Countdown Coast

The Space Age Along Florida's Atlantic Shore

From the first rocket launched at Cape Canaveral to the Challenger disaster's memorial, this tour traces America's space program through the launchpads, control rooms, and memorials of Florida's Space Coast -- where every countdown carried the weight of a nation's ambition.

Itinerary

1. The Cape — Long before rockets, this sandy point of land shaped centuries of maritime history -- then the space age transformed it forever.
2. Where It All Began — Bumper 8 rose from this sand in 1950. Everything since -- Explorer, Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, SpaceX -- followed its trail into the sky.
3. The Nerve Center — In this blockhouse, flight controllers watched on oscilloscopes as Shepard and Glenn became the first Americans in space.
4. The Fire — On January 27, 1967, a routine test became a catastrophe that killed three astronauts and nearly ended the moon program.
5. The Cathedral of Speed — A building so vast it generates its own weather -- where Saturn Vs and Space Shuttles were stacked for their journeys upward.
6. 144,000 Acres of Ambition — From 135 shuttle missions to commercial spaceflight, Kennedy Space Center remains humanity's busiest doorstep to orbit.
7. 73 Seconds — On January 28, 1986, the shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds after launch, and a nation watched its certainty shatter.
8. Names in the Sky — A polished granite mirror reflects the Florida sky through the carved names of fallen astronauts -- their names written in light.