In 1958, NASA became an important part of Cape Canaveral life. The Air Force, at that time the main inhabitants of this remote place, provided NASA with launch pads, rockets and other equipment necessary for conducting space flights. And this was of the utmost importance, since the Air Force's rockets were an essential part of the new space program being run by NASA. For example, NASA's first Pioneer missions to the Moon were carried out by air force (and sometimes ground force) rockets. These were such rockets as "Tor-Able", "Delta" and "Juno-2". When NASA developed the human spaceflight program, for Project Mercury and Gemini, it relied on versions of the Air Force's military Redstone and Atlas ICBMs and the Titan 2. Under the Mercury project, orbital flights (using the Atlas) and all flights under the Gemini project (Titan-2) were carried out from the legendary "ICBR garden". However, in the wake of Kennedy's plan to send Americans to the moon, NASA increasingly needed its own separate launch facilities, which vastly outnumbered those at Cape Canaveral.

The advent of NASA has dramatically increased the tremendous economic benefits derived from space and rocket programs by all communities located in the Cape Canaveral area. This process has been felt since the launch of military missile programs. Back in the middle of the summer of 1957, the magazine Time quoted a local as saying about the prosperity of their area: “We all have rocket fever here,” said the manager of the Starlight Motel, located in Cocoa Beach, near Cape Canaveral. “Everything is concentrated on the cape ... This is the land where, probably, all highways are blocked in order for the formidable cargo packed in a tarp to be delivered to a fenced-off secret area located outside the gate.” The article noted that the population of Brevard County, in which the test site is located, increased in just seven years from 23,000 to 70,000 people in 1957. Land values ​​have risen by 500%, and cities such as Melbourne, Titusville and Cocoa Beach are unlikely to stop growing.

By July 1969, as Apollo 11 was preparing for the first manned moon landing, the population of Brevard County had grown to an astounding 250,000, including 35,000 engineers and technicians. But the good times can't go on forever. Already a year after the flight of Apollo 11, and long before the last flight to the moon in December 1972, NASA chief Thomas Paine declared publicly about his agency: "We are on the brink of disaster." He referred to NASA's drastic budget cuts, the effects of which were reflected not only in NASA's equipment and flights. The cities that mushroomed around the Cape during its heyday have been hit hard by the decline in NASA activity and contraction costs. Soon empty, boarded-up houses, closed businesses, and technicians looking for work began to appear. Resume writing has become one of the most lucrative jobs in the area.

But in March 1965, the place received a significant boost to prosperity. By this time it had been renamed Cape Kennedy. In November 1963, only days after the assassination attempt on President Kennedy, President Johnson issued an executive order renaming Cape Canaveral and NASA's spaceport in honor of the assassinated president. The NASA test site became known as the Kennedy Space Center. The Air Force has renamed its Canaveral Missile Range Kennedy Military Airport. However, in 1973, in response to public opinion in Florida, the cape's original historical name was reverted, although the space center retains the Kennedy name. Air Force training grounds were renamed Cape Canaveral Military Airfields. In March 1965, the future of the Cape Range was taking shape on Merit Island at NASA's Kennedy Space Flight Center, opposite the huge Air Force missile range on the other side of the Banana River.

Taking full responsibility for the Apollo project, NASA took about 45,000 hectares of land on Merit Island to build assembly hangars and launch sites for Saturn V rockets intended for flights to the moon. On a grand scale, NASA began to engage in entrepreneurship itself. A 1965 magazine article noted: “Beyond the Banana River, NASA is building new test sites ... their technical characteristics are amazing. For example, the vertical assembly building for rockets is 168 meters long and will have four rocket boxes behind the tallest doors in the world. The interior space exceeds the size of the Cheops pyramid or the Pentagon and the demonstration and shopping complex in Chicago combined. Passing with delight, the author of the article lists various aspects of the assembly and movement of the Saturn V to the launch pad, including the world's largest wipers on the cab of the tracked transporter, which will deliver its massive cargo along "a special road for moving rockets to the launch pad, width this road will be the same as the highway in New Jersey, and almost 2.5 m thick to support 8000 tons of the total weight of the transporter and its load.

