By Mona Hatfield
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations 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.
Though the first Apollo flights and all Project Mercury and Project Gemini flights took off from the then-Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the launches were managed by KSC and its previous organization, the Launch Operations Directorate. Starting with the fourth Gemini mission, the NASA launch control center in Florida (Mercury Control Center, later the Launch Control Center) began handing off control of the vehicle to the Mission Control Center in Houston, shortly after liftoff; in prior missions it held control throughout the entire mission.
Additionally, the center manages launch of robotic and commercial crew missions and researches food production and in-situ resource utilization for off-Earth exploration. Since 2010, the center has worked to become a multi-user spaceport through industry partnerships, even adding a new launch pad (LC-39C) in 2015.
There are about 700 facilities and buildings grouped throughout the center’s 144,000 acres (580 km2). Among the unique facilities at KSC are the 525-foot (160 m) tall Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking NASA’s largest rockets, the Launch Control Center, which conducts space launches at KSC, the Operations and Checkout Building, which houses the astronauts dormitories and suit-up area, a Space Station factory, and a 3-mile (4.8 km) long Shuttle Landing Facility. There is also a Visitor Complex on site that is open to the public.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Thanksgiving Day in Canada is celebrated on the second Monday in October. The first Canadian Thanksgiving Day was observed on April 15, 1872, to celebrate the recovery of the prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day, observed in the United States on the second Monday in October, recognizes the culture, contributions, and history of Native Americans. Ways to celebrate include attending community events, supporting indigenous businesses and art, and expanding knowledge via museums and other resources. The holiday is celebrated in certain areas in lieu of Columbus Day (a federal holiday) because of the devastation that European exploration brought to indigenous peoples of the Americas. Learn more about Indigenous Peoples’ Day here.
On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on a small island in the Bahamas, convinced that he had reached the East Indies. The anniversary of his landing in the New World was first formally celebrated in 1792, by the Columbian Order (Society of St. Tammany) in New York City. Now, it is celebrated nationally on the second Monday in October.
In A.D. 1000, long before Columbus, Eriksson led a Viking voyage westward from Greenland and reached the coast of North America, in what is now Newfoundland. He named his discovery Vinland. Although Eriksson is not officially credited with the European discovery of America, ever since 1964 U.S. presidents have had the option of proclaiming October 9 as Leif Eriksson Day.
Question of the Day
How much is a rick of firewood? Is it half a cord?
No, rick is actually a description of the way wood is stacked. A cord of wood measures 4x4x8 feet, or 128 cubic feet. A rick is piled in a 4×8-foot stack. Rick also refers to a stack of any other material, such as hay, left out in the open air.
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
How does a pig write home?
With a pig pen filled with oink.
Born
- Lewis Cass (politician) –
- Camille Saint-Saens (composer) –
- Myron Herrick (politician) –
- Leonard Wood (physician) –
- Charles Rudolph Walgreen (merchant) –
- Jacques Tati (director) –
- E. Howard Hunt (author) –
- John Lennon (musician) –
- Jackson Browne (musician) –
- Tony Shalhoub (actor) –
- Scott Bakula (actor) –
- Steve Ovett (runner) –
- Brandon Routh (actor) –
- Zachery Ty Bryan (actor) –
- Tyler James Williams (actor) –
Died
- Oskar Schindler (businessman) –
- David Dukes (actor) –
- Charles Guggenheim (filmmaker) –
- Jan Hooks (actress) –
Events
- The Collegiate School, later renamed Yale University, is founded in Connecticut.–
- Joshua Stoddard received a patent for a calliope–
- The nation’s first working underground oil pipeline was completed between Oil Creek and Pithole, Pennsylvania–
- American Humane Association organized–
- The Washington Monument opened to the public–
- 7.7 earthquake struck Kodiak Island, Alaska–
- Deadly fire leveled Baudette and Spooner, Minnesota–
- First electronic blanket manufactured, Petersburg, Virginia–
- In Bolivia, Che Guevara is killed while leading a Cuban-sponsored guerrilla force–
- Cape Kennedy restored to original name of Cape Canaveral” in Florida”–
- A meteorite struck a car in Peekskill, New York–
- Starting on September 28, Lloyd Scott, a 41-year old former firefighter and professional football player from Rainham, London, dived through the depths of Loch Ness for 12 days to complete on this day the world’s first ever underwater marathon. Lloyd wore an 80-kilogram diving suit throughout the 26-mile adventure–
- The new U.S. $20 bill, with its faint tinge of peach color in the background, made its way into bank vaults and consumers’ pockets–
Weather
- Damaging hailstorms hit Montana, causing $7.5 million in crop damage–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
