"GEE, LOOKS LIKE WE'VE COME A LONG WAY"

JFK MAKES LAST VISIT TO CAPE CANAVERAL

Cape Canaveral, Florida (JFK+50) On November 16, 1963, President John F. Kennedy made his last visit to the space center here at Cape Canaveral.
Thurston Clarke quotes Miami Herald reporter Nixon Smiley as saying...
"...the air was electrified from the time of the President's arrival until a moment after his departure."

JFK's briefing, held outside the Saturn Control Center,  was directed by rocket scientist Dr. Werner von Braun and NASA astronauts Leroy Gordon Cooper and Virgil Gus Grissom.

The President also attended a lecture given by Dr. George Mueller, NASA administrator, who "summarized developments" in the program to land a man on the moon. 

Clarke writes that JFK "impatiently" listened to the lecture and then jumped up immediately afterward to ask some questions about the rocket models on display in the room.  When told the models were "built to scale" and the Saturn V  lunar-mission rocket was 7 times larger than the Redstone, JFK remarked, "Gee, looks like we've come a long way."

Von Braun and JFK

Cape Canaveral, Florida

November 16, 1963

NASA Photo

LAST VISIT TO CAPE CANAVERAL

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2131

JFK VISITS SATURN MISSION CONTROL CENTER DAYS BEFORE DALLAS

Cape Canaveral, Florida (JFK+50) Fifty-three years ago today, November 16, 1963, President John F. Kennedy visited the Saturn Mission Control Center at Cape Canaveral.  The President's visit came only six days before his ill-fated visit to Dallas, Texas.

At Complex 37, JFK was briefed by rocket scientist Dr. Werner von Braun, NASA Deputy Administrator Robert Seamans and NASA astronauts Leroy Gordon Cooper and Virgil Gus Grissom.  

The United States was scheduled to launch a Saturn rocket with a 19,000 pound payload and one and a half million pounds of thrust the following month.  That launch, however, came after JFK's death January 29, 1964.


The President flew by helicopter over the launch sites and to the deck of the Observation where he witnessed a Polaris missile launch from the submarine USS Andrew Jackson.

The former US Navy sailor exchanged his suit coat for a sailor's jacket and sported his signature sunglasses and a pair of binoculars.  Before departing the Observation, he said a few words to the crew.

SOURCE

"Reflections:  1963 JFK's Final Visit to Cape Canaveral," The Florida Channel, www.thefloridachannel.org/

JFK with Dr. Von Braun

Cape Canaveral, Florida

November 16, 1963

NASA & JFK Library Photo

JFK VISITS US SPACEPORT ON LAST SATURDAY OF HIS LIFE

November 16, 2013

JFK VISITS US SPACEPORT ON LAST SATURDAY OF HIS LIFE

Cape Canaveral, Florida (JFK+50) President John F. Kennedy spent his last Saturday alive 50 years ago today, November 16, 1963, in the Sunshine State.

The President traveled to Cape Canaveral for his last visit to the space center which was to named in his honor after his death.

According to Thurston Clark, who in "JFK's Last Hundred Days," quotes Miami Herald reporter Nixon Smiley as saying...

"...the air was electrified from the time of the President's arrival until a moment after his departure."

JFK's briefing at the Cape, held outside the Saturn Control Center,  was directed by rocket scientist Dr. Werner von Braun and NASA astronauts Leroy Gordon Cooper and Virgil Gus Grissom.

The President also attended a lecture given by Dr. George Mueller, NASA administrator, who "summarized developments" in the program to land a man on the moon. 

Clarke writes that JFK "impatiently" listened to the lecture and then jumped up immediately afterward to ask some questions about the rocket models on display in the room.

JFK During NASA Briefing

Cape Canaveral, Florida
NASA Photo

When told the models were "built to scale" and the Saturn V lunar-mission rocket was indeed 7 times larger than the Redstone which had propelled Alan Shepard into space, JFK remarked, "Gee, looks like we've come a long way."

Von Braun then took the President to the launch pad where the Saturn I was located.  He told JFK that this rocket, scheduled to be fired into space in December 1963, would be "more powerful" with a "heavier payload" than any Soviet rocket to date.

Von Braun and JFK

Cape Canaveral, Florida

November 16, 1963

NASA Photo

The President also observed the Titan II and Merritt Island launch pads.

Later, from the deck of the Observation, JFK watched a Polaris missile launch from the nuclear submarine Andrew Jackson.

Thurston Clarke tells us that the launch of the Polaris missile represented several things that JFK loved...

"the U.S. Navy, the ocean, and technological wizardry."

JFK Watching Polaris Missile

Cape Canaveral, Florida

November 16, 1963

JFK Library Photo

SOURCE

"JFK's Last Hundred Days:  The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President," by Thurston Clarke, The Penguin Press, New York City, 2013.

BATTLE OF CAMPBELL'S STATION, TENNESSEE FOUGHT 150 YEARS AGO TODAY

Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) Confederate soldiers under the command of General James Longstreet were defeated 150 years ago today, November 16, 1863, at Campbell's Station, just outside of this East Tennessee city.

Civil War Campsite

Gibbs Community

Knoxville, Tennessee

Photo by John White (2008)

General Longstreet had been sent to Knoxville from Chattanooga by CSA commander General Braxton Bragg.

Bragg had hopes that Longstreet's forces would be able to capture this pro-union area for the Confederacy.  

Although within Rebel territory, East Tennesseeans had voted 3 to 1 to remain in the Union.  Nevertheless, Knoxville was occupied by Confederate forces early in the war.  By 1863, however, Federals had retaken the city.

After the Battle of Campbell's Station, Longstreet took up positions just outside of Knoxville where the Battle of Fort Sanders later in the month would secure the city for the Federals.

Fort Sanders Reconstructed

Gibbs Community

Knoxville, Tennessee

Photo by John White (2008)