A whole network of additional test sites was connected to Cape Kennedy. NASA chief Jim Webb has created a new Manned Space Flight Center in Houston, Texas. In 1973, this important component of NASA's manned space program was renamed the Lyndon Johnson Space Center. The new space test site was responsible for all manned space flights, for the training of astronauts and for further constructive improvement of spacecraft for manned flights. Beginning with the Gemini flight, the Manned Space Flight Center has been in charge of managing all manned flights since the vehicle's successful launch.

The Kennedy Space Center has evolved over the years as the US space program has included more and more new flights and priority destinations. At NASA's Merit Island test site, the Space Shuttle Assembly Facility is assembling its final flights to complete the construction of the International Space Station. NASA also continues to launch a wide variety of unmanned science satellites. A Mars landing was planned for 2007, with the aim of finding water on the Red Planet, launching a satellite to study the highest clouds in the Earth's atmosphere, and launching several other space science stations. For its unmanned space missions, NASA uses launch pads it has "borrowed" from the Air Force. Cape Canaveral Airport launch pads are also used for space launches of commercial communications satellites and other types of satellites, including military ones. Compared to the intense operation of the complex during the Cold War, when military aircraft were constantly tested on the cape, every year there are fewer such launches.

When viewed together, American and Russian space cities are a striking sight and create a sense of triumph: they are the gateway to space. They are separate starting points, both for robotic and manned spacecraft, which continue to shape our understanding of the universe, even if only because they have advanced science and technology. These spaceports, although they originated in two radically different political systems in the context of the Cold War, have become legendary. And they carry a fundamental similarity in their architecture and purpose. Together they reflect the human desire for exploration.

Launch pad 39A.

Cape Canaveral Air Force Base ( Cape Canaveral Air Force Station ) (CCAFS) is a US military base, a division of the US Air Force Space Command ( Air Force Space Command), 45th Space Squadron ( 45th Space Wing). Headquarters - Patrick AFB, Florida ( Patrick Air Force Base).

Located at Cape Canaveral, Florida, the base is the main launch site for the Eastern Missile Range ( Eastern Range) with four currently active launch pads. The facilities are south-southeast of NASA's Kennedy Space Center on adjacent Merritt Island, with two connected bridges and dams. The airport Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Skid Strip has a 10,000-foot (3,048 km) runway near launch sites for air delivery of heavy and oversized payloads.

The shuttles only launched from launch pads LC-39, which are located on nearby Merritt Island at the Kennedy Space Center and do not belong organizationally to Cape Canaveral Air Force Base. In the media in this situation, Cape Canaveral is referred to as a metonym. The military base began as a Joint Long Range Range ( ).

space launches

Several major American space explorations were first undertaken from Cape Canaveral, including:

• The first American Explorer 1 in 1958;
• First American astronaut on the Mercury 3 program ( Mercury Redstone 3) in 1961;
• The first orbital flight of a US astronaut under the program "Mercury-6" ( Mercury Atlas 6) in 1962;
• The first American crew of two Gemini 3 in 1964;
• The first American to make a soft landing on the surface of the "Surveyor-1";
• The first American crew of three on Apollo 7 in 1968;
• Automatic interplanetary stations for research in 1962-1977.
• First probe to orbit Mariner 9 in 1971;
• The first under the Mars Pathfinder program in 1996.

Story

The base area has been used by the US government since 1949, when President Harry Truman founded the Joint Long Range Range ( Joint Long Range Proving Ground) at Cape Canaveral for testing. The location of the site was one of the most suitable in the United States for this purpose, since it allowed missiles to be launched across the Atlantic Ocean. Since the test site was closer to the equator than much of the United States, this allowed the rockets to reach higher speeds due to rotation.

On June 1, 1948, the US Navy transferred the former Banana River Naval Station ( Naval Air Station Banana River) to the US Air Force. The base was renamed from Joint Long Range Proving Ground (JLRPG) on 10 June 1949. On October 1, 1949, the Joint Long Range Proving Ground was transferred from the Aircraft Command ( Air Force Materiel Command) to the Air Force Joint Long Range Proving Ground. The base was renamed Long Range Proving Ground on 17 May 1950 and Patrick AFB three months later ( Patrick Air Force Base) in honor of Major General Mason Patrick ( Mason Patrick). In 1951, the US Air Force established a missile test center Eastern Test Range.

