There is only one Launch Complex at Kennedy Space Center. LC 39 has two launch pads, Pad A and Pad B.

Kennedy Space Center was built on the site originally called the Merritt Island Launch Area (MILA). There is a school nearby named Mila Elementary School.

When originally planned in the early 1970s, the Large Space Telescope program called for return to Earth, refurbishment, and re-launch every 5 years, with on-orbit servicing every 2.5 years.

HST's current complement of science instruments includes three cameras, two spectrographs, and fine guidance sensors (primarily used for accurate pointing, but also for astrometric observations).

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is a 2.4-meter reflecting telescope, which was deployed in low-Earth orbit (600 kilometers) by the crew of the space shuttle Discovery (STS-31) on 25 April 1990.

Today's Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) has 13 layers of material, including an inner cooling garment (two layers), pressure garment (two layers), thermal micrometeoroid garment (eight layers) and outer cover (one layer).

Because Apollo astronauts had to walk on the moon as well as fly in space, a single space suit was developed that had add-ons for moonwalking. The basic Apollo space suit, which was worn during liftoff, was the backup suit needed in case cabin pressure failed.

Astronauts found it difficult to move in the Mercury space suit when it was pressurized; the suit itself was not designed for spacewalking. However, when NASA's Gemini program began, space suits had to be designed not only for emergency use, but also for spacewalking, so some changes had to be made.

NASA's Extravehicular Mobility Unit uses a fiberglass Hard Upper Torso (HUT) and fabric limbs.

In NASA spacesuits, communications are provided via a cap worn over the head, which includes earphones and a microphone. Due to the coloration of the version used for Apollo and Skylab, which resembled the coloration of the comic strip character Snoopy, these caps became known as "Snoopy caps".

The first full pressure-suits for use at extreme altitudes were designed by individual inventors as early as the 1930s. One was worn by famed pilot Wiley Post.

Project Mercury, the first US program to put a man in space, was started at Langley Research Center under the Space Task Group. While the Manned Spacecraft center was moved to Houston in the early 60s, Langley has continued to support NASA’s manned spaceflight.

The Langley Research Center was named after Samuel Pierpont Langley, one of the pioneers of aviation and a contemporary of the Wright brothers.

The Langley Aeronautical Laboratory became the Langley Research Center in 1958 with the establishment of NASA, one of three NACA research facilities absorbed by the new administration.

Langley Research Center is collocated with Langley Air Force Base, home of the 27^th Fighter Squadron, the first operational US Air Force F-22 squadron.

Langley scientists recently tested a new inflatable heat shield that could be used by spacecraft returning to Earth at hypersonic speeds.

The Langley Aeronautical Laboratory was established in 1917 on the banks Chesapeake Bay in Hampton, Virginia.

Each arm is approximately 2 feet, 8 inches long, giving the R2 a total wingspan of 8 feet. They boast seven degrees of freedom and the strength to hold 20 pounds in any pose in Earth’s gravity.

R2’s hands have 12 degrees of freedom --four in the thumb, three each in the index and middle fingers and one each in the ring and pinky fingers. Each finger has a grasping force of 5 pounds.

R2 thinks with its stomach – literally. With its head full of cameras, the only place with enough room for a brain is the robot’s torso.

Here on Earth and at the space station, R2’s backpack holds its power conversion system, allowing it to be plugged in. On another planetary surface – or the moon or an asteroid – the backpack would hold the robot’s batteries.

Behind R2’s visor are four visible cameras – two to provide stereo vision for the robot and its operators, and two auxiliary cameras.

A robot designed to work with humans and use human tools begins to look humanlike by default. However, R2’s headlight houses its vision equipment.