National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Kennedy Space Center’s 

Annual Report FY2009
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3 Center Director’s Message

4 Significant Events

8 Launch Vehicle Processing

12 International Space Station 

and Spacecraft Processing

14 Launch Services Program

18 Constellation Ground Operations

20 Engineering Achievements 

24 Partnerships

26 Environmental Leadership

28 Education

32 Outreach to the World

36 Kennedy Business Report

 CFO Report

 Economic Impact

 Work Force Diversity

 Procurement Report

Table of Contents

On the cover, from left: Smoke billows around the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket as it lifts off into space at 8:20 a.m. EDT, on Sept. 

25, 2009, carrying the Space Tracking and Surveillance System-Demonstrator spacecraft for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency; on Launch 

Pad 39A, space shuttle Discovery’s payload bay doors begin closing around the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Leonardo for the STS-128 

mission to the International Space Station; shuttle Endeavour is revealed on pad A after the rollback of the rotating service structure for the 

STS-127 mission to the space station; the Ares I-X rocket stands tall inside the Vehicle Assembly Building as it is prepared for NASA’s first 

flight test for the Constellation Program.
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Center Director’s Message

Robert D. Cabana

This was an extremely rewarding and challenging year for the Kennedy 

Space Center as we safely executed our assigned missions and prepared to transition to a new era of space exploration.

During this past year, an extremely talented and dedicated workforce 

launched five Shuttle missions, including the on-orbit repair of the Hubble 

Space Telescope, and the International Space Station saw the completion of the 

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo module, paving the way for the 

orbiting laboratory to become a full-fledged National Laboratory.

The Launch Services Program processed seven expendable launch vehicles 

and nine spacecraft for launch while managing 25 future missions. Perhaps the 

most exciting of these was NASA’s first return to the moon in more than 10 

years with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation 

and Sensing Satellite.

The Constellation Program continued to excel in meeting milestones in 

preparing the ground operations infrastructure at KSC to meet the needs of future exploration programs. Kennedy also supported the Agency with the integration and test of the Ares I-X test flight vehicle, which successfully launched 

October 28, 2009. More than 700 sensors on board the rocket relayed ascent 

data that will help develop a new generation of launch vehicles.

Kennedy employees also excelled in applied technology, strived for environmental leadership, and strengthened partnerships while providing outreach 

and educating the community. The Center saw the construction and implementation of a one-megawatt solar power generation facility for its electricity 

needs, and a larger, ten-megawatt facility on the Center will provide electricity 

to Florida residents. 

These are just a few of the activities that Kennedy was involved in during 

the past year. NASA’s core values of safety, integrity, teamwork, and excellence 

are evident throughout the accomplishments at Kennedy. We have a tremendous workforce, and the employees are the real resource of the Center. I invite 

you to take the time to read more about the team’s achievements of 2009.
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1. NASA celebrates 50th anniversary

Oct. 1, 2008

Kennedy Space Center celebrated the first 50 years of NASA in 2008. In November, 

employees and the public enjoyed a fall concert series at the KSC Visitor Complex, 

as well as the second annual Space and Air Show, featuring an exhibition by the 

U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels.

2. IBEX spacecraft launches

Oct. 19, 2008

NASA’s Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft launched aboard a 

Pegasus XL expendable launch vehicle from the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific 

Ocean at 1:47 p.m. EDT.

3. New director at Kennedy

Oct. 26, 2008

Former astronaut Robert D. Cabana became Kennedy Space Center’s 10th center 

director, succeeding William W. Parsons. Cabana came to Kennedy from NASA’s 

Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, where he was director.

4. Ares I-X flight hardware arrives

Nov. 3, 2008

The first major flight hardware of the Ares I-X rocket traveled to Kennedy aboard 

the Delta Mariner barge from NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Ohio.

5. Endeavour launches on STS-126 mission

Nov. 14, 2008

Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-member crew lifted off from Launch Pad 

39A at 7:55 p.m. EST on the STS-126 mission to repair and help prepare the 

International Space Station for a permanent six-person crew.

6. Endeavour lands in California

Nov. 30, 2008

Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew landed at 4:25 p.m. EST at Edwards Air 

Force Base in California, completing the 15-day journey of more than 6.6 million 

miles on the STS-126 mission.

7. Ares I-X CM/LAS arrives

Jan. 28, 2009

The simulated crew module and launch abort system that formed the tip of the Ares 

I-X rocket traveled to Kennedy aboard a C-5 aircraft.

Significant Events

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8. NOAA-N launches from Vandenberg

Feb. 6, 2009

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s NOAA-N Prime 

spacecraft launched from NASA’s Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air 

Force Base in California aboard a Delta II rocket at 5:22 a.m. EST. 

9. Launch Pad 39B lightning towers rise

Feb. 13, 2009

Workers built three, 600-foot-tall lightning towers around Kennedy’s Launch Pad 

39B. Each tower has a 100-foot-tall fiberglass mast atop to support a catenary wire 

system for improved lightning protection.

10. OCO satellite launches 

Feb. 24, 2009

NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or OCO, satellite failed to reach orbit after 

its 4:55 a.m. EST liftoff aboard a Taurus XL launch vehicle from Launch Pad 576-E 

at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 

11. Kepler launches aboard Delta II

March 6, 2009

NASA’s Kepler mission launched aboard a Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-B at 

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 10:49 p.m. EST.

12. Discovery launches on STS-119 mission

March 15, 2009

Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew lifted off from Launch Pad 

39A at 7:43 p.m. EDT on the STS-119 mission to deliver the final set of powergenerating solar array wings and a new crew member to the International Space 

Station.

13. Mobile launcher platform handover

March 25, 2009

Kennedy hosted a ceremony to mark the official handover of Mobile Launcher 

Platform-1 from NASA’s Space Shuttle Program to the Constellation Program. The 

two-story, steel structure was modified for the Ares I-X flight test.

14. Discovery glides home

March 28, 2009

Space shuttle Discovery and its crew for the STS-119 mission landed at 3:14 p.m. 

EDT at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility, completing a 13-day journey of more 

than 5.3 million miles.

15. Orion recovery procedures tested

April 8, 2009

A full-scale mock-up of NASA’s Orion crew module was tested for landing in 

the Atlantic Ocean under real and simulated weather conditions off the coast of 

Kennedy Space Center.

16. Two shuttles on launch pads 

April 17, 2009

Two space shuttles, Endeavour and Atlantis, stood poised on both Launch Complex 

39 launch pads, for what was expected to be the last time for the agency’s Space 

Shuttle Program.

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17. Delta II rocket launches from Vandenberg

May 5, 2009

A Delta II rocket, managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program at Kennedy, lifted 

off from Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 

4:24 p.m. EDT. The rocket carried the Space Tracking and Surveillance SystemAdvanced Technology Risk Reduction spacecraft, or STSS-ATRR, for the U.S. 

Missile Defense Agency.

18. Atlantis launches to Hubble on STS-125 mission

May 11, 2009

Space shuttle Atlantis and its seven-member crew lifted off from Launch Pad 39A 

at 2:01 p.m. EDT on the fifth and final shuttle mission to service NASA’s Hubble 

Space Telescope.

19. Atlantis lands at Edwards

May 24, 2009

Space shuttle Atlantis and its crew landed at 11:39 a.m. EDT at Edwards Air Force 

Base in California, completing the final Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission 

of nearly 5.3 million miles.

20. Tranquility node arrives at SSPF

May 26, 2009

The Tranquility node arrived at Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility 

on May 21, and was transferred to the center’s Space Station Processing Facility on 

May 26. Tranquility is a pressurized module that will provide room for many of the 

station’s life support systems.

21. Solar facility groundbreaking event

May 27, 2009

NASA and Florida Power and Light, or FPL, held a groundbreaking ceremony 

for new solar power facilities at Kennedy. FPL will build and maintain two solar 

photovoltaic power generation systems on Kennedy property, one for Kennedy’s use 

and the other for Florida residents.

22. Launch pad transfers to Constellation

May 31, 2009

Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39B was officially transferred from the Space Shuttle 

Program to the Constellation Program for the Ares I-X flight test.

23. First lunar launch in 10 years

June 18, 2009

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing 

Satellite, or LRO/LCROSS, launched at 5:32 p.m. EDT aboard an Atlas V rocket 

from Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Significant Events

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24. GOES-O launches

June 27, 2009

The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-O, soared 

into space on a Delta IV rocket at 6:51 p.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex-37 

at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

25. Endeavour launches to space station

July 15, 2009

Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven-member crew for the STS-127 mission 

launched at 6:03 p.m. EDT from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39A.

26. Apollo 11 40th anniversary celebration

July 16, 2009

Kennedy Space Center celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch to 

and first steps on the moon with a ceremony at the KSC Visitor Complex.

27. Endeavour glides home

July 31, 2009

Space shuttle Endeavour and its crew ended a 16-day journey of more than 6.5 

million miles with a 10:48 a.m. EDT landing at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility.

28. Ares I-X stacked in Vehicle Assembly Building

Aug. 13, 2009

For the first time in more than a quarter-century, a new space vehicle, the Ares 

I-X rocket, stood ready in Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building. The rocket, with 

its simulated crew module and launch abort system, was assembled atop a mobile 

launcher platform.

29. Discovery launches to space station

Aug. 28, 2009

Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew launched at 11:59 p.m. EDT 

from Kennedy’s Launch Pad 39A on the STS-128 mission to deliver supplies, 

equipment and a new crew member to the International Space Station.

30. Discovery lands in California

Sept. 11, 2009

Discovery lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California at 8:53 p.m. EDT due to 

unpredictable weather conditions at Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility, bringing to 

an end the 13-day, 5.7-million-mile mission.

31. Young-Crippen Firing Room transfer

Sept. 25, 2009

A ribbon cutting officially turned over the Launch Control Center’s Young-Crippen 

Firing Room from the Space Shuttle Program to the Constellation Program. The 

newly refurbished and outfitted control room was used for NASA’s Ares I-X flight 

test in October 2009.

32. STSS-Demo Launch

Sept. 25, 2009

The Space Tracking and Surveillance System – Demonstrator, or STSS-Demo, 

spacecraft launched on a Delta II rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in 

Florida, at 8:20 a.m. EDT, for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

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NASA’s human spaceflight program 

is built around safely launching, 

flying and landing its space shuttle 

fleet. The efforts of Kennedy Space Center’s 

launch vehicle processing team to prepare and 

integrate the agency’s three orbiters -- Atlantis, 

Discovery and Endeavour -- with external fuel 

tanks and solid rocket boosters are critical in 

accomplishing this national mission.

During this fiscal year, the team processed 

five shuttles, leading to the delivery of crucial 

elements and supplies to the International 

Space Station, and the completion of on-orbit 

repairs to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. 

Twenty-one astronauts orbited Earth more 

than 1,100 times, totaling about 30 million 

miles. Poor weather conditions at Kennedy required space shuttles to land at Edwards Air 

Force Base in California three times.

In addition to processing and launching 

shuttles, the team spent the year modifying 

Launch Pad 39B and preparing the Ares I-X 

rocket for its flight test. The fiscal year also saw 

the completion of several significant shuttle 

transition and retirement milestones. 

Mission STS-126/Endeavour

Space Shuttle Endeavour originally rolled 

to Launch Pad 39B on Sept. 11, 2008, as the 

launch on need flight for the STS-125 mission. Endeavour then rolled around to Launch 

Pad 39A on Oct. 23, 2008, when the launch 

of STS-125 was delayed due to an on-orbit 

failure with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, 

which resulted in a roll back of shuttle Atlantis 

to the Vehicle Assembly Building.

Endeavour’s STS-126 mission launched 

Nov. 14, 2008, at 7:55 p.m. EST. During 

their 15 days in orbit, crew members delivered equipment and supplies to the International Space Station and serviced the solar 

alpha rotary joints. 

Due to poor weather at Kennedy, Endeavour concluded the 124th shuttle mission by 

landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Nov. 30, 2008, at 4:25 p.m. EST.

Mission STS-119/Discovery

Space shuttle Discovery’s original launch 

date was postponed to allow engineers to replace suspect flow control valves after a failure 

of one of Endeavour’s during STS-126. Then, 

Discovery’s first launch attempt on March 11, 

2009, was scrubbed due to a leak in its external fuel tank liquid hydrogen vent line. 