Early American suborbital rocket launches have been carried out from Cape Canaveral since 1956.

These flights were made shortly after some suborbital flights on White Sands Missile Range, for example, “Viking-11” ( Viking 11) May 24, 1954

Following the successful launch of Sputnik 1 in the USSR, the United States made an unsuccessful attempt on December 6, 1957 for its first launch of an artificial satellite from Cape Canaveral - the Vanguard TV3 launch vehicle ( Vanguard TV3) exploded on the launch pad.

NASA was founded in 1958 and the Air Force launched rockets for NASA from Cape Canaveral. All Redstone Missiles ( Redstone), “Jupiter” ( PGM-19 Jupiter), “Pershing-1A” ( MGM-31 Pershing), “Polaris” ( Polaris), “Thor” ( Thor), (Atlas), “Titan” ( Titan) and “Minuteman” ( LGM-30 Minuteman) were tested from this site. The Tor rocket became the basis for the launch vehicle ( Delta), with which the Telstar satellite was launched ( Telstar 1) in July 1962.

A number of sites for launching rockets "Titan" ( Titan) (LC-15, LC-16, LC-19, LC-20) and “Atlas” ( Atlas) (LC-11, LC-12, LC-13, LC-14) became known as "Rocket Row" ( missile row) in the 1960s.

NASA's early Mercury and Gemini manned launches were carried out by the US Air Force from launch pads at Cape Canaveral. LC-5, LC-14 and LC-19.

The Air Force decided to expand the capabilities of the Titan launch vehicles to be able to lift heavy loads. Air Force built launch complexes LC-40 and LC-41 to launch Titan-3 missiles ( Titan III) and “Titan-4” ( Titan IV) south of the Kennedy Space Center. "Titan-3" has approximately the same carrying capacity as "Saturn-1B" ( Saturn IB), with significant cost savings. Launch complexes LC-40 and LC-41 were used to launch military intelligence, communications and meteorological satellites and NASA planetary missions. The Air Force also planned to launch two manned space projects from pads LC-40 and LC-41. These are manned orbital rocket planes "Daina-Sor" ( X-20 Dyna Soar) (program canceled in 1963) and manned orbital laboratory ( Manned Orbital Laboratory, MOL) US Air Force - manned reconnaissance (program canceled in 1969).

In 1974-1977. powerful carriers "Titan" - "Centaurus" became the new carriers of heavy loads for NASA. With their help, the Viking series were also launched from the LC-41 launch complex. Later, the LC-41 complex became a platform for launching the most powerful unmanned American missiles developed by the US Air Force - the Titan-4.

Objects

Locations of the launch facilities at Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Sites operating in 2010 are shown in red.

Of the many launch sites built since 1950, only four have remained active, with two planned for future use. launch complex SLC-17- platform for launching missiles "Delta-2" ( Delta II). launch complexes SLC-37 and SLC-41 have now been changed to run EELV"Delta-4" ( Delta IV) and Atlas-5 ( Atlas V) respectively. Thus, on April 22, 2010, the Atlas-5 launch vehicle 501 launched the reusable military shuttle Boeing X-37 into orbit for the first time from launch complex No. 41 (landing was made on December 3, 2010 at the Vandenberg Base, Western Missile Range). On March 5, 2011, the second experimental launch of the shuttle was carried out from the same launch complex, the flight duration of which was 469 days.

These new launch vehicles will replace all of the early Delta, Atlas and Titan rockets. launch complex SLC-47 used to launch meteorological sounding rockets. launch complex SLC-46 The Florida Spaceport is reserved for future use. From the space launch complex SLC-40 the first rocket launch took place Falcon 9) under the SpaceX program in June 2010.
In the case of low inclination (geostationary) orbit launches, 28°27′N latitude has a slight disadvantage over other launch pads closer to the equator. The additional velocity due to the Earth's rotation is about 405 m/s at Cape Canaveral versus about 465 m/s at the Kourou Guiana Space Center in French Guiana (South America).

