Editing Kennedy Space Center (section)

== Formation ==
Since 1949, the military had been performing launch operations at what would become [[Cape Canaveral Space Force Station]]. In December 1959, the [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] transferred 5,000 personnel and the Missile Firing Laboratory to [[NASA]] to become the Launch Operations Directorate under NASA's [[Marshall Space Flight Center]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/story/ch1.html|title=Kennedy Space Center Story|publisher=NASA|access-date=May 13, 2019|archive-date=June 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170603115439/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/story/ch1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s 1961 goal of a crewed lunar landing by 1970 required an expansion of launch operations. On July 1, 1962, the Launch Operations Directorate was separated from MSFC to become the '''Launch Operations Center (LOC)'''. Also, Cape Canaveral was inadequate to host the new launch facility design required for the mammoth {{convert|363|ft|m|adj=on}} tall, {{convert|7500000|lbf|kN|adj=on}} thrust [[Saturn V]] rocket, which would be assembled vertically in a large hangar and transported on a mobile platform to one of several launch pads. Therefore, the decision was made to build a new LOC site located adjacent to Cape Canaveral on [[Merritt Island]].<ref>{{cite web |title = History of Cape Canaveral Chapter 3 {{!}} Spaceline |url = https://www.spaceline.org/history-cape-canaveral/history-cape-canaveral-chapter-3/ |access-date=2021-05-27 |language=en-US }}</ref>

NASA began land acquisition in 1962, buying title to {{convert|131|sqmi}} and negotiating with the state of Florida for an additional {{convert|87|sqmi}}.<ref name="MOONPORT5-11">{{cite web |url = http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/ch5-11.html |title = Land, Lots of Land – Much of It Marshy |work = Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations |author1 = Charles D. Benson |author2 = William Barnaby Faherty |publisher = NASA |access-date = August 27, 2009 |archive-date = July 14, 2019 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190714121445/https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/ch5-11.html |url-status = dead }}</ref> The major buildings in KSC's Industrial Area were designed by architect [[Charles Luckman]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Muschamp|first=Herbert|title=Charles Luckman, Architect Who Designed Penn Station's Replacement, Dies at 89|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/28/arts/charles-luckman-architect-who-designed-penn-station-s-replacement-dies-at-89.html|access-date=August 22, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 28, 1999}}</ref> Construction began in November 1962, and Kennedy visited the site twice in 1962, and again just a week before [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|his assassination]] on November 22, 1963.<ref name="KSC History Quiz">{{cite web|title=Kennedy History Quiz|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/quiz_page_prt.htm#4|publisher=NASA|access-date=November 5, 2015|archive-date=June 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170603122438/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/quiz_page_prt.htm#4|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On November 29, 1963, the facility was named by President Lyndon B. Johnson under [[s:Executive Order 11129|Executive Order 11129]].<ref>{{cite web| title = The National Archives, Lyndon B. Johnson Executive Order 11129 | url = https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/1963-johnson.html | access-date =April 26, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="KSC Story">{{cite web|title=Kennedy Space Center Story|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/story/kscstory.html|publisher=NASA|access-date=November 5, 2015|date=1991|archive-date=May 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520011616/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/story/kscstory.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Johnson's order joined both the civilian LOC and the military Cape Canaveral station ("the facilities of Station No. 1 of the Atlantic Missile Range") under the designation "John F. Kennedy Space Center", spawning some confusion joining the two in the public mind. NASA administrator [[James E. Webb]] clarified this by issuing a directive stating the ''Kennedy Space Center'' name applied only to the LOC, while the Air Force issued a general order renaming the military launch site ''Cape Kennedy Air Force Station''.<ref name="Moonport_appendixb">{{cite book
 | last1 = Benson
 | first1 = Charles D.
 | last2 = Faherty
 | first2 = William B.
 | title = Moonport: A History of Apollo Launch Facilities and Operations
 | publisher = NASA
 | series = History Series
 | volume = SP-4204
 | date = August 1977
 | url = http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/contents.html
 | chapter = Chapter 7: The Launch Directorate Becomes an Operational Center – Kennedy's Last Visit
 | chapter-url = http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/ch7-7.html
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041106133417/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4204/ch7-7.html
 | archive-date = November 6, 2004
 }}</ref>