Following testing of the vent line and 

a “go” to launch, Discovery lifted off from 

Launch Pad 39A on March 15, 2009, at 7:43 

p.m. EDT, carrying a crew of seven astronauts 

and one small bat. The bat was seen clinging 

to the shuttle’s external tank as it cleared the 

Launch Vehicle Processing

Space shuttle Endeavour nears the end of its 3.4-

mile trek from Launch Pad 39B to 39A on May 31, 

2009, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Endeavour 

was on standby on pad B in the unlikely event that a 

rescue mission was necessary during space shuttle 

Atlantis’ STS-125 mission to NASA’s Hubble Space 

Telescope.
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launch tower on the 125th shuttle mission. 

The crew successfully delivered and assembled the fourth starboard integrated truss 

segment, S6, along with the fourth set of solar arrays and batteries, to the International 

Space Station during the almost 13-day mission. Discovery landed at Kennedy’s Shuttle 

Landing Facility on March 28, 2009, at 3:14 

p.m. EDT.

Mission STS-125/Atlantis

Originally scheduled to launch Oct. 14, 

2008, space shuttle Atlantis’ STS-125 mission was delayed due to a failed Science 

Instrument Command and Data Handling 

Unit on NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. 

Atlantis rolled back to the Vehicle Assembly 

Building on Oct. 20, 2008, was destacked 

and rolled back to an orbiter processing facility, where a replacement unit was added to 

the payload. 

Following its mate to a new external tank 

and solid rocket booster stack, Atlantis again 

rolled out to Launch Pad 39A on March 31, 

2009. Atlantis launched on the fifth and final 

shuttle servicing mission to Hubble on May 

11, 2009, at 2:01 p.m. EDT. STS-125 was the 

first in more than six years and the final shuttle launch not targeted for the International 

Space Station. 

The crew outfitted Hubble with two new 

instruments, the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph and Wide Field Camera 3. During their 

five spacewalks, the crew also replaced a Fine 

Guidance Sensor, six new gyroscopes and two 

battery unit modules. New thermal blanket 

insulating panels to provide improved thermal 

protection and a soft-capture mechanism to 

aid in the eventual safe deorbiting of the telescope also were added. 

An IMAX camera was used by the crew 

to document the mission for a future IMAX 

movie. The mission was declared a complete 

success. The upgrades to Hubble will allow it 

to make even greater discoveries and should allow it to operate through at least 2014. Atlantis completed the 126th space shuttle mission 

with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base on 

May 24, 2009, at 11:39 a.m. EDT. 

Mission STS-127/Endeavour

Space shuttle Endeavour originally rolled 

out to Launch Pad 39B to serve as the launch 

on need vehicle for Atlantis’ STS-125 mission. 

It was the 19th time that NASA had two shuttles on Launch Pad 39A and B at the same time. 

Following the successful launch of STS125, Endeavour moved from Launch Pad 

39B to A on May 31, 2009, for the launch of 

STS-127 and the 127th shuttle mission. Two 

launch attempts in June 2009 were delayed 

due to gaseous hydrogen leaks from the shuttle’s external tank Ground Umbilical Carrier 

Plate, or GUCP, similar to those seen on STS119. Engineers corrected an alignment issue 

with the GUCP and performed a successful 

tanking test. 

Three more launch attempts in July were 

scrubbed due to weather. Endeavour finally 

launched on July 15, 2009, at 6:03 p.m. 

EDT after a record-tying sixth cryogenic 

propellant loading. During launch, pieces of 

foam were observed falling off of the shuttle’s external tank, but on-orbit inspections 

revealed only minor damage to the thermal 

protection system. 

Once docked to the International Space 

Station, the crew delivered and installed the 

Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility 

and the Experiment Logistics Module Exposed 

Section. The mission tied a record for the 

most humans in space at any one time --13. 

NASA’s modified 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with space shuttle Discovery securely mounted on top soars into 

the sky after takeoff from Edwards Air Force Base on Sept. 20, 2009. Discovery landed at Edwards on Sept. 11 

after the STS-128 mission to the International Space Station.

A United Space Alliance technician removes and replaces a hub tile on space shuttle Discovery before its STS119 mission to deliver the S6 truss segment to the International Space Station.
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The 29th shuttle mission to the station concluded its 16-day flight by landing safely at 

Kennedy’s Shuttle Landing Facility on July 31, 

2009, at 10:48 a.m. EDT.

Mission STS-128/Discovery

Kennedy’s launch vehicle team had to overcome several challenges prior to the launch 

of Discovery’s STS-128 mission. Because of 

the foam liberation seen during the STS-127 

launch, extensive pull tests were performed in 

the Vehicle Assembly Building on the space 

shuttle’s external tank foam insulation. 

Heavy rainfall the night before rollout 

forced the crawler-transporter to pause several 

times during the four-mile trek to the pad for 

mud to be removed from its treads and bearings. Once at the pad, modifications to a broken vital check valve filter assembly were made 

to the left solid rocket booster. 

The first launch attempt was scrubbed due 

to weather concerns. A second attempt was 

scrubbed due to an issue with a liquid hydrogen fill-and-drain valve inside Discovery’s aft 

compartment. 

Finally, Discovery lifted off from Launch 

Pad 39A on the 128th shuttle mission, Aug. 

28, 2009, at 11:59 p.m. EDT. In addition to 

delivering the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module 

Leonardo to the International Space Station, 

the crew performed three spacewalks during 

the mission. They removed and replaced a materials processing experiment outside the European Space Agency’s Columbus module and 

retrieved an empty ammonia tank assembly. 

Discovery’s 14-day mission, the 30th to 

the station, came to an end Sept. 11, 2009, at 

8:53 p.m. EDT with a landing at California’s 

Edwards Air Force Base, due to weather constraints at Kennedy.

Ares I-X Flight Test

The launch of the Ares I-X flight test became a reality for Kennedy’s processing team. 

This fiscal year saw the completion of stacking operations on NASA’s first new vehicle in 

more than a quarter-century in the Vehicle 

Assembly Building. A dedicated team drawn 

from across the agency performed in-depth 

integrated vehicle verification and validation 

testing in preparation for a scheduled October 2009 rollout from the Vehicle Assembly 

Building to Launch Pad 39B.

Ares I-X Pad Modifications

Major modifications were made to Launch 

Pad 39B in anticipation of the arrival of Ares 

I-X. The space shuttle’s orbiter access arm, 

gaseous oxygen vent arm and lightning mast, 

as well as the Apollo-era crane assembly, were 

removed from the fixed service structure. 

A new lightning protection system was 

constructed in preparation for the much taller 

Ares I-X rocket. More than 200 concrete pilings extending up to 55 feet below the ground 

were laid to support three new lightning towers. Each steel tower reaches 

500 feet tall with a 100-foot 

fiberglass mast atop. At 600 

feet tall, they dwarf the fixed 

service structure and are 

taller than the Vehicle Assembly Building. The towers 

were partially assembled on 

the ground and then lifted 

into position by a massive 

650-foot-tall crane, then assembled using several smaller 

cranes. A large cable, called 

a catenary wire, was strung 

between two of the three 

towers, offering lightning 

protection to the Ares I-X 

rocket. Additional cables 

will be added for future Ares 

launches. 

Other pad modifications 

included a vehicle stabilization system on the fixed service structure to keep the vehicle from swaying 

while on the launch pad, and a platform on 

the rotating service structure to allow access to 

the fifth segment simulator, which housed the 

first stage avionics module.

Space Shuttle Transition and Retirement

As the Space Shuttle Program draws to a 

close, the transition and retirement team efforts have picked up significantly. Several key 

milestones were met this fiscal year. Agencylevel funding was approved for all transition 

and retirement activities. Development of the 

Shuttle Processing Transition Management 

Plan was completed and transition property 

assessments were completed on about 23,000 

personal property line items belonging to the 

center’s Ground Operations Project Office. 

This fiscal year also saw the transfer of Mobile 

Launcher Platform-1 and Launch Pad 39B to 

NASA’s Constellation Program to support the 

launch of Ares I-X.

In September 2009, NASA issued a request 

for proposal and invited eligible educational 

institutions, museums and other organizations 

to begin registering to screen potential space 

shuttle artifacts. To ensure broad access to the 

artifacts, NASA partnered with the U.S. General Services Administration to provide a firstof-its-kind, Web-based electronic artifacts prescreening capability. n

Kennedy Space Center Director Robert D. Cabana, left, and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden walk to welcome home the crew of the 

space shuttle Endeavour shortly after landing, July 31, 2009, at the Shuttle Landing Facility, completing a 16-day journey of more than 

6.5 million miles.
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Under a full moon on Launch Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle 

Discovery is revealed after the rotating service structure rolled back. The rollback was in 

preparation for Discovery’s liftoff on the STS-119 mission to the International Space Station.
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During the year, Kennedy Space Center’s International Space Station and Spacecraft Processing team managed 

the processing of several important components for transport aboard space shuttle missions to the space station. Even as construction 

of the station wraps up, work will continue to 

process science and research experiments for 

delivery to the orbiting laboratory. 

Prior to the STS-125 mission, an on-orbit 

anomaly with the Hubble Space Telescope’s 

Science Instrument Command and Data 

Handling Unit required the processing team 

to remove the mission’s current payload from 

space shuttle Atlantis. The Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission 4 processing team 

completed re-integration of the payload, along 

with a new unit before the mission successfully launched in May 2009.

For the STS-127 mission, the processing 

team completed the integration and testing 

of Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s, or 

JAXA’s, Exposed Facility, Exposed Section, and 

NASA’s Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light 

Deployable. All three elements were delivered 

and successfully attached to the space station, 

signaling the completion of JAXA’s Kibo laboratory. The mission also carried some much 

needed spare parts for the station’s exterior.

For the STS-128 mission, technicians installed about 30 cargo stowage bags into the 

Multi-Purpose Logistics Module, or MPLM, 

Leonardo. The module carried about 7 tons of 

equipment and supplies, including new sleeping quarters, galley facilities, the C

treadmill and a water recycling system, which 

helped support the station’s six-crew capability. 

For the STS-129 mission, prelaunch 

preparations of the first two Express Logistics 

Carriers were completed. An assortment of 

very large orbital replacement units and one 

research payload were mounted on the carriers 

for delivery to the space station. During the 

mission, both carriers were deployed to parking locations on the station’s integrated truss 

assembly. 

The European-built Node 3 module, also 

called Tranquility, arrived at Kennedy on May 

20, 2009, and was transferred to the Space 

Station Processing Facility to prepare it for the 

STS-130 mission to the space station. 

The Tranquility node connecting module was contracted to the European Space 

Agency and built by prime contractor Thales 

Alenia Space Agency in Turin, Italy. Kennedy’s processing team worked with the Italian 

Space Agency to process, test and checkout 

Tranquility and the cupola.

The cupola will allow a nearly 360-degree 

view of the station and Earth to monitor robotics and observe our home planet.

Technicians also continued integration activities on the MPLM Leonardo for the STS131 mission currently targeted to launch in 

March 2010. They also prepared provisions, 

supplies, science experiments and an ammonia tank that will support cooling activities on 

the station.

Planning is under way to prepare the payloads slated to fly on the last scheduled space 

shuttle mission, STS-133. This flight will carry the fourth Express Logistics Carrier, which 

will be mounted to a very large, spare heat 

rejection radiator. The mission also is scheduled to carry the modified MPLM Leonardo 

outfitted with at least 12 cargo-carrying racks. 

Both elements will remain on the station at 

the conclusion of this final assembly mission.

The processing team completed a facility 

assessment of the JAXA launch complex located on Tanegashima. The assessment finalized processing and logistical plans for the 

shipment of two space station integrated orbital replacement units -- a cargo transportation container and a flex hose rotary coupler. 

Shipping of the integrated assemblies to Japan 

currently is planned for August 2010 for subsequent integration and launch aboard JAXA’s 

H-II Transfer Vehicle on Jan. 15, 2011.

Operations and Checkout Building

Reactivation for Orion Production

Baseline construction to remodel the Operations and Checkout Building, or O&C, 

into a world-class Orion spacecraft production factory was completed in January 2009. 