In the case of launches into a high inclination (polar) orbit, latitude does not matter, but Cape Canaveral is not suitable due to the presence of settlements under the launch trajectories in this direction, so Vandenberg Base is used for such launches ( Vandenberg Air Force Base) on the opposite West Coast of the United States.

Inside the launch complex LC-26 The Air Force and Missile Museum is located.

Aerodrome

The air base includes a military airfield of the same name.

(45th Space Wing). Headquarters - Patrick AFB, Florida ( Patrick Air Force Base).

These flights were made shortly after some suborbital flights on White Sands Missile Range, for example, Viking-11 ( Viking 11) May 24, 1954

Following the successful launch of Sputnik 1 in the USSR, the United States made an unsuccessful attempt on December 6, 1957 for its first launch of an artificial satellite from Cape Canaveral - the Vanguard TV3 launch vehicle ( Vanguard TV3) exploded on the launch pad.

The Air Force decided to expand the capabilities of the Titan launch vehicles to be able to lift heavy payloads. Air Force built launch complexes LC-40 and LC-41 to launch Titan-3 missiles ( Titan III) and Titan-4 ( Titan IV) south of the Kennedy Space Center. Titan-3 has approximately the same carrying capacity as Saturn-1B ( Saturn IB), with significant cost savings. Launch complexes LC-40 and LC-41 were used to launch military intelligence, communications and meteorological satellites and NASA planetary missions. The Air Force also planned to launch two manned space projects from pads LC-40 and LC-41. These are manned orbital rocket planes Daina-Sor ( X-20 Dyna Soar) (program canceled in 1963) and manned orbital laboratory ( Manned Orbital Laboratory, MOL) US Air Force - manned reconnaissance space station (program canceled in 1969).

In the case of low inclination (geostationary) orbit launches, 28°27′N latitude has a slight disadvantage over other launch pads closer to the equator. The additional velocity due to the Earth's rotation is about 405 m/s at Cape Canaveral versus about 465 m/s at the Kourou Guiana Space Center in French Guiana (South America).

In the case of launches into a high inclination (polar) orbit, latitude does not matter, but Cape Canaveral is not suitable due to the presence of settlements under the launch trajectories in this direction, so Vandenberg Base is used for such launches ( Vandenberg Air Force Base) on the opposite West Coast of the United States.

Inside the launch complex LC-26 the Air Force and Missile Museum is located.

Aerodrome

The air base includes a military airfield of the same name.

Cape Canaveral Air Force Base
Country: Region:	USA Florida
Type of:	military
Index:	KXMR
Height : Coordinates:	+3 m
The local time:	UTC?
Runways (runways)
Number	Dimensions	Coating
13/31	3048х61 m	asphalt concrete

Gallery

Merritt Island.jpg

Cape Canaveral Air Force Base (shown in dark green).

Liberty Star and Freedom Star at Hangar AF 01.jpg

Vessels "Liberty Star" and "Freedom Star" at the hangar of the US Air Force Base at Cape Canaveral

see also

Links

Sources

• (PDF). Research Triangle Institute, Center for Aerospace Technology (CAST), Florida Office. Federal Aviation Administration (March 1999). Retrieved January 25, 2010. .

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• (actual weather reports at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base)

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An excerpt characterizing the US Air Force Base at Cape Canaveral

