Editing Apollo program (section)

===Launch Operations Center===
{{main|Kennedy Space Center}}

It also became clear that Apollo would outgrow the Canaveral launch facilities in [[Florida]]. The two newest launch complexes were already being built for the [[Saturn I]] and [[Saturn IB|IB]] rockets at the northernmost end: [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Launch Complex 34|LC-34]] and [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 37|LC-37]]. But an even bigger facility would be needed for the mammoth rocket required for the crewed lunar mission, so land acquisition was started in July 1961 for a Launch Operations Center (LOC) immediately north of Canaveral at [[Merritt Island, Florida|Merritt Island]]. The design, development and construction of the center was conducted by [[Kurt H. Debus]], a member of [[Wernher von Braun]]'s original [[V-2 rocket]] engineering team. Debus was named the LOC's first Director.<ref name="NASA2">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/biographies/debus.html |title=Dr. Kurt H. Debus |date=February 1987 |work=Kennedy Biographies |publisher=NASA |access-date=October 7, 2008}}</ref> Construction began in November 1962. Following [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|Kennedy's death]], President Johnson issued an executive order on November 29, 1963, to rename the LOC and Cape Canaveral in honor of Kennedy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/1963-johnson.html |title=Executive Orders Disposition Tables: Lyndon B. Johnson – 1963: Executive Order 11129 |work=[[Office of the Federal Register]] |publisher=[[National Archives and Records Administration]] |access-date=April 26, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:VonBraunMuellerReesSA6.jpg|thumb|[[George Mueller (NASA)|George Mueller]], [[Wernher von Braun]], and [[Eberhard Rees]] watch the [[AS-101]] launch from the firing room.]]
The LOC included [[Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39|Launch Complex 39]], a [[Launch Control Center]], and a {{convert|130|e6ft3|m3|adj=on}} [[Vehicle Assembly Building|Vertical Assembly Building]] (VAB).<ref>The building was renamed "Vehicle Assembly Building" on February 3, 1965. {{cite web |title=VAB Nears Completion |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-4204/ch12-7.html |website=NASA History Program Office |publisher=NASA |access-date=2023-02-12 |quote=The new name, it was felt, would more readily encompass future as well as current programs and would not be tied to the Saturn booster. |archive-date=April 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428174930/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/pao/History/SP-4204/ch12-7.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> in which the space vehicle (launch vehicle and spacecraft) would be assembled on a [[mobile launcher platform]] and then moved by a [[crawler-transporter]] to one of several launch pads. Although at least three pads were planned, only two, designated A{{nbsp}}and{{nbsp}}B, were completed in October 1965. The LOC also included an [[Operations and Checkout Building]] (OCB) to which [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] and Apollo spacecraft were initially received prior to being mated to their launch vehicles. The Apollo spacecraft could be tested in two [[vacuum chamber]]s capable of simulating atmospheric pressure at altitudes up to {{convert|250000|ft|km}}, which is nearly a vacuum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/techCap/altitude.htm |url-status=dead |title=KSC Technical Capabilities: O&C Altitude Chambers |editor-last=Craig |editor-first=Kay |work=Center Planning and Development Office |publisher=NASA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328084113/http://kscpartnerships.ksc.nasa.gov/techCap/altitude.htm |archive-date=March 28, 2012 |access-date=July 29, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.luizmonteiro.com/StdAtm.aspx |title=1976 Standard Atmosphere Properties |work=luizmonteiro.com |publisher=Luizmonteiro, LLC |type=Complete [[International Standard Atmosphere]] calculator (1976 model) |access-date=August 1, 2013}}</ref>