International Space Station 

and Spacecraft Processing

In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians check the Multi-Use 

Lightweight Equipment Carrier where the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Unit was housed for 

the fifth and final shuttle servicing mission to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.
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Beginning in January, verification, validation 

and acceptance testing of the modifications 

were performed and the team generated and 

reviewed the technical verification documentation, called Acceptance Data Packages, to 

support the acceptance and turnover requirements for facility systems. The project was 

completed at the end of September 2009 and 

the facility infrastructure systems were turned 

over to Kennedy on Oct. 1, 2009, for operations, maintenance and engineering. Lockheed 

Martin will have total operational capability, 

flexibility and independence within the O&C 

high bay for Orion production activities.

Space Station Utilization 

The utilization team performed launch 

site preflight testing and integration of several 

science and research experiments for delivery 

to the space station and assisted with successful on-orbit operations of these experiments. 

The team also processed an array of returning 

research payloads. These efforts advanced the 

strategic accomplishments of NASA’s Space 

Operations Mission and Exploration Systems 

Mission directorates in key scientific research 

fields, including biological, human physiology, physical and materials research, and Earth 

and space science. 

The team worked to develop ways to preserve NASA’s hands-on engineering skills for 

future programs. That included collaborations 

with government and commercial research 

entities to use the space station as a National 

Laboratory.

Following is a synopsis of some of the major science and research payloads processed 

during the fiscal year.

The European Space Agency’s Muscle Atrophy Research Exercise System, or MARES, 

will gather research on musculoskeletal, biomechanical and neuromuscular human physiology to better understand the effects of microgravity on the muscles. MARES is capable 

of assessing the strength of isolated muscle 

groups around joints by controlling and measuring relationships between position/velocity 

and torque/force as a function of time.

NASA’s Mice Drawer System, or MDS, is 

hardware provided by the Italian Space Agency that will use a validated mouse model to 

investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying 

bone mass loss in microgravity. MDS is a multifunctional and multiuser system that allows 

experiments in various areas of biomedicine, 

from research on organ function to the study 

of the embryonic development of small mammals under microgravity conditions. Research 

conducted with the MDS is an analogue to 

the human research program, which has the 

objective to extend the human presence safely 

beyond low Earth orbit.

The Minus Eighty-degree Laboratory 

Freezer, or MELFI, is a refrigerator/freezer for 

biological and life science samples collected on 

the space station. The European Space Agency-built and NASA-operated freezers store 

samples at temperatures of 4 degrees C to as 

low as minus 80 degrees C.

NASA’s Materials International Space Station Experiment, or MISSE, is a series of external, exchangeable test beds located on the 

European Space Agency’s Columbus module 

for studying the durability of materials, such 

as optics, sensors, electronics, communications devices, coatings and structural materials. To date, six different MISSE experiments 

have been attached to the outside of the station and evaluated for the effects of atomic oxygen, vacuum, solar radiation, micrometeorites, direct sunlight and extreme temperatures. 

This experiment allows the development and 

testing of new materials to better withstand 

the rigors of space environments. Many of the 

materials may have applications in the design 

of future spacecraft.

The Device for the study of Critical Liquids and Crystallization, or DECLIC, is a 

multiuser facility developed by the French 

Space Agency, and was flown in collaboration with NASA. It was designed to conduct 

experiments in the fields of fluid physics and 

materials science. 

Kennedy’s utilization team successfully 

developed, verified, tested, flight certified, 

launched and directed on-orbit operations 

and associated ground controls for the Advanced Biological Research System, or ABRS. 

It is a single-locker system with two growth 

chambers. Each growth chamber is a closed 

system capable of independently controlling 

temperature, illumination and atmospheric 

composition to grow a variety of biological 

organisms, including plants, microorganisms, 

and small insects and spiders.

The initial plant experiments hosted in the 

ABRS were the first willow tree seedlings in 

space. They were used for a Canadian study of 

cambium formation. An American study used 

green fluorescent proteins as environmental 

stress indicators. n

In the Space Station Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, workers secure the overhead 

crane to the Tranquility module in its shipping container. NASA chose the name “Tranquility” to honor the 

accomplishments of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. The module was delivered to the International Space 

Station on Endeavour’s STS-130 mission.
14

NASA’s Launch Services Program, or 

LSP, at Kennedy Space Center had 

a demanding year managing seven 

launches of nine spacecraft from three different sites, using a variety of expendable launch 

vehicles. Of these missions, five were launched 

in about a four-month period.

For the first time, LSP launched missions 

for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency and performed its first advisory role for the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, 

called GOES-O on a Delta IV. The program 

also was involved in planning for up to 25 

future NASA missions, including the Mars 

Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, mission, as well as an advisory role to 

the James Webb Space Telescope, aboard an 

Ariane launch vehicle. LSP continued to foster relationships with emerging commercial 

launch service providers.

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or 

IBEX, spacecraft launched from a Pegasus XL 

rocket, carried by the Orbital Sciences L-1011 

carrier aircraft, from the Kwajalein Atoll in the 

Pacific Ocean, at 1:47 p.m. EDT on Oct. 19, 

2008. 

The mission presented some logistical 

challenges in order to manage and launch the 

rocket. LSP established a presence with 90 

government and contractor support personnel, equipment and supplies on the remote 

island. Early on in launch vehicle processing, 

a vehicle loads problem was detected and LSP 

supported the development of a load isolation 

system with NASA’s Goddard Space Flight 

Center in Maryland and the Orbital Spacecraft Systems Group. 

IBEX now is orbiting Earth in a highly elliptical orbit every five to eight days collecting energetic neutral atom particles generated in the region between our solar system 

and the interstellar gas found between stars 

in the Milky Way galaxy. As the particles are 

collected, the sensors and spacecraft will keep 

track of their energy and direction, allowing 

IBEX to map out this interaction region, even 

though it is billions of miles away.

Launch Services Program

On Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, the first half of the fairing moves into place 

around NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, atop the United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Kepler is designed to survey 

more than 100,000 stars in our galaxy to determine the number of sun-like stars that have Earth-size and 

larger planets.
15

LSP managed the countdown and launch 

of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration’s NOAA-N Prime satellite, 

which lifted off aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from Space Launch 

Complex-2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in 

California at 5:22 a.m. EST on Feb. 6, 2009. 

The NOAA-N Prime mission was the last 

in the series of Television Infrared Observation 

Satellites, or TIROS, which dates back to the 

first TIROS launch in 1960. The satellite will 

become part of a polar-orbiting observation 

system consisting of morning and afternoon 

satellites. The pair of satellites ensures that every part of Earth is observed twice every 12 

hours, providing measurements for global atmospheric and surface forecast models. 

NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory, or 

OCO, spacecraft was prepared for its launch 

aboard an Orbital Sciences Taurus XL launch 

vehicle from Vandenberg. This was NASA’s 

first use of a Taurus XL for a mission. Unfortunately, after launching at 4:55 a.m. EST on 

Feb. 24, 2009, the vehicle failed to reach orbit.

The LSP team analyzed the launch data 

and completed work in less than two weeks 

in order to clear the Delta II rocket for the 

Kepler launch in early March. 

The program also supported the OCO Mishap Investigation Board and fostered technical 

exchange between the Taurus, Delta, Atlas and 

Minotaur launch vehicles user community. 

The mishap investigation board concluded 

that the fairing did not separate, leading to the 

failure. The LSP team established a return-toflight approach for the Taurus XL and is actively working to enable the Glory launch on 

the vehicle in the fall of 2010. 

NASA’s Kepler mission launched aboard 

a Delta II rocket from Launch Pad 17-B at 

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida 

at 10:49 p.m. EST on March 6, 2009, only 10 

days after the OCO launch.

Kepler’s fundamental goal is to determine 

the frequency of terrestrial and larger planets in 

or near the habitable zone of a variety of spectral stars, including those most like the sun. Its 

photometer, or brightness measurement, will 

continuously monitor hundreds of thousands 

of stars from periodic decreases in brightness 

caused by planets crossing their stars. 

LSP provided mission integration, launch 

site processing and launch management to 

the U.S. Missile Defense Agency for its Space 

Tracking and Surveillance System-Advanced 

Technology Risk Reduction spacecraft, or 

STSS-ATRR. It launched successfully aboard 

a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket from 

Space Launch Complex-2 at Vandenberg at 

4:24 p.m. EDT on May 5, 2009.

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or 

LRO, and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, spacecraft launched 

aboard an Atlas V from Launch Complex-41 

at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 5:32 

p.m. EDT on June 18, 2009.

LRO/LCROSS was NASA’s first mission 

back to the moon in 10 years and supports the 

agency’s Exploration Systems Mission Directorate. 

Processing for the mission required complex integration of the requirements of two 

spacecraft with different objectives. Also, LSP 

completed an enormous amount of trajectory 

analyses, simulations and design work to ensure the single launch would meet the orbit 

requirements of both spacecraft.

LRO will use its seven instruments to create a comprehensive atlas of the moon’s features and identify resources necessary to design and build a lunar outpost. The spacecraft 

will spend at least one year in a low-polar orbit, focusing on the selection of safe landing 

sites, the identification of lunar resources and 

the study of how lunar radiation will affect 

humans. 

The LCROSS launch vehicle second stage 

impacted the moon, in a permanently shadowed crater near one of the poles, Oct. 9, 

2009, creating a debris plume that rose above 

the lunar surface. LCROSS flew through the 

debris plume, collecting and relaying data 

back to Earth before colliding and creating a 

second debris plume. Evidence of water ice recently was discovered.

LSP also provided advisory assistance for 

the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, called GOES-O. The satellite 

On Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, workers check out the Lunar 

Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, after its lift into the mobile service tower.
16

launched aboard a United Launch Alliance 

Delta IV rocket from Launch Complex-37 

at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, at 6:51 

p.m. EDT on June 27, 2009.

A second Missile Defense Agency mission 

with two satellites, STSS-Demo, launched 

aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II 

rocket from Launch Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 8:20 a.m. EDT on 

Sept. 25, 2009. 

In addition, engineers from LSP and Kennedy’s Engineering Directorate continued to 

provide assistance to NASA’s Constellation 

Program. They performed independent assessments of loads, dynamics and the Ares 

I-X flight control systems to help NASA prepare for the successful flight test at Kennedy 

in October 2009.

In order to ensure the availability of launch 

services for future NASA science missions, 

LSP continued to work with emerging commercial providers by establishing formal agreements. n

Smoke pours across Launch Complex-41 at Cape 

Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida as the Atlas 

V, carrying NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, 

or LRO, and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing 

Satellite, or LCROSS, roars into the sky at 5:32 p.m. 

EDT on June 18, 2009.

In the conference room of the Operations Support Building II at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, employees view live on NASA Television the moon impact of the Lunar 

Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, and its spent Centaur upper stage.
17

The United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket carrying NASA’s 

NOAA-N Prime satellite lifts off Space Launch Complex-2 

at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 5:22 a.m. EST 

on Feb. 6, 2009. NOAA-N Prime is the fifth and last in the 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s current 

series of five polar-orbiting satellites with improved imaging 

and sounding capabilities.
18

A spectacular liftoff by the Ares I-X rocket from Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center capped a year of 

great strides for the center’s Ground Operations 

Project as it moves ahead with the long-term 

development of the launch site in support of 

the Constellation Program. The work is critical 

for NASA’s efforts to smoothly transition from 

the space shuttle to the next generation of rockets and spacecraft.

The test rocket, which topped a space shuttle solid rocket booster with a simulated fifth 

stage segment, upper stage and spacecraft, was 

still in several pieces when 2009 began. The individual segments of the upper stage simulator 

were built at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in 

Ohio and trucked to Kennedy for assembly.

With the parts coming together in the Vehicle Assembly Building, workers and cranes that 

have spent the past three decades connecting 

shuttle elements began putting together a new 

design to provide access to vehicles intended to 

one day carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit.

The first four segments of the rocket came 

by train from ATK’s production facility in 

Utah. Stacked atop the left-hand solid rocket 

booster exhaust port on Mobile Launcher Platform-1, the Ares I-X quickly grew taller than 

any shuttle stack. The rocket reached 327 feet 

high when it was finished, the tallest craft to be 

stacked in the Vehicle Assembly Building since 

the Skylab rocket.

Along with the rocket, Kennedy’s ground 

support infrastructure saw extensive changes to 

support the new design. 

Launch Pad 39B saw the most changes, beginning with a trio of 600-foot-tall lightning 

protection system towers that will guard the 

next generation of rockets. The towers were 

completed ahead of schedule and in time to 

protect shuttle Endeavour as it stood on pad 

B for possible duty as a rescue shuttle for STS125, the last servicing mission to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The towers also protected 

the Ares I-X launch vehicle during its short stay 

on the pad.

