This week we visit Florida! Famous for being the home of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center, Florida’s Space Coast was the launch site of numerous missions, including the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs. NASA’s Artemis missions and the Space Force continue to use Florida’s launch facilities. On the air side, Pan Am launched operations in Key West during 1927 and would go on to redefine the notion of air travel–literally opening up vast sections of the world thanks to the reach afforded by air.
To learn more, please visit these websites:
Wendy Lawrence
Norman Thagard
Bill Nelson
First Launch from Cape Canaveral
Explorer 1 Becomes America’s First Satellite
20th Space Surveillance Squadron
1934 – Pan American Airways System Terminal Building
Pan American Airways “China Clipper”
Pan American World Airways Atlantic Clipper
The Mitchell Institute is a supporting partner of America250
This episode was brought to you by:
Hosts
Heather PenneyDirector of Studies and Research, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies
Charles GalbreathDirector and Senior Resident Fellow for Spacepower Studies, The Mitchell Institute Spacepower Advantage Center of Excellence
Doug BirkeyExecutive Director, The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace StudiesCredits
Producer
Shane Thin
Executive Producer
Doug Birkey