NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center celebrating 50 years 1962 - 2012.

NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center, celebrating 50 years, 1962 - 2012. On July 1, 1962, NASA officially activated the Launch Operations Center at the seaside spaceport that had been known as the Missile Firing Laboratory under NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The new designation granted the center equal status to Marshall and offered the center's new director, Dr. Kurt H. Debus, a direct report to the agency's headquarters in Washington, D.C. The following year, the center was renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center to honor the president who put America on the path to the moon.