Once the STS-125 mission concluded in 

May 2009, workers removed the orbiter access 

arm from the fixed service structure at pad B 

since the Ares I-X would not need it. They then 

pulled the end off of the gaseous oxygen vent 

arm and built a service platform in its place. 

Stabilizing arms were added to the gantry to 

hold the rocket steady during its weeklong stay 

at the pad before liftoff.

With the finishing touches completed on 

pad B, the Ares I-X was hauled from the VAB 

on top of a crawler-transporter.

The testing, rollout and launch of the developmental flight test were watched carefully 

inside the newly refurbished and renamed 

Young-Crippen Firing Room inside the Kennedy’s Launch Control Center. The control room, 

which oversaw numerous historical flights, including the first moon landing mission and the 

first shuttle launch, was revamped with new 

equipment and an advanced layout for the Ares 

I-X launch team. 

The Ares I-X roared into the sky Oct. 28, 

2009, after a weather delay the day before 

forced a postponement. The flight test was an 

overwhelming success. The data recorded during the flight from some 700 sensors on the 

rocket will be used to refine the computer models designers are using to develop next-generation launchers.

As the test rocket made its way into the sky, 

future ground support equipment took form 

beside the VAB where cranes and workers have 

been building a new mobile launcher and accompanying service tower. Eventually, the tower will rival the VAB’s height, although it will 

be able to fit through the VAB’s vertical doors. 

In addition to an access platform reaching to a 

new spacecraft, the tower will hold umbilical 

arms to fuel and pressurize liquid-fueled upper 

stages on a new rocket.

The umbilical arms will be tested with a new 

simulator called the vehicle motion simulator, 

A ribbon cutting on Sept. 25, 2009, officially turns over the Launch Control Center’s Young-Crippen Firing Room 

at Kennedy Space Center from the Space Shuttle Program to the Constellation Program. Participating from left, 

are Pepper Phillips, director of the Constellation Project Office at Kennedy; Robert D. Cabana, Kennedy’s director; 

Robert Crippen, former astronaut; Jeff Hanley, manager of the Constellation Program at Johnson Space Center; 

and Nancy Bray, deputy director of Center Operations at Kennedy.

Constellation Ground Operations
19

which is under construction at the launch 

equipment test facility. The simulator is meant 

to evaluate the arms’ design for interaction 

with a rocket while on the pad through liftoff.

The Orion spacecraft and its support requirements also made significant progress in 

2009. A mock-up of the spacecraft was lowered into the water at Port Canaveral, Fla., so 

recovery personnel could test the handling of 

a craft designed to return to Earth beneath billowing parachutes rather than on the strength 

of wings. With the tests completed, the mockup was carried a couple of miles to the Atlantic 

Ocean for an appraisal in various sea conditions, such as those the spacecraft is expected 

to see when it returns from space.

Preliminary design reviews, which are major milestones in their own right, were completed for several Constellation systems, including the launch pad, emergency egress, and 

command control and communications. 

The Ground Operations Project as a whole 

also completed its own preliminary design 

readiness review.

While much of the year’s work focused on 

the next rocket to carry astronauts, configurations also were evaluated for the large Ares V 

launch vehicle designed to lift a lunar lander 

into orbit. The lander program, Altair, also got 

considerable attention as engineers studied 

processing concepts for the spacecraft.

This past year could be seen as a pivotal 

year in the history of the spaceport as Kennedy 

prepares for the nation’s future space exploration challenges. n

Members of the U.S. Air Force 920th 

Rescue Wing secure a flotation collar 

around the mock-up Orion crew 

exploration vehicle at the Trident 

Basin at Port Canaveral in Florida. The 

mock-up vehicle underwent testing 

in open water to determine what kind 

of motion astronauts can expect after 

landing, as well as outside conditions 

for recovery teams.

The 327-foot-tall Ares I-X rocket 

casts shadows on the massive 

Vehicle Assembly Building at 

Kennedy Space Center 

as it heads to Launch Pad 39B 

aboard a crawler-transporter on 

Oct. 20, 2009.
20

I

nnovative technology experts at Kennedy 

Space Center support NASA’s current 

programs and future exploration missions 

by developing new products and processes 

that benefit the agency and consumers.

Using a highly trained work force, topnotch facilities and technical expertise, Kennedy remains a leader in the world of cuttingedge technology.

Corrosion Technology Laboratory

In fiscal year 2009, Kennedy’s Corrosion 

Technology Laboratory developed corrosioncontrol materials and systems to support launch 

facilities through their operational life cycles. 

With constant deterioration from heat 

and blast effects, as well as exposure to the elements, bricks along the flame trench walls become susceptible to failure, resulting in large 

pieces of concrete and mortar breaking away 

from the steel base structure. 

New technologies are aimed at protecting the structure, ground support equipment, 

launch vehicles and crews from the potentially 

catastrophic effects of corrosion.

The lab is working to identify or develop 

an alternate refractory material not susceptible 

to environmental and launch effects. Testing 

has been performed on current materials, as 

well as other commercially available products, based on acidic resistance, compression 

strength, thermal shock, dimensional stability 

and abrasion resistance.

The lab also is developing smart coatings 

that can detect and control corrosion without 

external intervention. In fact, this multifunctional, environmentally friendly paint system 

will have the ability to self heal mechanical 

damage. The coating works by using corrosionsensitive microcapsules that deliver contents 

without external intervention, and soon will 

be incorporated into existing paint systems and 

tested for performance. Second-generation, 

corrosion-sensitive microcapsules already have 

been successfully synthesized and tested. 

The lab is taking its innovative ideas to the 

moon, too. A future base on the lunar surface 

would require large amounts of dense, strong 

construction material for thermal and dust 

control, as well as radiation protection. 

The lab previously investigated the use of 

a solar concentrator to turn simulated lunar 

soil, called JSC-1A, into a solid, although it 

has been difficult to solidify large areas due to 

the insulating properties of the soil and difficulty in aligning the concentrator.

Currently, a system is being built that will 

integrate a hopper to feed soil with a resistive heater, which provides a more stable heat 

source than a concentrator. The system will be 

part of a large area surface sintering system integrated onto a lunar rover for a field demonstration beginning in late January 2010, along 

with a significant number of other in-situ resource utilization systems at a lunar analog site 

in Hawaii. 

Prototype Development Laboratory

Following two scrubbed STS-127 launch 

attempts due to a hydrogen leak issue seen 

from the external fuel tank’s gaseous hydrogen 

venting system, the NASA team determined 

that crucial measurements were necessary to 

check the alignment of the system’s quick disconnect seal with the Ground Umbilical Carrier Plate. 

A tool provided by Kennedy’s Prototype 

Development Laboratory was used by United 

Space Alliance technicians to take measurements of the umbilical plate while space shuttle Endeavour was at Launch Pad 39A. The 

tool worked perfectly in providing measurements accurate to one-thousandth of an inch 

and helped determine corrective actions. Being able to accurately take field measurements 

without disassembling flight hardware prevented a significant delay to the space shuttle 

manifest.

The lab was tasked for another launch vehicle, this time to protect two important sensors on the Ares I-X rocket.

The five-hole probe at the top of the 

327-foot-tall rocket and total air temperature 

sensor on the side of the launch abort system 

were the rocket’s most critical payload. Rain, 

Engineering Achievements

Inside Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, David Rowell, left, a NASA Prototype 

Laboratory technician, and Henry May, with Kennedy’s Constellation Transportation Planning Office, perform a fit 

check on a cover for the tip of the Ares I-X probe.
21

mosquitoes and even bird droppings could seriously impact the data output of those sensors.

The lab developed covers, consisting of zero 

porosity nylon fabric with Velcro fasteners, 

based on customer requirements, size, shape 

and location of the sensors. All seams were 

sealed for protection against moisture intrusion, and a lanyard made from 1,000-pound 

spectra line was sewn into each cover for removal at the pad.

Lab personnel, working with a United 

Space Alliance lift operator, successfully installed the covers and taped the lanyards on 

the rocket in August 2009. Lab personnel also 

routed and configured the lanyards at the pad 

about 12 hours before launch to be ready for 

the T-2-hour pull from the 295-foot level of 

the fixed service structure. 

As part of the new Ares I vehicle design 

process, the lab was tasked by NASA’s Constellation Program to provide prototype test 

articles for water recovery of the Orion crew 

exploration vehicle. The Post-landing Orion 

Recovery Test, or PORT, focused on recovery 

during a variety of weather and sea conditions 

in order to help drive the vehicle’s final design.

The primary purpose was to determine the 

maximum sea conditions pararescue jumpers 

could safely recover the vehicle and a crew. The 

lab completed development of a prototype stabilization collar and inflatable ladder system 

to support recovery testing. The stabilization 

collar, an inflatable ring that provides stability 

as well as a work platform, allowed the rescue 

crew to access the side and top hatches.

The Orion stabilization collar design was 

similar to that used during the Gemini and 

Apollo programs. The new inflatable ladder 

system can be used as a platform, or porch, 

when placed in the water to provide additional 

room for the rescuers and crew. 

PORT testing came to Kennedy’s Trident 

turning basin, and then two miles off the coast 

of Kennedy, first in calm water and then gradually increasing waves, using NASA’s recovery 

ship, Freedom Star. The sea anchor, stabilization collar and inflatable ladder were tested 

under various sea state conditions and various 

heat shield flooding conditions.

Applied Physics Laboratory

In 2007, space shuttle personnel approached Kennedy’s Applied Physics Laboratory and asked for a sensor that could nonintrusively monitor gaseous nitrogen flow in 

a steel tube to determine if the desiccant canisters used in the window cavity conditioning 

system were plugged. 

As a result, the Window Cavity Conditioning System Redundant Flow Path Verification Device was conceived, approved and 

funded in the spring of 2008. ASRC Aerospace Corp., the Prototype Development 

Lab, and the Applied Physics Lab developed 

the GSE version of the hardware and in May 

2009, it was used on space shuttle Discovery 

in support of the STS-128 mission, supplying desiccant canisters flow indications, removing the need to disassemble and bench 

test the system.

Recently, the labs delivered a handheld 

tool, in response to a request from the shuttle 

window inspection group, for locating and 

inspecting defects in fused silica. The window 

inspectors are required to quickly determine 

if any given defect is serious and the existing 

tool had failed in blind testing. This new tool 

consists of two bore-sighted cameras, one that 

looks at a large field-of-view to help locate the 

defect and the other that looks at a narrow 

field-of-view providing a microscope-type image of the defect.

Kennedy’s Engineering Directorate

Kennedy’s Engineering Directorate continues to apply its considerable abilities and oneof-a-kind experience to benefit NASA’s space 

shuttle fleet, the International Space Station 

and the Launch Services Program. Engineers 

at Kennedy also are increasingly focusing their 

attention on new spacecraft and launchers.

Engineers in the directorate work in Kennedy’s areas of expertise, such as processing, 

ground operations and launch. With the 

merging of applied technology into engineering, the directorate now has the complete life 

cycle from advanced studies and conceptualization through integration. That means an 

engineer can conceptualize an element, design 

the element, and have it evaluated, perfected 

and incorporated into a mechanism or other 

environment without leaving the directorate.

During 2009, Kennedy’s engineers and 

scientists played a role in preparing the last 

shuttle mission to service NASA’s Hubble 

Space Telescope and working with the Launch 

Services Program on the launch of weather observation spacecraft and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE.

Analysis, design and other engineering 

work conducted in 2009 and in previous 

years paid off spectacularly with the successful launch of the Ares I-X. Kennedy’s expertise 

was employed for the mission in many ways, 

including retrofitting Launch Pad 39B to host 

the much taller Ares I-X rocket instead of a 

space shuttle. 

Looking far into the future, the Engineering Directorate is playing a role in developing 

technologies astronauts will require for visits 

to the moon, asteroids or Mars. n

Inside Kennedy Space Center’s Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, NASA Lead Engineer for the Prototype 

Development Laboratory Adam Dokos performs a fit check of the External Tank Hydrogen Leak Anomaly 

Measurement Tool on a mock-up of the fuel tank’s umbilical plate for the STS-127 mission.
22

Space shuttle Endeavour, mounted atop its modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft, 

flies over California’s Mojave Desert on its way back to NASA’s Kennedy Space 

Center in Florida.
23
24

With the retirement of NASA’s space 

shuttle fleet scheduled for 2010, 

Kennedy Space Center increased 

its efforts to expand and strengthen partnerships with private and public organizations.

