Launch Complex 39 Press Site

LC-39 Press Site–Clock and Flag Pole
The flagpole and countdown clock at sunrise during the Artemis 1 wet dress rehearsal on April 3, 2022
LocationKennedy Space Center
Merritt Island, Florida
Nearest cityTitusville, Florida
Coordinates28°34′56.95″N 80°38′42.39″W / 28.5824861°N 80.6451083°W / 28.5824861; -80.6451083
Built1967
Visitationnot open to the public (n/a)
MPSJohn F. Kennedy Space Center MPS
NRHP reference No.99001637[1]
Added to NRHPJanuary 21, 2000

The Launch Complex 39 Press Site is a news media facility at Launch Complex 39 at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Merritt Island, Florida where journalists have observed every U.S. crewed space launch since Apollo 8 in 1968.[2] The site is just south of the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB); 3 miles (4.8 km) west-southwest of Pad A, and 3.4 miles (5.4 km) southwest of Pad B.

The STS-121 launch seen from the LC-39 Press Site in July 2006

The site includes an elevated mound where news media facilities are located, as well as the KSC News Center and several smaller support buildings. The News Center is 8,700 square feet (810 m2) and contains 15 site support offices, media workspace, and a media library.[3] Current media buildings include CBS, NBC, Florida Today and The Orlando Sentinel; and trailers for The Associated Press and Reuters.

The 100-seat auditorium in the audio-video support building, where pre- and post-launch news conferences are held, is named for former CNN correspondent John Holliman, who covered space exploration until his death in 1998. It was built in 1980.

A large illuminated digital countdown clock and a flagpole flying an American flag on the edge of the turning basin have often been included in television coverage and launch photos. Before a launch, the clock counts down, showing the remaining time until T-zero in hours, minutes and seconds (–00:00:00). After launch, the clock counts forward in Mission Elapsed Time for several hours. The flagpole also flew a smaller Space Shuttle Orbiter-specific flag below the American flag on launch day during the final years of the Space Shuttle Program.

  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ All preceding crewed flights, including Apollo 7, launched from pads at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
  3. ^ National Aeronautics and Space Administration (March 2006), "The Press Site at KSC" (PDF), NASA Facts: 4, FS-2006-03-009-KSC, archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-05-27