- All right, that's enough already! We have a job ahead of us! Stella's assertive voice broke into the radiant beauty. - Did you like it?
- Oh, how! I breathed. - I didn't want to go out!
- Exactly! So some “bath” until the next incarnation ... And then they don’t come back here anymore ...
– Where are they going? I was surprised.
- Below... Grandmother says that you also need to earn a place here... And whoever just waits and rests "works out" in the next incarnation. I think it's true...
- What's down there? I asked with interest.
“It’s not so nice there anymore, trust me. Stella smiled mischievously.
- And this is the sea, is it only one or are there many of them here?
– You will see... It is all different – ​​where is the sea, where is just a “view”, and where is just an energy field full of different flowers, streams and plants, and all this also “heals” souls and calms... just not so- then just use it - you must first earn it.
Who doesn't deserve it? Don't they live here? I didn't understand.
“They live, they live, but it’s not so beautiful anymore ...” the little girl shook her head. - Here, just like on Earth - nothing is given for free, only the values ​​here are completely different. And whoever doesn’t want to, gets everything much simpler. All this beauty cannot be bought, it can only be earned...
“You are now speaking exactly like your grandmother, as if you learned her words ...” I smiled.
- The way it is! Stella smiled back. “I try to remember a lot of what she says. Even what I don’t quite understand yet... But I’ll understand someday, right? And then, perhaps, there will be no one to teach ... That will help.
Here, we suddenly saw a very incomprehensible, but very attractive picture - on a shining, fluffy-transparent blue earth, like on a cloud, there was a cluster of entities that constantly replaced each other and took someone away somewhere, then again returning back.
- And what's that? What are they doing there? I asked puzzled.
- Oh, they just help the "newbies" to come, so that it's not scary. This is where new entities come in. Stella said calmly.
Have you already seen all this? Can we take a look?
- Well, of course! And we got closer...
And I saw an action that was absolutely breathtaking in its beauty... In complete emptiness, as if out of nothing, a transparent luminous ball suddenly appeared and, like a flower, immediately opened, releasing a new essence, which looked around completely bewildered, nothing yet realizing... And then, the waiting entities embraced the "newcomer" with a clot of warm sparkling energy, as if calming, and immediately took him somewhere.
- Do they come after death? .. - for some reason, I asked very quietly.
Stella nodded and sadly replied:
- When I arrived, we went to different "floors", my family and I. It was very lonely and sad... But now everything is fine. I went to them here many times - they are now happy.
“Are they right here, on this ‘floor’…?” I couldn’t believe it.
Stella again sadly nodded her head, and I decided I would not ask again, so as not to stir up her bright, kind soul.
We walked along an unusual road that appeared and disappeared as we stepped on it. The road shimmered softly and seemed to lead, showing the way, as if knowing where we had to go... There was a pleasant feeling of freedom and lightness, as if the whole world around us had suddenly become completely weightless.
Why does this road show us where to go? - I could not stand it.
She doesn't point, she helps. - The little girl answered. “Everything here is made up of thought, remember? Even the trees, the sea, roads, flowers - everyone hears what we think. This is a truly pure world... probably what people used to call Paradise... You can't cheat here.
- And where is Hell then? .. Does it also exist?
Oh, I'll definitely show you! This is the lower "floor" and there is SUCH!!!... - Stella twitched her shoulders, apparently remembering something not very pleasant.
We were still moving on, and then I noticed that the surroundings began to change little by little. Transparency began to disappear somewhere, giving way to a much more “dense”, earth-like landscape.
What's going on, where are we? I got worried.
- It's all right there. The little girl answered calmly. – Only now we are already in the part that is simpler. Remember we just talked about this? Here, for the most part, those who have just arrived. When they see such a landscape similar to their usual one, it is easier for them to perceive their “transition” to this world, new to them... Well, and also, those who live here do not want to be better than they are, and do not willing to make the slightest effort to achieve something higher.
– So, this “floor” consists of two parts, as it were? – I specified.
- You can say that. - The girl answered thoughtfully, and suddenly moved on to another topic - Something no one here pays any attention to us. Do you think they're not here?
After looking around, we stopped, not having the slightest idea what to do next.
– Shall we risk “lower”? Stella asked.
I felt that the baby was tired. Yes, and I was also very far from my best form. But I was almost sure that she was not going to give up, so I nodded in response.
- Well, then we need to prepare a little ... - biting her lip and seriously concentrating, the warlike Stella said. – Do you know how to put yourself a strong defense?
- Seems Yes. But I don't know how strong it will be. - I answered shyly. I really didn't want to let her down right now.
“Show me,” the girl asked.
I realized that this was not a whim, and that she was just trying to help me. Then I tried to concentrate and made my green “cocoon”, which I always made for myself when I needed serious protection.
- Wow! .. - Stella opened her eyes in surprise. - Well, let's go then.
This time our flight down was far from being as pleasant as the previous one... For some reason, my chest was very squeezed and it was hard to breathe. But little by little it all seemed to level out, and I stared in surprise at the eerie landscape that opened up to us ...
The heavy, blood-red sun sparingly illuminated the dim, purple-brown silhouettes of distant mountains ... Deep cracks crawled along the ground like giant snakes, from which a dense, dark orange fog escaped and, merging with the surface, became like a bloody shroud . Everywhere wandered strange, as if restless, essences of people who looked very dense, almost physical ... They either appeared or disappeared, not paying any attention to each other, as if they saw no one but themselves and lived only in their own, closed from the rest, the world. In the distance, not yet approaching, dark figures of some monstrous beasts sometimes appeared. There was a sense of danger, it smelled of horror, I wanted to run away from here headlong, without turning back ...