Key among these efforts was the formation of the Center Planning and Development 

Office, which now serves as Kennedy’s “front 

door” for new partnerships. 

To ensure the most efficient utilization of 

Kennedy’s work force, hardware and facilities 

for NASA’s future initiatives, as well as the 

commercial space industry, the office combined Kennedy’s master planning and real 

property management with management of 

the agency’s programmatic transition and a 

focused Center Development Program. The 

office supports NASA programs and helps 

ensure efficient use of center institutional and 

technological assets. 

A Partnerships Board comprised of Kennedy’s senior managers was established to coordinate and focus center activities that enable, 

develop and sustain non-traditional business 

and partnerships. The board also facilitates integration of partnership activities across internal and external organizations. 

 A Business Development Working Group 

developed by the board supports identification, pursuit and implementation of new opportunities. The new group is strengthening 

existing stakeholder interactions, and expanding cooperation with local, state and federal 

government agencies. Among these are collaborations with Space Florida, the Economic 

Development Commission of Florida’s Space 

Coast, the Brevard Workforce Development 

Board, and planning and development offices 

across the nation.

Several key strategic partnerships formed 

or initiated in fiscal year 2009 will help Kennedy transition into the post-shuttle era.

In December 2008, Kennedy and Space 

Florida signed a long-term lease for a 60-acre 

parcel of land to be developed as the first phase 

of a mixed-use technology and space commerce park adjacent to the state’s Space Life 

Sciences Laboratory.

Exploration Park at Kennedy will be developed and operated by Space Florida and their 

At Kennedy Space Center, Director Robert D. Cabana, left, congratulates Eric Silagy, Florida Power & Light vice 

president and chief development officer, for his part in the construction of NASA’s first large-scale solar power 

generation facility. The one-megawatt facility is the first element of a major renewable energy project currently 

under construction at the center.

Partnerships
25

industry partner, The Pizzuti Companies, to 

provide a campus for tenants who will support space-related activities for NASA, other 

government agencies and the U.S. commercial 

space industry. Eight facilities spanning about 

315,000 square feet will provide space for offices, light manufacturing, assembly, processing and a variety of support functions. The 

project, expected to break ground in 2010, 

will help mitigate technical work force disruptions at the center. It also will provide an environment that fosters growth of commercial 

space capabilities, supporting NASA’s mission 

and benefiting the nation’s economy.

Kennedy furthered its partnership with 

Florida Power and Light, or FPL, to develop 

use of renewable energy by initiating construction of two solar power generation projects, 

totaling 11 megawatts. FPL and their contractor, SunPower Corp., completed NASA’s first 

utility-scale solar power generation facility, a 

one megawatt facility now providing a portion 

of the electricity used at Kennedy. 

A larger, 10-megawatt solar farm being 

built nearby, will supply power to FPL’s customers when it is completed in April 2010. 

The projects are supporting a national goal 

aimed at increasing America’s energy independence while improving the planet’s environment and were recognized by the General 

Services Administration as the 2009 winner of 

the Real Property Award for innovative use of 

federal land.

In September 2009, Kennedy and 

Starfighters Inc. of Tarpon Springs, Fla., negotiated a new partnership allowing the firm 

to use the runway at the center’s Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF, for its venture to support 

the commercial space industry. The agreement 

will enable Starfighters to operate its private 

fleet of Lockheed F-104 aircraft at the SLF 

for approved flight activities. The partnership 

is an example of how Kennedy is working to 

diversify use of the shuttle runway to help sustain a unique asset for horizontal space launch 

and recovery after the shuttle retires.

Throughout the year, the center continued 

to grow its technology and educational partnerships, and expand support for commercial 

space transportation firms, such as SpaceX. 

The company is developing launch facilities 

at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to supply 

NASA with commercial launch services to the 

International Space Station.

Kennedy’s employees continued to demonstrate that the center’s work force is a strong 

partner in the community through the 2009 

Combined Federal Campaign. A total of 

$455,774 was voluntarily contributed to various charities. n

Space Launch Complex-40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida is being outfitted to support the new Falcon rockets to be launched by Space Exploration 

Technologies, known as SpaceX.
26

The keen sense of responsibility among 

Kennedy Space Center’s work force 

to protect the environment -- both 

on the center on which they work and in the 

neighboring communities in which they live 

-- led to new projects in fiscal year 2009 and 

greater levels of achievement in green initiatives.

NASA’s first large-scale solar power generation facility broke ground in May 2009 and 

was formally commissioned Nov. 19, 2009. 

The one-megawatt facility is the first element 

of a major renewable energy project currently 

under construction at Kennedy and is supplying part of the electricity needed to run the 

center. 

A 10-megawatt solar farm is under construction on nearby Kennedy property and 

will supply power to Florida Power & Light 

customers when it is completed in April 2010.

Construction of a new 10,730-squarefoot Propellants North Facility in the Launch 

Complex 39 area is under way to replace facilities built in the 1960s. The new building will 

qualify for the U.S. Green Building Council’s 

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Platinum designation, a first 

for the center, as well as NASA. Currently, 

there are 145 Platinum-rated facilities in the 

U.S., but only one other in Florida. The new 

facility is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

Deconstructed Launch Control Center firing room glazing and frames, and reclaimed 

and processed waste concrete from Kennedy’s 

demolition projects are being used for the facility’s foundation and paving sub-base materials. The roof will be constructed of recycled 

metal covered with a rainwater harvesting 

system that supplies restroom fixtures. Xeriscape landscaping will use native species and 

recycled crushed crawlerway rock for mulch.

The facility will feature a high-efficiency 

roof and walls; air conditioning with energy 

recovery technology; Smart Lighting controls 

with step dimming and occupancy sensors; 

Energy Star appliances; and high-velocity 

hand dryers. Natural lighting will be provided 

using high-efficiency windows with correct solar orientation, as well as sustainable flooring 

using polished concrete and laminated bamboo.

The Florida State Historic Preservation 

Office and the Advisory Council on Historic 

Preservation entered into a programmatic 

agreement with Kennedy for the management of historic facilities on May 18, 2009. 

The agreement clears the way for the center 

to perform normal maintenance and minor 

modifications to existing and future historic, 

ground-based facilities and structures listed on 

A variety of alternative fuel vehicles are driven around Kennedy Space Center in Florida in an effort to reduce gasoline consumption and conserve energy. These include 

compressed natural gas, bi-fuel, diesel and flex fuel vehicles.

Environmental Leadership
27

the National Register of Historic Places. It also 

allows for reuse to support new programs.

Kennedy’s strategic focus on cleaning up 

environmental contamination from past operations continued in 2009, with the removal 

of 8,018 tons of contaminated soil and the 

implementation of groundwater interim measures at Launch Complex-34 and the Spaceflight Tracking and Data Network Station. 

Regulatory approval was obtained on 57 work 

plans and reports, and final remedies were 

implemented at 12 sites, six of which were 

completed. The lessons learned from these 

remediation and cleanup efforts led to the 

modification of Kennedy’s current processes 

to prevent future contamination.

The recycling program at Kennedy continued to grow in 2009 with the collection of 

about 496 tons of office paper and cardboard; 

1,364 tons of metal; and 15 tons of plastic, 

glass and aluminum. About 14,690 tons of 

concrete and 604 tons of electronic parts, 

batteries, chemicals and toner cartridges also 

were recycled. The proceeds from recycling activities are used to fund additional recycling, 

green purchasing and pollution-prevention 

efforts.

About 30,000 tons of recycled concrete 

were utilized in the NASA Causeway seawall 

repair project, saving about $2.3 million. This 

coastal revetment project replaces the function of the existing vertical concrete bulkhead 

and protects the causeway from erosion near 

the Indian River Bridge. To further support 

recycling in the region, Kennedy procured recycled content and environmentally preferable 

materials where possible.

Application of an environmentally preferable paint, Hypalon H-27, as a seal coat over 

the thermal protection system of the space 

shuttle’s solid rocket boosters and the exterior 

of the motor cases reduced hazardous air emissions and the generation of hazardous waste. 

Through a partnership with the Florida 

Department of Environmental Protection, 

Kennedy’s hazardous waste permit was modified to allow the treatment and curing of inorganic zinc paint. Once treated, the paint’s 

waste is non-hazardous and can be handled 

accordingly.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or 

FWS, received stimulus money from the St. 

Johns River Water Management District for 

wetland restoration along the Banana Creek. 

About 500 acres of impoundments are being 

restored and 12 miles of dike road removed. 

NASA continues to partner with FWS and 

the U.S. Geological Service to develop and 

implement sustainable mitigation strategies 

to restore eroded dunes and protect Kennedy’s shoreline. This includes wildlife habitats 

critical to sustaining populations of threatened 

and endangered species, such as sea turtles.

Turtle-friendly light fixtures also were designed for a new mobile launcher under construction at Kennedy. The aluminum fixtures 

are fully enclosed to reduce the scattering of 

light, directing it straight down to the work 

areas. n

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Kennedy Space Center workers, along with volunteers, move a green sea turtle into a Merritt Island National 

Wildlife Refuge shop located a few miles away from Launch Complex 39. The turtle was one of hundreds affected by the sudden drop in temperature during the month of 

January 2010.
28

“Today, we must continue to cultivate 

new astronauts, scientists, robot designers and 

computer engineers.”

Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator

The mission of Kennedy Space Center’s 

education programs is to deliver quality education products and services, 

and continue to refine its approach by determining the factors of quality education and 

how it can be quantified, benchmarked and 

ensured.

Agencywide Project Management

Kennedy manages four agencywide education projects for NASA. They are the Interdisciplinary National Science Project Incorporating Research and Education Experience, 

or INSPIRE; Minority University Research 

and Education Programs, or MUREP, Small 

Projects; the Exploration Systems Mission 

Directorate, or ESMD, Space Grant; and Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive 

Research, or EPSCoR.

INSPIRE provides students from ninth 

grade through freshman year of college an 

online community that links them with other 

like-minded students with interests in aeronautics and space exploration, along with opportunities to participate in hands-on research 

during the summer months at a NASA center. 

This year, Kennedy hosted 21 INSPIRE 

interns from Florida, Georgia and Puerto Rico 

for eight weeks in the summer. Eleven of the 

interns were rising 12th-graders and 10 were 

starting their freshman year of college.

MUREP Small Projects’ mission is to fund 

innovative science, technology, engineering 

and mathematics, or STEM, projects that address outcome portfolio gaps within NASA’s 

MUREP priorities. For implementation in fiscal year 2010, the following five new projects 

were awarded:

•	 New Mexico State University: Promoting 

Access, Retention, and Interest in Astronomy

•	 North Carolina Agricultural and Technical 

State University: Integrating NASA Science, Technology and Research in Undergraduate Curriculum and Training

•	 Florida A & M University: Minority Innovation Challenges Institute

•	 Sistema Universitario: Engaging Minority Serving Institutions’ STEM Students 

Through Space-based Capstone Design

•	 Crownpoint Institute of Technology/Navajo Technical College: Laser Scanning for 

Digital Manufacturing

These grants offer a diverse blend of universities with projects that are crosscutting 

and enhance the education portfolio by including innovative methods, approaches and 

concepts. They also include the development 

or enhancement of at least 19 courses, as well 

as significant leveraging of NASA content, 

resources and direct NASA partnerships by 

including minority-serving institutions in 

NASA-sponsored challenges. Sustainability is 

considered and captured within all five proposals. 

The ESMD Space Grant project was developed to train a highly skilled scientific, engineering and technical work force of the future 

needed to implement the U.S. Space Exploration Policy. In 2009, ESMD provided 80 

NASA and industry internship opportunities 

and 45 senior design projects. A new senior 

design course was developed at Utah State 

University and two senior design courses were 

pilot-tested at Auburn University and Michigan Technological University. Professors from 

those universities presented course materials 

to 44 faculty members during a workshop at 

Kennedy. 

ESMD also supports a higher-education 

project called the Space Grant Systems Engineering Paper Competition, which is a highly 

competitive, national scholarship designed to 

engage and retain students in STEM fields. 

