Cape Canaveral AFS & Kennedy Space Center

Photographs by Shaun O'Boyle 2008

 

Kennedy Space Center from the Atlantic coast. Kennedy Space Center, and the bordering Cape Canaveral Air Force Station extend about 20 miles south from here, comprising the locations where most of the early manned and unmanned space programs were developed, tested and launched. Cape Canaveral is also the place where many cold war missile programs were developed, the Titan 1 intercontinental ballistic missiles were built and tested here. These early missile programs shared technologies and launch pads with the early space program. The early space missions carrying Alan Sheppard, John Glenn and the other original 7 astronauts were essentially rides on top of modified ballistic missiles.

It is not my intention to make this a documenary or short history of nasa and cape canaveral, but rather to give a visual perspective of the extraordinary task of putting people into space. The goal is to make compelling photographs of apparently ordinary and utilitarian structures and machines. You will have to forgive my apparent obsession with the machines that made the space program possible, but that is what is left from these early efforts, our visual legacy of these extraordinary efforts is the abandoned computer and scientific hardware, the utilitarian architecture, and the landscapes of the launch complexes.

 
Old Apollo Saturn V launch pad 39B, now a Space Shuttle launch pad, viewed from the wildlife refuge that borders Kennedy Space Center. These photographs are from an ongoing project to photograph Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space Center. I was 9 years old when man first landed on the Moon, so interest in space travel was very much a part of my developing years. It is a fascinating place, still preserving hints and locations of the age of early space travel, places where steely eyed astronauts climbed to the top of their steaming rocket and blasted into outer space; super hero astronaut myths were created here, and some of the hardware that allowed these missions to be successfully completed is still here, rusting away in the salty Florida air.

 
Space Shuttle Discovery on launch pad 39A, 8 days before launch. The shuttle shown here may be in it's final year of service, the final missions are to complete the international space station.

 
Thor-Able rocket, the first in a long line of missiles which include the modern day Atlas rockets. The Thor-Able rocket launched the Pioneer 1 spacecraft in October 1958, the first launch of a spacecraft by the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration at Cape Canaveral Air Force Base.

 
Titan I Intercontinental Ballistic Missile first stage engine. These missiles were designed for intercontinental delivery of nuclear warheads, and were the United States first true multi-stage rocket. The early space program and military programs were closely linked, sharing technologies and launch areas. Many of the rocket designs were direct decendents of the German V2 rocket, and in fact were designed by some of the same german scientist, brought over from Germany at the end of WWII.

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I encourage comments on these photographs, please send along your thoughts to me at smo@oboylephoto.com   Please consider purchasing a print to help support this site. All photographs copyright Shaun O'Boyle 2008.