America's Space Program: Exploring a New Frontier. Teaching with Historic Places.

Several hundred thousand people converged on the Kennedy Space Center (Florida) on July 16, 1969, to view the launch of the "Saturn V" rocket that would propel "Apollo 11" to the moon. The engineers and technicians watching their computer screens may secretly have kept their fingers crossed, but at two minutes before launch, a reporter recorded that "idle conversation halted.""We have liftoff," said Mission Control. In another two minutes, there was nothing to see but the blue sky. This lesson, based on the National Register of Historic Places registration files for Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and for related government properties, can be used in U.S. history, social studies, and geography courses in units on the space program, the Cold War, and its effects on U.S. society, or interdisciplinary units on science and technology. The lesson is divided into eight sections: (1) "About This Lesson"; (2) "Getting Started: Inquiry Question"; (3) "Setting the Stage: Historical Context"; (4) "Locating the Site: Maps" (United States Space Installations; Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center); (5) "Determining the Facts: Readings" (Preparing the Way; The "Apollo" Hardware; "The 'Eagle' Has Landed"); (6) "Visual Evidence: Images" (Transporting the "Apollo" Space Vehicle to the Launch Site; "Saturn V" Lifting Off, July 16, 1969; Mission Control Center, Diagram and Key; Front Page of the (Washington) "Evening Star," July 21, 1969; View of the Earth from Space); (7) "Putting It All Together: Activities" (Unexpected Benefits from Space Research; A Mission to Mars?; What Price History?); and (8) "Supplementary Resources." (BT)