Are we in hell right now? I asked, horrified by what I saw.
“But you wanted to see what it looked like, so you did.” Stella replied with a tight smile.
It felt like she was expecting some kind of trouble. Yes, and nothing else but trouble, here, in my opinion, simply could not be ...
– And you know, sometimes there are good beings here who just made big mistakes. And to be honest, I feel very sorry for them... Can you imagine waiting here for your next incarnation?!. Horror!
No, I couldn't imagine it, and I didn't want to. And there was no smell of the same goodness here.
- But you're not right! The little girl overheard my thoughts again. “Sometimes, really, very good people get here, and they pay dearly for their mistakes... I really feel sorry for them...”
“Do you really think that our missing boy also ended up here ?!. He certainly did not have time to do anything so bad. Do you hope to find him here?.. Do you think this is possible?
- Watch out!!! Stella suddenly screamed wildly.
I was flattened on the ground like a big frog, and I just had time to feel as if a huge, terribly stinking one had fallen on me. mountain... Something was puffing, champing and snorting, radiating the disgusting smell of rot and rotten meat. My stomach almost turned out - it’s good that we “walked” here only as entities, without physical bodies. Otherwise, I would probably have had the most unpleasant troubles .....
- Get out! Well get out!!! squealed the frightened girl.
But, unfortunately, it was easier said than done... The fetid carcass fell on me with all the terrible weight of its huge body and, apparently, was already ready to feast on my fresh vitality... I couldn’t get rid of it, and panic was already treacherously squeaking in my soul, compressed by fear ...
- Come on! Stella shouted again. Then she suddenly hit the monster with some kind of bright beam and again shouted: “Run!!!
I felt that it became a little easier, and with all my might energetically pushed the carcass hanging over me. Stella ran around and fearlessly beat the already weakening horror from all sides. I somehow got out, gasping for air out of habit, and was truly horrified by what I saw! .. Directly in front of me lay a huge spiked carcass, all covered with some kind of sharply stinking mucus, with a huge, curved horn on a wide, warty head .
- Let's run! Stella screamed again. - He's still alive!
It was as if I was blown away by the wind ... I did not remember at all where I was carried ... But, I must say, it was carried very quickly.
“Well, you’re running around ...” the little girl squeezed out of breath, barely pronouncing the words.
– Oh, please forgive me! I exclaimed, ashamed. - You screamed so much that I rushed with fright wherever my eyes looked ...
“Well, nevermind, we’ll be more careful next time.” Stella calmed down.
My eyes popped out of my head at that statement!
- And what, will there be another “next” time ??? Hoping for a no, I cautiously asked.
- Well, of course! They do live here! - the brave girl “reassured” me in a friendly way.
“Then what are we doing here?”
“We're saving someone, haven't you forgotten? Stella was genuinely surprised.
And I, apparently, from all this horror, our "rescue expedition" completely flew out of my head. But I immediately tried to get myself together as quickly as possible so as not to show Stella that I was really, really scared.
- Don't think, after the first time, my braids stood on end all day! - the little girl said more cheerfully.
I just wanted to kiss her! Somehow, seeing that I was ashamed of my weakness, she managed to make me immediately feel good again.
“Do you really think that little Leah’s dad and brother could be here?..” I asked her again, surprised from the bottom of my heart.
- Of course! They could just be stolen. - Stella answered quite calmly.
How to steal? And who?..
But the baby did not have time to answer ... Something worse than our first "acquaintance" jumped out from behind the dense trees. It was something incredibly nimble and strong, with a small but very powerful body, every second throwing out a strange sticky "net" from its hairy belly. We didn’t even have time to utter a word, when both of them got into it together ... Stella, with a fright, became like a small disheveled owlet - her big blue eyes looked like two huge saucers, with splashes of horror in the middle.
I had to urgently come up with something, but for some reason my head was completely empty, no matter how hard I tried to find something sensible there ... And the “spider” (we will continue to call it that, for lack of a better one) in the meantime is quite dragged us, apparently, to his nest, preparing to "supper" ...
– Where are the people? Almost suffocating, I asked.
- Oh, you saw - there are a lot of people here. More than anywhere... But they are, for the most part, worse than these beasts... And they won't help us.
- And what do we do now? - mentally "chattering my teeth," I asked.
“Remember when you showed me your first monsters, you hit them with a green beam? - already again with might and main mischievously sparkling eyes, (again, recovering faster than me!), Stella asked fervently. - Let `s together?..
I realized that, fortunately, she was still going to give up. And I decided to try, because we still had nothing to lose ...
But we didn’t have time to hit, because at that moment the spider stopped abruptly and we, feeling a strong push, flopped to the ground with all our might ... Apparently, he dragged us to his home much earlier than we expected ...
We found ourselves in a very strange room (if, of course, it could be called that). It was dark inside, and complete silence reigned ... There was a strong smell of mold, smoke and the bark of some unusual tree. And only from time to time some faint sounds were heard, similar to groans. As if the "suffering" had no strength left at all ...
- Can't you light it up somehow? – I quietly asked Stella.
“I already tried, but for some reason it doesn’t work ...” the little girl answered in the same whisper.
And right in front of us, a tiny fire lit up.
“That's all I can do here. - The girl sighed sadly.

