The Central Instrumentation Facility (CIF) was a building in the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...

industrial area that functioned as the core of instrumentation and data processing operations during the Apollo program and the early years of the

Space Shuttle program The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its ...

. It centralized the handling of the center's data including offices, laboratories and test stations; and housed general instrumentation activities serving more than one

launch complex A launch pad is an above-ground facility from which a rocket-powered missile or space vehicle is vertically launched. The term ''launch pad'' can be used to describe just the central launch platform (mobile launcher platform), or the entire ...

. The CIF also included the Central Timing Facility, where a precision clock drove countdown clocks and other timing devices at KSC that required a high degree of accuracy. The CIF also housed computers and other electronic equipment for reduction of

telemetry Telemetry is the in situ data collection, collection of measurements or other data at remote points and their automatic data transmission, transmission to receiving equipment (telecommunication) for monitoring. The word is derived from the Gr ...

data, analysis, and transmission to other NASA centers. The three-story structure of approximately just west of the

KSC Headquarters Building The Kennedy Space Center Headquarters Building is an eight-story office building that houses the administrative offices of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Constructed in April 2019, and also known as the Central Campus Facility, it in ...

was one of the most distinctive buildings in the KSC Industrial Area with its rooftop array of various

antennas In radio engineering, an antenna or aerial is the interface between radio waves propagating through space and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or receiver. In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies a ...

. The CIF was left dormant during the intermediate part of the space shuttle program (as other facilities such as the launch control center managed most of the instrumentation in the 2000s), and fell into disrepair. In September 2017, all the equipment inside was donated to the visitor complex and storage facilities, while the disused building was eventually demolished in October.

History

The CIF reflected the desire of Karl Sendler, KSC's first director of information systems, and his planners to centralize data handling. Although it was based on systems developed during

Saturn I The Saturn I was a rocket designed as the United States' first medium lift launch vehicle for up to low Earth orbit payloads.Terminology has changed since the 1960s; back then, 20,000 pounds was considered "heavy lift". The rocket's first stag ...

operations at Complexes 34 and 37, such experience was of limited value, because the distance from

Launch Complex 39 Launch Complex 39 (LC-39) is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, United States. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built as the Apollo program's "Moonport" and later mo ...

to its

Launch Control Center The Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center (commonly known as just the Launch Control Center or LCC) is a four-story building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island, Florida, used to manage launches of launch vehicles from Kennedy Space ...

was more than 14 times as long. Planning and construction were coordinated with other NASA centers and with the

Atlantic Missile Range The Eastern Range (ER) is an American rocket range (Spaceport) that supports missile and rocket launches from the two major launch heads located at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida. The range ha ...

. All metal in the building was grounded, and commercial power and the instrumentation power systems were grounded separately. Fluorescent lights, a source of electromagnetic interference, were not permitted. Its architect,

Charles Luckman Charles Luckman (May 16, 1909 – January 26, 1999) was an American businessman, property developer, and architect known for designing landmark buildings in the United States such as the Theme Building, Prudential Tower, Madison Square Garden, ...

, also designed other nearby buildings.

CIF antenna site

A smaller building, later known as the CIF antenna site, was placed 1.5 miles (2.5 km) north of the Industrial Area, to be free of radio-frequency interference and have clear line-of-sight to the NASA launch complexes.Bidgood to CE Jacksonville, "Central Instrumentation Facility, MILA," 10 May 1963; B. Baker, memo for record, "Siting of the CIF," 22 Aug. 1963.44

References

External links

Brevard County listings
a
National Register of Historic Places
{{NASA centers Buildings and structures in Merritt Island, Florida Kennedy Space Center National Register of Historic Places in Brevard County, Florida Demolished buildings and structures in Florida Buildings and structures demolished in 2017