Space Coast

Florida's Space Coast surrounding Merritt Island, seen from the International Space Station

The Space Coast is a region in the U.S. state of Florida around Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. All of NASA-launched manned spaceflights (running from Project Mercury in 1961 to the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011) have departed from either KSC or Cape Canaveral. The Air Force Station has also launched unmanned military and civilian rockets. Cities in the area include Titusville, Cocoa, Rockledge, Cape Canaveral, Merritt Island (unincorporated), Cocoa Beach, Melbourne, Indialantic, and Palm Bay. Most of the area lies within Brevard County. It is bounded on the south by the Treasure Coast. It is bounded on the west and north by Central Florida and is economically tied to that region. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean.

Space-named landmarks (outside KSC and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station)

Many places near the Cape are named for subjects relating to the US space program including vehicles, astronauts, and the spaceport itself.

  • Alan Shepard Park, Cocoa Beach
  • Apollo Boulevard, Melbourne
  • Apollo Elementary School, Titusville[1]
  • Armstrong Drive, Titusville
  • Astronaut Boulevard, Cape Canaveral
  • Astronaut High School, Titusville
  • Atlantis Elementary School, Port St. John
  • Bayside High School, Palm Bay
  • Challenger Memorial Parkway, (State Road 407), Titusville
  • Challenger 7 Elementary School, Port St. John
  • Chaffee Drive, Titusville
  • Christa McAuliffe drawbridge, Merritt Island
  • Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, Palm Bay
  • Columbia Boulevard (State Road 405), Titusville
  • Columbia Elementary School, Palm Bay
  • Columbia Village, Melbourne (Florida Institute of Technology)
  • Discovery Elementary School, Palm Bay[2]
  • Endeavour Elementary Magnet school, Cocoa[3]
  • Enterprise Elementary School, Cocoa
  • Freedom 7 Elementary School, Cocoa Beach
  • Gemini Elementary School, Melbourne Beach[4]
  • Grissom Parkway, Cocoa
  • I Dream Of Jeannie Drive, Cocoa Beach
  • John F. Kennedy Middle School, Rockledge
  • Jupiter Boulevard, Palm Bay
  • Kennedy Point Park, Titusville
  • Ronald McNair Middle Magnet School, Rockledge
  • MILA Elementary School, Merritt Island[5]

("MILA" is an abbreviation for Merritt Island Launch Area")[6]

Telephone area code

When the area became too heavily populated to be served by only one area code, a local resident[8] discovered that area code 321 was not assigned to any other territory (though it was being considered for the suburban Chicago area).[9] If each number is pronounced individually—"3, 2, 1"—the pronunciation resembles the countdown before liftoff; thus, the resident petitioned for the code to be assigned to the Space Coast region. His efforts were popular among local residents and resulted in success; the new code officially became effective on November 1, 1999.[10][11]

See also

Footnotes

  1. Apollo Elementary School Home Page
  2. Discovery Elementary School Home Page
  3. Welcome to edline.net
  4. Schools Listing
  5. Mila Elementary School Home Page
  6. Saggio, Jessica (August 11, 2015). "So what does the name MILA Elementary actually mean?http://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/education/2015/08/10/debate-mila-elementary-name-really-means/31421031/". Florida Today. Melbourne, Florida. pp. 1B.
  7. Space Coast Surge
  8. Robert Osband (a/k/a Richard Cheshire)
  9. This includes most of the county except the Southern portion
  10. Chronology of 321 Area Code
  11. an Article in the Orlando Sentinel

External links

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