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Cape Canaveral

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Space transport

   Cape Canaveral from space, August 1991
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   Cape Canaveral from space, August 1991

   Cape Canaveral is a strip of land in Brevard County, Florida, United
   States, near the centre of that state's Atlantic coast at 28°33′21″N,
   80°36′17″W. It is part of a region known as the Space Coast, and is the
   site of the Kennedy Space Centre, and the Cape Canaveral Air Force
   Station. Many United States spacecraft are launched from either one of
   these sites; as a result, the term "Cape Canaveral" or "Canaveral" is
   used to refer to either location. It sits due east of Merritt Island,
   separated from it by the Banana River.

   Other features of the cape include Cape Canaveral lighthouse and Port
   Canaveral. The city of Cape Canaveral is a few miles south of the cape.

   The first rocket launch from the Cape was Bumper 8 from Launch Pad 3 on
   24 July 1950. On February 6, 1959 the first successful test firing of a
   Titan intercontinental ballistic missile was accomplished here. All
   manned U.S. government ( NASA) spaceflights have launched from Cape
   Canaveral.

   Cape Canaveral was chosen for rocket launches to take advantage of the
   earth's rotation. The centrifugal force of this rotation is greatest at
   the equator, and to take advantage of it, rockets are launched
   eastward, in the same direction of the earth's rotation. It is also
   highly desirable to have the downrange area sparsely populated, in case
   of accidents; an ocean is ideal for this. Although the United States
   has sites closer to the equator with expanses of ocean to the east of
   them (e.g. Hawaii, Puerto Rico), the east coast of Florida has
   substantial logistical advantages over these island locations.

Name changes

   From 1963 to 1973 it was called Cape Kennedy. President John F. Kennedy
   was an enthusiastic backer of the space program, and after his
   assassination in 1963, his widow Jacqueline Kennedy suggested to
   President Lyndon Johnson that renaming the Cape Canaveral facility
   would be an appropriate memorial. However, Johnson recommended the
   renaming not just of the facility, but of the entire cape. Accordingly,
   Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy.

   Although the name change was approved by the United States Board on
   Geographic Names of the Interior Department in 1964, it was not popular
   in Florida, especially in the city of Cape Canaveral, Florida. In 1973
   the state passed a law restoring the former 400-year-old name, and the
   Board went along. The Kennedy family issued a letter stating they
   "understood the decision"; Jacqueline Kennedy also stated if she had
   known that the Canaveral name had existed for 400 years, she never
   would have supported changing the name of the Cape. The Space Centre
   itself retains the "Kennedy" name.

   Some outsiders still refer to the geographical feature as "Cape
   Kennedy", though it's typically used in the context of its continuing
   status as America's Spaceport.

Name origin

   The name "Canaveral" (Cañaveral in Spanish) was given to the area by
   Spanish explorers, and it literally means " canebrake". It can be
   interpreted as "Cape of Canes".

Trivia

   In The Simpsons episode " Deep Space Homer", a fictitious sign shows
   its pre-Canaveral name as Cape Arbuckle.

   The "Cape Kennedy" name shows up in some 1960s TV shows, at least in
   episodes of "Flipper" and " I Dream of Jeannie".

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Canaveral"
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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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