CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., June 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, July 1 with a program that includes NASA officials discussing the historic spaceport and the dynamic transformation underway to support the next generation of space exploration.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120518/NY09986-a ) (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120518/NY09986LOGO-b )

Beginning the program at 2 p.m. Sunday is the panel discussion, “Kennedy Space Center: Past, Present and Future,” at the Astronaut Encounter Theater. The select NASA panel is scheduled to include Carol Scott of the Program Control and Integration Office within the Commercial Crew Program, and Stu McClung of the Orion Crew/Service Module Office.

Scott will discuss how the Commercial Crew Program is facilitating commercial vehicle development and certification to enable the safe transportation of NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station and other low-Earth orbit destinations. McClung will talk about the Orion spacecraft being developed to carry astronauts farther into the solar system than ever before. On July 2, NASA is marking the arrival at Kennedy Space Center of the first space-bound Orion spacecraft.

At 3 p.m. Sunday at the visitor complex’s NASA Central area, the 65-member Orlando Concert Band will present a musical salute to Kennedy Space Center with patriotic music and marches. Associate Music Director Aaron Lefkowitz will lead the band in such selections as “Armed Forces Salute,” “Apollo 13,” “America the Beautiful,” and “The Stars and Stripes Forever.”

Completing the program is Scott Bolton, principal investigator for NASA’s Juno mission to Jupiter, who will take visitors on a visual journey of recent scientific discoveries made as a result of exploration of the solar system. The presentation begins at 4:30 p.m. at Exploration Space.

The 50th anniversary programming is complimentary to guests with paid admission.

“This is a great occasion for everyone who loves John F. Kennedy Space Center,” said Bill Moore, chief operating officer of the visitor complex. “For 50 years, Kennedy has been the gateway to space, carrying astronauts into space aboard rockets and space shuttles, launching space exploration devices and constructing the International Space Station.

“We’re celebrating the many historic achievements of the space program over the last 50 years which visitors can experience here like nowhere else plus the exciting things going on today to prepare Kennedy Space Center for commercial space flight and the Orion deep-space program,” Moore said.

On July 1, 1962, the space center was officially acknowledged as an operating spaceflight center under the name Launch Operations Center. The name was later changed to John F. Kennedy Space Center in honor of the president and his vision of Americans visiting the moon.

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