In the window below there is a live space video broadcast during launches and other relevant shows. Start dates -- . Follow this link -- space online from the ISS . It -- SECOND spaceport camera. Port Canaveral - HERE

Time GMT (Greenwich Mean Time):

Time at Cape Canaveral:

Time in Moscow:

Kos-mo-drome(USA).
The general name for the military and civilian companies located in the east of Florida in the coastal zone of the Atlantic Ocean.

The spaceport hashigh efficiency due to its proximity to the equator. The speed of the Earth's rotation in such places gives a much greater acceleration to the launch vehicles.

On Canaverel, there are also negative factors of location. Strong hurricanes are not uncommon here. Twice they partially destroyed the launch space facilities. Another disaster is a large number of thunderstorms. To protect launch vehicles from being struck by lightning, special countermeasure systems have been created, the cost of which is equal to several tens of millions of dollars.

There have been many outstanding launches from Cape Canaveral, but the most unique breakthrough was the manned flight to the moon and the landing of the first astronauts on its surface under the program.

On that day in 1969, the space race between the USSR and the USA reached its highest point of tension. Launched from Baikonur, the automatic station Luna-15 flew along the same trajectory as Apollo 11. The Soviet spacecraft was supposed to drill through the soil with the help of a robotic arm, take a sample and deliver it to Earth.

On the day that American astronauts set foot on the moon, Luna 15 also landed on its surface. Everything was worked out normally, but ... Experts suggested that the station collided with a mountain and collapsed.

The lunar soil was the first to be delivered by the Americans. Another Soviet station did this later.

Another grandiose program associated with Canaverel was the launch of shuttles: huge reusable spacecraft. These amazing shuttles have carried 355 astronauts into space.

There are several spaceports in the USA, but this one is the main one in its significance. Almost all generations of rockets for various space purposes took off from Canaveral: Jupiter, Thor, Atlas, Titan, Delta, Falcon. Numerous test launches of ballistic and cruise missiles for military purposes were also made from here.

Orlando's main attractions are Disney World and the NASA spaceport at Cape Canaveral. It should be noted that Orlando received a powerful impetus for development thanks to the Disney company, which built a number of entertainment centers here in various parts of the city and beyond. Naturally, there were also hotels and shops and transport infrastructure necessary to receive visitors. There are many mixed forests and reservoirs around the city. The city is exceptionally well-groomed and resembles a single park complex, where lakes and canals, forests and glades, fountains and hotels, roads and squares, entertainment centers and shops complement each other.