The competition is judged by ESMD systems 

engineers throughout the agency. First place 

honors went to teams at Rice University and 

Virginia Tech University.

“Team Taurus” from Rice University in Houston placed first in the NASA Exploration Systems Mission 

Directorate’s Space Grant Systems Engineering Paper Competition in April 2009.

Education
29

ESMD Space Grant contracted five faculty 

fellows to work on specific projects for six weeks 

at a NASA center and implement that project 

into a senior design course at their university 

during the 2009-10 academic year. There are 

806 members of the ESMD Space Grant Community of Practice and 111 members in the 

ESMD Space Grant Project Facebook group.

EPSCoR supports students and faculty at 

universities and colleges to strengthen their 

research capabilities and provide opportunities that attract and prepare them for NASArelated careers. NASA-funded research conducted at the institutions of higher education 

directly contributes to the research needs of 

NASA’s mission directorates. Twenty-seven 

states and Puerto Rico participated in EPSCoR this fiscal year.

Kennedy is preparing new solicitations for 

fiscal year 2010 by coordinating and monitoring current research grants, and supporting 

the integration of the new performance management initiatives to enhance reporting and 

outcome processes. 

K-12

In fiscal year 2009, NASA’s Educator Resource Center, or ERC, Aerospace Education 

Services Project, or AESP, the Digital Learning Network and the Exploration Station 

conducted educational workshops for 10,554 

formal educators, 47,319 students, and 5,290 

participants for informal events.

Kennedy manages and implements a national design competition for middle school 

students called the Waste Limitation Management and Recycling Design Challenge, or 

WLMR. It is comprised of two components: 

creating a water recycling prototype system 

that purifies 5 liters of simulated wastewater, 

and investigating their school’s solid waste 

stream along with creating a schoolwide program to limit and recycle waste.

The center signed a Space Act Agreement 

with Florida Power & Light in a joint effort 

to create an educational brief with hands-on 

activities related to solar power.

Kennedy’s ERC conducted a professional 

development workshop, July 20-25, 2009, for 

70 educators, representing General Electric’s 

facility regions in Connecticut, Georgia, New 

York, Kentucky, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The 

National Science Teachers Association, along 

with the ERC, taught the workshops.

Kennedy’s education division also worked 

with the Florida Institute of Technology, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and Florida State University to complete the second 

Florida Governor’s School two-week summer 

experience. Following that experience, 18 students received four-year scholarships to Florida Tech.

A new local pilot program, called Brevard 

Space Connections, sought to inspire eighthgrade students to pursue STEM careers before they enter high school. Kennedy education specialists conducted STEM hands-on 

activity workshops with the students in their 

classrooms once a month. All participants will 

be invited to Kennedy for a field trip, with 

schools providing the transportation. 

For NASA’s STS-125 and STS-129 misDr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, right, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York, was a guest on NASA’s Digital 

Learning Network from Kennedy Space Center’s News Center in May 2009. He talked about NASA’s Hubble 

Space Telescope before space shuttle Atlantis launched on the STS-125 servicing mission.

Jason Dunn, a senior aerospace engineering student 

at the University of Central Florida, performs a test for 

the Lunar Greenhouse Amplifier project in the Space 

Life Sciences Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center 

during a summer 2009 internship.
30

sions, the ERC and AESP staffed “Launch 

Mission Activity Stations” at the KSC Visitor Complex the day before and on launch 

day. The stations will continue through the 

remaining space shuttle launches, and will expand to include a station at the Astronaut Hall 

of Fame.

Kennedy hosted its fifth Pre-Service Teacher Institute, or PSTI. Eighteen students participated from minority institutions in Florida 

and Georgia. Students in their junior or senior 

year, majoring in education, learned how to 

create effective STEM lesson plans, while incorporating technology and NASA initiatives. 

NASA partnered with Gardendale Elementary 

in Brevard County, Fla., which allowed participants to conduct a lesson plan to fourth- and 

fifth-graders using NASA’s unique educational 

resources. 

Kennedy and NASA contractors volunteered their time to judge 54 Brevard County 

school science fairs. This year, the winner of 

the Annual State Science and Engineering 

Fair of Florida was from St. Augustine High 

School. That winning student received a summer internship at Kennedy. 

“Lunacy” was the theme of this year’s For 

Inspiration and Recognition of Science and 

Technology, or FIRST, Robotics Program, in 

honor of the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. 

Kennedy employees volunteered hundreds of 

hours to mentor local Brevard County teams, 

while the Information Technology group 

provided live coverage for NASA TV and the 

Web. Kennedy has two home teams: Team 

233, called the Pink Team, and Team 1592, 

called the Bionic Tigers. 

Higher-Education Programs

Kennedy hosted 122 interns during this 

fiscal year. Of these, about 38 percent were 

female and about 30 percent were minorities from minority-serving institutions. The 

American Association for the Advancement 

of Science sponsored three students with disabilities through the Achieving Competence 

in Computing, Engineering and Space Science, or ACCESS, program for a 10-week 

summer internship. 

Informal Education 

The Education Office worked with the 

ERC and the visitor complex to develop 

NASA STEM education activities, exhibits 

Karishma Patel, a student from Calhoun High 

School in Georgia, was a 2009 summer intern 

with Dynamac Corp. at Kennedy Space Center’s 

Space Life Sciences Laboratory. Patel developed a 

way to count living and dead bacteria in different 

environments.

Dustin Lear, a computer science student at Oregon 

Station University, interned with Lockheed Martin 

under NASA’s Outsourcing Desktop Initiative for 

NASA, or ODIN, contract for the agency’s Motivating 

Undergraduates in Science and Technology, or MUST, 

program. Lear is a NASA ambassador and helps 

communicate educational opportunities to other 

students.
31

and events. The goals of the project included 

increasing participation in high-quality experiences from existing or potential visitors, 

students, faculty and families; continuing interaction and sharing of project information 

between centers, visitor complexes and NASA’s 

Museum Alliance; developing interactive exhibits that provide continuing return on investment long after funds have been disbursed; 

providing professional development opportunities; fostering existing and new educational 

community relationships; supporting launches 

via workshops and live webcasts; and improving video conferencing capabilities for Kennedy’s regional ERCs in order to increase the 

number of STEM education opportunities.

On Dec. 3, 2008, a Space Act Agreement 

was finalized between Kennedy’s Education 

and Guest Services offices and Wannado Entertainment LLC. The goal is to create an innovative, highly interactive and immersive 

experience at Wannado City in Sunrise, Fla., 

which will effectively extend NASA’s ability 

to achieve its educational goals for informal 

STEM education. Negotiations have commenced on the NASA Wannado venue design 

that will be located at Sawgrass Mills Mall.

The education division continues to support the Central Florida Boy Scout Council. 

In 2009, the NASA Education Exploration 

Team hosted STEM workshops for 418 boys, 

leaders and volunteers. Three members of the 

education team are members of the Operation Space Scout Committee and are helping 

to create a new program for the scout’s camp, 

Camp La-No-Che, with a focus on the space 

aspect of Florida’s high-tech industry. While at 

camp, the boys will learn about the space program, have the opportunity to do many technology-related, hands-on activities, study the 

stars and astronomy at night, and ultimately 

become junior space cadets. 

In 2009, 327 girl scouts, leaders and volunteers, 110 library attendees, 4,100 local community participants and 110 home schoolers 

attended STEM workshops both on and off 

site, hosted by the Education Office. 

In September 2009, Kennedy’s Informal Education Team coordinated two rocket 

workshops in Montana for 28 librarians attending the Bozeman Public Library workshop and 23 educators attending the Blackfeet 

Community College workshop in Browning. 

Both workshops reached underserved and underrepresented audiences. 

Electronic Education Projects

NASA’s Digital Learning Network, or 

DLN, connected with 14,279 students and 

1,534 educators. The DLN continued its live 

launch webcasts or “launchcasts” with exciting guests, such as Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, 

director of the Hayden Planetarium in New 

York. The launchcasts also expanded to cover 

spacecraft managed by the Launch Services 

Program, including the Lunar Reconnaissance 

Orbiter launch in June 2009. Kennedy’s DLN 

won the coveted Pinnacle Award for outstanding videoconferencing programs from the 

Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration. n

Sara Case, a physics student from Virginia Tech, works on a lunar dust mitigation project in the Electrostatics 

and Surface Physics Laboratory at Kennedy Space Center during a summer 2009 internship.

Citrus Council Girl Scout Brownies from Orlando 

participate in a robotics activity during a Space 

Adventure Day at the Exploration Station in Kennedy 

Space Center’s Educator Resource Center.
32

KSC Visitor Complex 

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex once again shared the NASA story with 

more than 1.5 million guests, reaching both 

a national and international audience through 

a combination of exhibits, space artifacts, 

IMAX films and tours of Kennedy’s hallowed 

grounds. Even though the U.S. economic decline continued to impact tourism, the visitor 

complex attendance for 2009 was only 5 percent shy of its 2008 attendance. Though most 

Central Florida attractions reported similar, 

or in some cases an even higher decline in attendance, the complex held its market share 

effectively. 

To emphasize the agency’s renewed focus 

on education, the complex reached out to the 

next generation of explorers with commercials 

promising “a day of fun, a lifetime of inspiration.” The complex even offered free admission for children for a limited time. 

Strategic alliances with high-visibility partners provided effective marketing opportunities. National promotional partners included 

the Walt Disney Co. for the release of the 

“Wall-e” DVD and the return of Buzz Lightyear after the space toy’s 15-month stay aboard 

the International Space Station; Sega of America and HandMade Films for the release of the 

film “Planet 51”; Sonic for space-themed toys 

in kids’ meals; and PepsiCo, Waldenbooks, 

Astronomy Magazine and MasterCard. Regional partnerships included NASCAR’s Ford 

Championship Weekend at the HomesteadMiami Speedway, Borders Books, Hungry 

Howie’s Pizza and SUBWAY. 

Launches continued to draw large crowds 

of space enthusiasts to the Space Coast this fiscal year. The demand for launch viewing opportunities through the complex also grew as 

the public became more aware of the scheduled retirement of the space shuttle. 

The induction of the eighth group of space 

shuttle astronauts into the U.S. Astronaut 

Hall of Fame kicked off the spring season for 

the complex. George “Pinky” Nelson, William Shepherd and James Wetherbee joined an 

elite group of American space heroes during a 

weekend of events. Legendary space pioneers 

and previous inductees also attended the festivities. 

The summer season offered exciting features, including special viewings of a new “Star 

Trek” film in the IMAX theater and a statue 

dedication of the “Peanuts” pooch Snoopy, 

which was donated to NASA by the family of 

the late Charles Schulz. 

Kennedy celebrated the 40th anniversary 

of the first lunar landing by hosting a series 

of activities highlighting the historic event. As 

part of its community outreach program, the 

complex joined Ron Jon’s Surf Shop as major 

sponsors of the Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral fireworks show on Independence Day. Local channel WFTV featured highlights of the 

40th anniversary in its day-long broadcast. To 

Outreach to the World

Crowds fill Kennedy Space Center’s Banana River viewing site to see and record space shuttle Endeavour as it roars into space on the STS-127 mission July 15, 2009, at 

6:03 p.m. EST. Endeavour delivered the final elements of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory to the International Space Station.
33

commemorate the historic Apollo 11 launch 

from Launch Pad 39A, eight veteran astronauts participated in media interviews and 

a panel session at the Apollo/Saturn V Center on July 16, 2009. The event participants 

were Walt Cunningham, Buzz Aldrin, Edgar 

Mitchell, Al Worden, Charlie Duke, Vance 

Brand, Gerald Carr and Bruce McCandless. 

Other activities included the grand opening of the new Treasures Gallery exhibit with 

artifacts from the Apollo moon missions, an 

unveiling ceremony of a 4-foot-wide Apollothemed Moon Pie, which was consumed by 

complex guests and summer camp students, 

individual Moon Pies distributed to employees in Kennedy’s cafeterias, and a special lunar 

landing Google Doodle. Also, Worden, Apollo 15 command module pilot, selected the 

Apollo/Saturn V Center for permanent display 

of a moon rock awarded to him by NASA as 

an Ambassador of Exploration award. NASA’s 

new Administrator Charles Bolden presented 

the award to Worden during a dedication ceremony held in the complex’s Lunar Theater. 

