quite clearly that is is feasible to
launch such vehicles from the space port. We have
reserved a fairly large area north of Complex 39 for
more advanced facilities whenever the space program
may require them.
Looking farther down the road, and applying my
personal judgment as to the logical trends, the sequen-
tially staged vehicles may, with Saturn V, reach their
limits of height and slenderness ratio. Anything
beyond the Saturn V would present enormous prob-
lems of structural integrity. So I consider it likely
that the 25 to 40-million-pound-thrust boosters may
be much shorter and stubbier, much larger in diam-
eter, but designed for launching from the new space
port. When the future space program demands even
more Powerful boosters than those of the 40-million-
pound class, I believe we may have to go to sea to
FIRST SPACE PORT 59
assemble and launcl'Ithem from pads similar to the
Texas tower-type oil rigs.
NASA is investigating methods of transportation,
or resupply, between points on Earth and very large
spacecraft or space platforms. One concept would
employ sled-boosted, two-stage vehicles. The first
stage would be reusable, and its function would be
to carry the upper stage and payload beyond the
atmosphere. Then its astronaut pilot would fly that
first stage back to a jet airfield. The second stage, also
reusable, would transport passengers or freight to the
space station and be capable of reentry and operation
within the atmosphere to land at its operational base.
This concept seems to be the most promising area for
investigation. The big boosters, in my judgment,
would be useful only for launching very heavy mass
into space.
In any event, the learning curve is rising rapidly.
I firmly believe that this nation can and will do any-
thing which the people determine as the national
policy for the future exploration of the universe.


The nation's first space port

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