Due to a long move from Miami to Orlando, we only had 1 free day left, and we decided to dedicate it to the American spaceport at Cape Canaveral. There are many Disneylands all over the world. And the American spaceport or, as it is called here, the Kennedy Space Center - one.

Since Orlando is focused on visiting guests, there is a tour desk in the hotel lobby, where we booked an excursion of interest to us. It turned out that if you go to the spaceport on your own transport, then its cost is $38, and if you go by bus, then plus another $57 per person. At the same time, the tour desk got maps of Orlando and Disney World.

At 8-15 the next morning we reached the square, where a tour bus arrived at 8-30 and took us, along with others, to the NASA space center at Cape Canaveral. An hour and a half later we arrived at the place and the first object of visit was the Museum of Cosmonautics.

Among the many exhibits in the museum - photographs, space suits, simulators, spacecraft, rocket models and launch complexes - there is also a copy of our first artificial Earth satellite.

The museum was surprised with what humor the Americans admit their defeat in space exploration. Here on the stand there is a large photograph of a detachment of American astronauts from the early 60s, and under it the main question: “Which of them will be the first?” And on the next stand, a portrait of Gagarin and the inscription “The first person to circle the Earth in 107 minutes on April 12, 1961, the Russian Yuri Gagarin is a major in the Soviet army.

The museum also has a centrifuge, where anyone can feel the overload that a pilot experiences when flying a military aircraft. The cabins not only rotate, but also move in a vertical plane, simulating the maneuvers of an aircraft. Usually people get out of the cabs swaying. During rotation, I also had a moment when the monitor screen “floated” before my eyes.

Near the museum, life-size American rockets stand in an open area. Among them there is also a model of our carrier, which put the first Earth satellite into orbit. The lying giant Saturn-5 rocket from the American lunar odyssey makes a special impression.

A separate site is dedicated to reusable spacecraft. There is a shuttle here, which can be entered via a flyover, and next to it on a pedestal is the Columbia launch vehicle - the upper stage of the shuttle. In the next building there is an auditorium where visitors can watch a film about the creation of ships and also a hall with active seats, where you can see all the phases of the launch and exit of the shuttle into orbit and feel the vibration and overload that astronauts experience during takeoff.

Tourists can then board special NASA buses and visit other spaceport facilities. From the window of the bus, you can see the assembly shop, the launch pad and the caterpillar tractor for the Columbia spacecraft from a distance of 100 m.

Buses make several stops at pavilions prepared for the public. One of them is dedicated to the lunar program of the Americans. In the huge hall, the Saturn launch vehicle, dissected into stages, as well as the Apollo manned spacecraft and the Lunar Module, which ensures the descent of astronauts to the lunar surface and return to the manned spacecraft, are installed. A film about the preparation and launch of the Saturn-Apollo spacecraft is shown in the hall. Very effective shots showing a trickle of a mixture of gaseous hydrogen and oxygen coming out of the nozzle of the rocket, a sheaf of sparks flying at it, then a flame appears - the engine is started, then a sea of ​​​​fire - thrust is turned on, the rocket leaves the Earth and in clouds of fire and smoke goes up.

Then an announcer appears who says with a smile that we watched the story about the preparation of the expedition and the launch of the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon, and the story of how the astronauts went to the Moon is another story. And that's where the movie ends. Thus, NASA does not confirm or deny the legend and the ongoing debate about whether the Americans were on the moon 30 years ago or whether the public was presented with a film montage filmed in Hollywood.

Next to this pavilion there are stands for honored guests watching the launches of spacecraft, which are usually shown on TV. Starting complexes from here are hardly guessed in the distance - a few kilometers beyond the lake.

The bus also stops in a small town south of the launch sites, where there is a modern center, mission control, production workshops for assembling spacecraft components. Here, tourists are shown gyms that imitate fragments of the Mir space station, which is currently operating in orbit.

Unfortunately, it was not possible to see all the space objects envisaged by the program due to heavy rain, a phenomenon quite typical for this region in the afternoon. At 17-30 the tour ended and our bus took us to Orlando.