Other noteworthy accomplishments included special guest briefings by NASA program managers and project team members 

during the Hubble Space Telescope and LRO/

LCROSS missions and significant progress 

made on the design and construction of a new 

10,000-square-foot exhibit titled “Exploration 

The Apollo/Saturn V Center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida is filled with guests gathered to hear about the Apollo 11 launch and landing in July 1969 from eight Apollo 

astronauts: Buzz Aldrin, Walt Cunningham, Edgar Mitchell, Al Worden, Charlie Duke, Vance Brand, Gerald Carr and Bruce McCandless. The event was part of NASA’s 40th 

anniversary of Apollo celebration.

Kennedy Space Center Deputy Director Janet Petro, 

left, presents a special coin to Barbara Stephenson, 

the U.S. ambassador to Panama, during her tour of 

the center in August 2009.
34

Space” scheduled to open this year. NASA 

hosted an industry day and subsequent release 

of a request for proposals for the recompetition of the current complex concession agreement. Award of the new concession agreement 

is planned for the spring of 2010. 

The visitor complex successfully operated 

two retail stores in the Orlando International 

Airport, and offered a variety of robust educational programs geared toward educating and 

inspiring the next generation of explorers. More 

than 83,000 students participated in programs, 

such as Camp KSC, Overnight Adventures, the 

Astronaut Training Experience, student field 

trips, Brevard Space Week and Brevard Learns 

About Science and Technology. 

For more than 42 years, the complex has 

operated as a self-supporting entity funded 

solely through revenues earned through admission, retail and food sales. The carefully 

structured business model outlined in the 

concession agreement serves as a role model 

for other government-owned visitor centers 

by enabling successful development, operation 

and maintenance without taxpayer funding. 

Guest Operations 

Kennedy’s Guest Operations staff enabled 

more than 18,000 guests of NASA and its 

center partners to safely participate in behindthe-scenes Kennedy tours, including educational briefings provided by center engineers 

and operational experts. Additionally, the center hosted thousands of the agency’s invited 

guests to participate in launch briefings and 

up-close viewing opportunities for five space 

shuttle and five expendable launch vehicle liftoffs. Guests included members of Congress, 

business and agency leaders, astronaut families, medical and legal professionals, veterans, 

teachers, students and the public. 

Government Relations

During fiscal year 2009, Kennedy was host 

to members of Congress, state legislators and 

community leaders for the five space shuttle 

missions and the Ares I-X flight test. Elected 

officials and stakeholders visited the center to 

learn more about Kennedy’s mission and the 

role it will play in future space exploration. 

The center’s senior management continued 

to participate in roundtable discussions, space 

forums and All Hands briefings to discuss 

work force issues. 

The center welcomed the newly formed 

Space Caucus to Kennedy for a tour and 

discussion with Center Director Robert D. 

Cabana. Comprised of members of the state 

legislature, the caucus is dedicated to encouraging and advancing the space industry in the 

state of Florida. 

In early March, Cabana met with Florida 

Governor Charlie Crist, Lt. Governor Jeff 

Kottkamp and other elected officials during 

Florida Space Day in Tallahassee. In July, Cabana met with members of the Florida Congressional Delegation in Washington, D.C., 

in support of NASA’s Office of Legislative and 

Intergovernmental Affairs’ annual “Day on 

the Hill” event.

Sen. Bill Nelson and Rep. Suzanne Kosmas 

attended the NASA-Florida Power & Light 

groundbreaking ceremony for the start of construction of the Space Coast Next Generation 

Solar Energy Center in May 2009.

Kennedy hosted Space Forum members 

Skylab astronaut Gerald Carr, left, joins the space person at Kennedy Space Center’s Visitor Complex to celebrate 

NASA’s 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing with a specially designed moon pie.
35

for a tour of the center’s facilities. The forum 

is composed of state legislators from the Space 

Coast and Central Florida regions who are 

dedicated to advancing space in Florida.

Speakers Bureau

The Speakers Bureau’s primary function 

is to educate the community about NASA 

and Kennedy Space Center missions. Guest 

speakers from Kennedy visited schools, 

community and business groups and shared 

presentations on space exploration and the 

important role Kennedy plays in America’s 

exploration of space. 

This year, Kennedy employees participated 

in the Great American Teach-In, a program 

that brings working professional scientists 

into classrooms to share their experiences. In 

conjunction with Kennedy’s Education Office, employees visited classrooms throughout 

Florida to inspire students to do great things. 

In 2009, the bureau reached more than 

22,000 people during 115 events. NASA employees working in management and in the 

science and engineering fields participated in 

events throughout the southeast United States. 

Exhibits 

The Kennedy Display Management Team 

traveled to a variety of public events throughout Florida and the south. Notably, the team 

appeared at various sporting events, including 

NASCAR races and baseball games, looking 

to inspire a whole new audience. Kennedy 

exhibits also were found at home shows and 

various educational events. 

The team reached 200,000 people as it 

communicated the NASA message through 

the use of displays, videos, handout information and face-to-face presentations. Materials 

focused on the benefits of space exploration, 

NASA spinoffs and NASA’s mission to explore 

the universe. 

Media Services

The Media Services Division at Kennedy’s 

NASA News Center increased international 

awareness by supporting hundreds of media 

who covered five shuttle launch and landing 

events, which included the last servicing mission to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and 

the delivery of the last segment of the Japan 

Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory. Support also was provided for eight expendable vehicle launches from a variety of 

locations and other NASA milestones. The 

division interfaced with the world’s media 

and public audience through several communication conduits, including Kennedy’s 

new upgrade to high definition for NASA TV 

broadcasting; streaming video of Kennedy 

events; digital imagery on the multimedia 

gallery, which received more than 15 million 

page views this year; and a full-service public 

affairs office catering to professional journalists. Also, the division provided more than 

750,000 multimedia products, including fact 

sheets, news releases, video news releases, live 

and radio phone-in interviews, still photographs, video footage, tapes, CDs and DVDs.

Kennedy Web site 

The Kennedy Space Center Web site continued to draw a worldwide audience. The 

center’s home page at www.nasa.gov/kennedy 

attracted more than 5 million views and consistently ranked in the top 10 most-popular 

pages out of more than 1 million pages within 

the NASA Web portal at www.nasa.gov.

The “L-1” series of prelaunch webcasts 

featured guests, including scientists, launch 

personnel and other experts who provided 

behind-the-scenes details about each highprofile liftoff. Kennedy’s Web team established 

a partnership with NASA’s Digital Learning 

Network in order to bring a dynamic new perspective and hundreds of academic audience 

viewers to Kennedy’s prelaunch webcast series. 

During the year, the Web team provided 

launch processing and countdown coverage for 

five space shuttle missions and eight expendable launch vehicle missions. An international 

Internet audience was kept up-to-date during 

countdowns and landings with frequent updates to the mission’s main page, and photo 

and video galleries. NASA’s Launch Blog provided live commentary and up-to-the-minute 

information straight from a control room console to the reader. Combined, this fiscal year’s 

launch and landing blogs racked up more than 

13 million page views.

Kennedy’s Web video products included 

feature videos and podcasts, as well as highlights of launches and landings. Videos earned 

nearly 4 million views during the year.

Kennedy’s Web operations branched out 

into the social media arena with the username 

NASAKennedy, including accounts on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Twitpic, which 

broadened its outreach to the younger generations and increased fans by more than 12,000 

between Twitter and Facebook and more than 

350,000 video views on YouTube. n

The tools that were used to service NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on the STS-125 mission are displayed in 

the News Center at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
36

Kennedy Business Report

The Kennedy Space Center FY 2009 

budget totaled nearly $1.3 billion, and 

more than $2.2 billion when the Johnson 

Space Center-managed Space Program 

Operations Contract, or SPOC, and related 

work performed at Kennedy is included. In 

addition, the center performed $84 million 

in reimbursable work with other government 

and commercial entities. 

•	 The Space Shuttle Program, including total SPOC impacts, executed a $1.2 billion 

budget by accomplishing five successful 

shuttle missions, four of which took major components or logistics to the International Space Station and one to repair 

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The FY 

2009 activity also included preparations to 

launch the six remaining shuttle flights, as 

well as requirements associated with retirement of the program following manifest 

completion. 

•	 The International Space Station’s $97 

million budget allowed for fulfillment of 

commitments to international partners 

in completing station assembly, including 

several major component deliveries -- the 

S6 truss and final set of large power-generating solar arrays, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo Exposed Facility 

and Exposed Section. Funding also helped 

the processing and flow of remaining space 

station components at Kennedy. 

•	 The Launch Services Program, or LSP, executed a $346 million budget -- direct and 

reimbursable. LSP supported six successful 

launches of seven missions -- Kepler, the 

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar 

Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, 

and STSS-Demo from Cape Canaveral 

Air Force Station in Florida; STSS-ATRR 

and NOAA-N Prime from Vandenberg Air 

Force Base in California; and the Interstellar Boundary Explorer from the Kwajalein 

Atoll in the South Pacific. The program 

also procured launch vehicle services for 

several manifested missions scheduled to 

launch in FY 2010 and beyond.

•	 The Constellation Program budget of 

$276 million supported continued preparations for the ground operations, launch, 

landing and recovery of the Ares launch 

and Orion crew exploration vehicles.

•	 Kennedy’s Center Management and Operations’ budget provided $330 million 

to maintain the center’s critical and mission essential facility systems and life safety 

systems, as well as core technical capabilities and supporting infrastructure. It also 

sustained the center’s safety and engineering technical authorities, implemented 

NASA’s Chief Information Officer initiatives and provided business systems support with improved internal controls.

Recovery Act Funding

On Feb. 17, 2009, President Barack 

Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. NASA received $1 billion in Recovery Act funds to be 

invested in science, exploration, aeronautics 

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

($ in Millions)

SPOC 983 953 946

KSC 1,312 1,369 1,313

FY2007

$2,295

FY2008

$2,322

FY2009

$2,259

NASA/KSC Budget Authority Summary 

FY 2007 through FY 2009 ($ in Millions)

Continued on page 38
37

Kennedy Space Center

FY 2009 Budget Authority ($ in Millions)

Space Shuttle $204

Space Station $97

Launch Services/Science $313

Constellation $276

Center Management & Operations $330

Other $93

Total KSC* $1,313

* Excludes Space 

Program Operations 

Contract

FY 2009 KSC Budget by Element ($ in Millions)

Labor

$262 (20%)

Travel

$8 (1%) Direct Procurement

$1,043 (79%)

Seventy-nine percent of the Kennedy budget is spent through the purchase of goods and 

services from commercial providers. The SPOC, or space shuttle contract, managed by 

Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, is excluded here. Its inclusion would increase 

the percentage of procured services to 88 percent.
38

Economic Impact

and cross-agency support. Kennedy received 

$26.2 million for Constellation Ground Operations and the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS, Dual-use Initiative. 

•	 Constellation Ground Operations: $25 

million of recovery funding was put on 

contract in August for the design of specialized fluids, mechanical, and electrical mobile launcher systems and equipment, which are a critical part of the 

overall launcher structure. These systems 

and equipment will fuel and service the 

launch vehicle and spacecraft systems. 

This activity retained 130 Kennedy jobs. 

•	 COTS Dual-use Initiative: $1.2 million 

in recovery funds will be used to perform 

Launch Complex 40 modifications in support of commercial payload and space station flight hardware storage and processing 

for the upcoming COTS demonstration 

mission and subsequent missions. Phase 

1 activities include infrastructure maintenance and upgrades to the launch pad’s 

electrical, lightning and air handling systems, as well as other facility structures. 

This activity was awarded in December 

2009. 

Kennedy’s Chief Financial Office is the 

centerwide point of contact for all external 

and internal recovery act matters. Office personnel worked closely with representatives 

from NASA Headquarters and Johnson, as 

well as other center representatives and contractors, to ensure compliance with Recovery 

Act requirements and its associated reporting.

Business Development

With the retirement of NASA’s space 

shuttle fleet scheduled for 2010, Kennedy increased efforts to expand and strengthen partnerships with private and public organizations 

during the year to help meet the challenges of 

the pending transition. 

•	 The center had 95 active reimbursable 

agreements, which generated $84.2 million 

in commercial work for other federal and 

commercial entities. These agreements resulted in budget-offsetting revenues to the 

center of $1.5 million in institutional funding and $2 million in civil service salaries. 

