NASA To Rename KSC O&C Facility In Honor of Neil Armstrong

By  //  July 8, 2014

FIRST MAN TO WALK ON MOON

ABOVE VIDEO: Tune in to SpaceCoastDaily.com to watch the live stream of the renaming ceremony of the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building in honor of the late astronaut Neil Armstrong.

BREVARD COUNTY • KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA – Kennedy Space Center is renaming one of its iconic facilities in honor of legendary astronaut and the first person to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong.

The Apollo 11 crew portrait. Left to right are Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin.
Neil Armstrong, left, with his Apollo 11 crewmates Michael Collins, center, and Buzz Aldrin. Collins and Aldrin will speak during the renaming ceremony. (NASA image)

Armstrong, who died in August 2012, set foot on the surface of the moon on July 21, 1969, then spoke the famous words, “That’s one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”

NASA will rename the historic Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building, where Armstrong stayed and his lunar spacecraft was readied before launching to the moon, during a July 21 ceremony at 9 a.m.

The event will include remarks from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Kennedy Center Director Robert Cabana and Apollo 11 crew members Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.

The Apollo 1 crew, Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, enter their spacecraft for a test in the O&C altitude chamber on October 18, 1966.
The Apollo 1 crew, Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, enter their spacecraft for a test in the O&C altitude chamber on October 18, 1966.

July 20 is the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 crew’s moon landing in 1969.

The Operations and Checkout Building was built in 1964 and previously was known as the Manned Spacecraft Operations Building.

The facility has played a vital role in NASA’s spaceflight history.

The high bay was used during the Apollo program to process and test the command, service and lunar modules.

The facility is being used today to process and assemble NASA’s Orion spacecraft as the agency prepares to embark on the next giant leap in space exploration, sending astronauts to an asteroid and Mars.

BELOW VIDEO: Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, said, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”