CANAVERAL, CAPE

seaward extension of a barrier island and city in Brevard county, east central Florida, U.S., separated from the mainland by the Indian and Banana rivers (lagoons). It is the site of operations for the U.S. space program under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Following the death of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, it was renamed Cape Kennedy, but it officially reverted to its original Spanish name, meaning place of reeds, or cane, in 1973. Until after World War II the cape was a stretch of barren, sandy scrubland. After 1950, when a German V-2 rocket was fired from the cape, complete facilities for the assembling and launching of ballistic and space vehicles were installed. The first U.S. manned flight into outer space occurred on May 5, 1961, when Alan B. Shepard, Jr., was launched from the installation in his Project Mercury capsule, and the first lunar-landing flight, manned by Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin, and Michael Collins, was launched from the cape on July 16, 1969. Facilities for the complex operations have spilled over to man-made islands in the Banana River and to the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island (connected by NASA Causeway). Nearby is Patrick Air Force Base. Wildlife continue to inhabit the area, which is a national wildlife refuge. Canaveral National Seashore lies to the north. Cape Canaveral city (Port Canaveral) was incorporated in 1962. Pop. (1990) city, 8,014.