•	 Under its Enhanced-Use Leasing Authority, Kennedy generated $171,000 in 

FY 2009, largely from its long-standing 

provision of leased space to media and 

press organizations for launch coverage. 

•	 Kennedy also will realize benefits from its 

agreements this year with Florida Power 

& Light for solar-power generation, Space 

Florida for the upcoming development of 

Exploration Park, and agreements with 

new commercial users of the Shuttle Landing Facility and related facilities. n

To fulfill its mission, NASA and its contractors require goods 

and services, both technical and non-technical, ranging from expendable launch vehicles, propellants and computer systems, to 

motor vehicles, facilities and office supplies. In meeting NASA’s 

demand, local contractors employ workers, produce products, 

fund payrolls and generate output. These workers and contractors generate additional impacts as they spend their incomes 

and place orders with other local or regional firms for materials and services. Salaries paid to employees create and generate 

business for the communities where they live. Supermarkets, 

gas stations, restaurants, department stores, automobile dealers, 

dry cleaners, real estate offices and other businesses support the 

community of workers, and in turn, hire employees, pay salaries 

and generate further community business needs.

Also, further economic activity is generated through visitors to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, its launch 

events and business travel to the region. Each round of spending 

recirculates NASA’s initial demand among Florida’s businesses 

and households, multiplying the direct impact on the economy.

Kennedy annually conducts an economic impact analysis to 

measure NASA’s effect on the economy at the local, regional 

and state levels. The assessment found that in FY 2009, Kennedy and other NASA centers spent $2 billion in wages and 

commodity purchases within the state of Florida. This monetary injection into the local, regional and state economy induced a total economic impact in 2009 of $4.3 billion in total 

output and nearly 39,000 jobs.

The report concludes that every space-related dollar spent in 

Florida produces more than double the economic output; and 

every space-related job creates an additional 1.58 jobs within 

the Florida economy. Kennedy remains by far the major economic driver in Brevard County and a major contributor to the 

economic health of the state of Florida.
39

4,500

4,000

3,500

3,000

2,500

2,000

1,500

1,000

500

0

Output, Income & Taxes in millions of 2009 $

Employment

38,938

32,992

38,521

Output

Area of Economic Impact

Brevard County

Central Florida Region

State of Florida

State of Florida

Central Florida Region

Brevard County

30,000 31,000 32,000 33,000 34,000 35,000 36,000 37,000 38,000 39,000 40,000

Millions of 2009 $

Output

3,332

4,226

4,318

Income

1,769

2,240

2,261

Federal Taxes

138

221

241

State & Local Taxes

63

88

93

Income Federal Taxes State & Local

Taxes

Brevard County Central Florida Region State of Florida

FY 2009 Total Economic Impact of All NASA Activities

in Florida by Geographic Area

For every job at Kennedy, an additional 1.58 jobs are created elsewhere within the state of Florida, 

each dollar of wages was multiplied into $1.87 in total income and each dollar of total direct spending 

for commodity purchases and wage payments was multiplied into $2.19 of output production.

In FY 2009, the total economic impact of 

NASA in Florida was: 

•	 $4.3 billion in output 

•	 $2.3 billion in household income 

•	 38,938 jobs 

•	 $241 million in federal taxes

•	 $93 million in state and local taxes.

The vast majority of the impact was in 

Central Florida
40

Kennedy Space Center is the most broadly 

based, complex and successful launch center 

in the world. Both NASA and contractor personnel working at the center are essential to 

the success of Kennedy.

The work force is a diverse group of people 

dedicated to supporting the nation’s space program and NASA’s future explorations. To accomplish the various missions expected of the 

space center, these individuals fulfill a multitude of tasks.

Periodically, the center takes a “snapshot” 

of its work force. This picture includes all federal and contractor employees chartered to 

work for Kennedy. Other organizations, such 

as the European Space Agency and Patrick Air 

Force Base, have roles here but are not reflected in these numbers.

As of Sept. 30, 2009, the total Kennedy 

population was 15,248, which represents a 

small increase in the civil servant and contractor work force compared to last year. This includes 2,123 NASA civil servants, 83 NASA 

co-ops and students, and 11,109 on-site and 

near-site contractor employees. The civil servant skill mix includes scientific and engineering, administrative, technical, and clerical 

workers. There are 545 construction employees, and 1,388 tenants on the center.

Work Force Diversity

Civil Servants 2,123

Co-ops and Students 83

Total Civil Servants 2,206

Civil Servant Skill Mix

Scientific & Engineering 62%

Administration 28%

Technical 7%

Clerical 3%

On-site Contractor Employees 11,055

Off/Near-site Contractor Employees 54

Total Contractor Employees 11,109

Total Construction Employees 545

Total Tenants 1,388

TOTAL KSC POPULATION 15,248

k

w

(through 9/30/09)
41

The companies listed below were some of 

Kennedy Space Center’s top support contractors or launch services contractors in terms of 

dollars obligated in FY 2009. Following is a 

brief description of their work for the agency:

Boeing Space Operations

Boeing Space Operations was the prime 

contractor for the Checkout, Assembly and 

Payload Processing Services, or CAPPS, contract. Boeing’s primary purpose was to support all aspects of payload processing for the 

International Space Station, space shuttle and 

expendable launch vehicles, or ELVs.

EG&G Technical Services 

EG&G Technical Services provided base 

operations support for Kennedy. EG&G was 

responsible for operations, maintenance and 

engineering for specific Kennedy facilities, 

systems, equipment and utilities. EG&G also 

was responsible for calibration and propellants 

handling at the center.

Abacus Technology Corporation

Abacus provided communication and 

information technology services under the 

Information Management and Communications Support, or IMCS, contract. Abacus 

supported the majority of these requirements 

at Kennedy, which included support to agency 

programs, such as space shuttle, Constellation, 

payloads, launch services and the International 

Space Station. Services provided include hardware and software integration development, 

computer administration and maintenance, 

voice and data transmission, library, graphics, 

publications, printing and reproduction, and 

IT security.

Analex Corporation

Analex was the prime contractor on the 

Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Services, or ELVIS, contract. Analex was responsible 

for performing and integrating the overall 

programmatic ELV business and administrative functions, including program and project 

planning, risk management, evaluation and 

information technology. Services provided 

include the management, operation, maintenance and sustaining engineering of NASA’s 

ELV communications and telemetry stations 

located at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, 

or CCAFS, in Florida, and Vandenberg Air 

Force Base in California. Analex also provided 

engineering services and studies, and technical services for various ground and flight ELV 

systems, missions and payloads.

Arctic Slope Research Corporation

Arctic Slope Research, or ASRC, Aerospace, provided research and engineering 

services and technical support to Kennedy’s 

Spaceport Engineering and Technology Division and other center operational customers. 

Support ranged in scope from engineering 

development and management of complex 

research, to engineering and technical support of various Kennedy laboratories and test 

beds. ASRC Aerospace utilized a consortium 

of affiliated universities in performing applied 

research and technology development efforts. 

ASRC Aerospace also provided technology 

outreach to foster awareness and utilization of 

Kennedy’s unique capabilities.

Innovative Health Applications

Innovative Health Applications, or IHA, 

under the Medical and Environmental Support Contract, or MESC, provided a broad 

range of medical and environmental services 

to NASA. IHA operated the on-site Kennedy medical clinic, which conducts health 

exams, certifications and emergency medical 

treatment. IHA also performed occupational 

health services, aerospace medicine, industrial 

hygiene, environmental permitting, compliance and stewardship, ecological monitoring, 

and hazardous waste disposal. IHA operated 

Kennedy’s Fitness Centers and provided education outreach to the center’s employees.

United Launch Services, LLC

United Launch Services, or ULS, a subsidiary of United Launch Alliance, brought The 

Boeing Co., Delta Launch Services Inc. and 

Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services together. ULS provided launch services 

to NASA using the Delta II and Atlas vehicles 

under two of three existing multiple-award, 

indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity task order contracts. Principal location for the Delta 

II vehicle assembly is Decatur, Ala. Principal 

location for the Atlas vehicle assembly is Denver, Colo. Both vehicles launch from CCAFS 

and Vandenberg.

OAO Corporation

OAO led the Outsourcing Desktop Initiative, or ODIN, for NASA after acquiring the 

OAO Corp. The ODIN contract is an agencywide, long-term outsourcing arrangement that 

transfers the responsibility and risk for providing and managing the vast majority of NASA’s 

desktop, server and intracenter communications assets and services. Such assets include 

desktops, servers, mobile BlackBerry devices, 

WebEx Web conferencing, Kennedy Unified 

Dialup Access, or KUDA, and e-mail.

United Space Alliance LLC 

Under a Johnson Space Center contract, 

United Space Alliance, or USA, was the prime 

contractor for the Space Flight Operations 

Contract. USA’s primary purpose was to ensure mission success for the Space Shuttle Program. Kennedy is the primary point of responsibility for launch and landing of the space 

shuttle. USA supports ground operations and 

orbiter logistics elements of the shuttle at Kennedy.

Procurement Report
42

Your Procurement Dollars at Work

Geographical Distribution by State

(Fiscal Year 2009 Obligations)

STATE TOTAL DOLLARS

ALABAMA 1,707,592.14

ARIZONA 69,583.80

CALIFORNIA 19,611,882.82

COLORADO 269,086,402.33

CONNECTICUT 10,016,972.24

DELAWARE 30,238.50

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 700,665.00

FLORIDA 270,228,268.60

GEORGIA 70,554.79

ILLINOIS 648,660.22

INDIANA 160,104.72

IOWA 44,979.12

LOUISIANA 9,696,976.44

MARYLAND 345,254,730.48

MASSACHUSETTS 738,203.40

MICHIGAN 588,205.01

MINNESOTA 622,868.33

MISSOURI 31,839.35

MONTANA 14,943.00

STATE TOTAL DOLLARS

NEVADA 225,078.00

NEW HAMPSHIRE 13,595.35

NEW JERSEY 5,410,290.33

NEW MEXICO 269,710.00

NEW YORK 932,903.93

NORTH CAROLINA 375,215.27

OHIO 5,415,479.26

OREGON 96,759.00

PENNSYLVANIA 13,869,624.91

RHODE ISLAND 27,859.00

SOUTH CAROLINA 440,879.00

SOUTH DAKOTA 65,399.88

TENNESSEE 4,668,358.51

TEXAS 12,536,833.12

UTAH 92,182.01

VIRGINIA 92,976,001.95

WASHINGTON 30,893.75

WISCONSIN 336,970.00

TOTAL $1,067,107,703.56
43

uitd launch services, llc (a subsidiary of United Launch

EG&G TECHNICAL SERVICES INC 115,575,095

BOEING SPACE OPERATIONS COMPANY 102,715,658

ASRC AEROSPACE CORPORATION 98,422,469

ABACUS TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION 92,350,333

SPACE GATEWAY SUPPORT, LLC 48,258,722

ANALEX CORPORATION 38,654,777

HENSEL PHELPS CONSTRUCTION CO 37,002,412

OAO CORPORATION 19,292,790

INNOVATIVE HEALTH APPLICATIONS, LLC 16,281,318

SCIENCE APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION 16,205,457

DYNAMAC CORPORATION 15,968,486

REYNOLDS SMITH AND HILLS INCORPORATED 13,308,371

SPEEGLE CONSTRUCTION II INCORPORATED 12,543,885

AIR LIQUIDE LARGE INDUSTRIES U.S. LP 11,162,968

PRAXAIR INCORPORATED 9,791,730

REDE-CRITIQUE 9,662,065

MILLENNIUM ENGINEERING AND INTEGRATION CO 8,885,873

AIR PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS INCORPORATED 7,960,417

ASTROTECH SPACE OPERATIONS INCORPORATED 7,809,056

BREVARD ACHIEVEMENT CENTER, INC 7,639,636

DAVIS H W CONSTRUCTION INCORPORATED 7,630,598

TETRA TECH NUS, INC. 5,691,683

ORBITAL SCIENCES CORPORATION 5,443,080

JONES EDMUNDS AND ASSOCIATES INCORPORATED 5,085,970

TOTAL $982,256,369

Contractor Dollars

Top 25 KSC Business Contractors for FY 2009
44

Smoke from a shuttle launch, caught in upper air currents, swirls 

above the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration

John F. Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center, FL 32899

www.nasa.gov

NP-2009-09-094-KSC