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[[image]]

Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center (image 3 of 3)

image #STS077-713-010
19 May, 1996
Hasselblad Camera, 250mm lens

Background for the teacher:

This image is a close-up of Cape Canaveral; it provides a regional context for the Kennedy Space Center, located on Florida's Atlantic coast. The launch pads and runways of Kennedy Space Center are among the most prominent features on the Cape.

The Cape itself is the outermost of a series of beach ridges which were built when the sea level was higher over the past 100,000 years. These older shorelines (which are separated by the intracoastal waterways) make up the linear north-south fabric of the eastern Florida coast. Bridges span the now-flooded regions between these older beach ridges. Cocoa Beach is the largest coastal town just south of the Space Center.

Possible starting points for student investigations:

•Have you ever seen a shuttle launch?
•Why was a coastal site selected for launching space flights?
•Why Florida?
•Why are the residential and commercial areas away from the launch area?
•Can you find the inland waterways?

Teachers' Guide 
Page 9.25