On a small sliver of land off the coast of Florida sits the origin point for many of humankind’s greatest space explorations. Merritt Island houses the Kennedy Space Center and Launch Complex 39, home to the most iconic spacecraft launches in American history, from the Apollo missions, to the Space Shuttle program, to the Artemis missions of today.

This specimen is an incredible cross-section slice of an original light support pole that was constructed as part of the Space Shuttle redesign of Launch Pad 39A. The fixture was part of the closest structure to the shuttle vehicle and lit the way for maintenance work on many rocket launches.

Originally attached to the Fixed Service Structure in the late 1970s, the specimen was removed in 2016 as part of the refurbishing process for SpaceX. The material is a special, blast-protective steel designed to withstand the searing heat of the most powerful rockets ever produced.

First released as a part of our 2023 MM5 Backerkit campaign, material for this specimen is incredibly limited. The add-on had completely sold out, save for a few reserve specimens which we are excited to share today.

The specimen comes with a small acrylic stand for display. An informational photo card and a larger specimen card, which serves as a certificate of authenticity, are also included.

“Let’s face it, space is a risky business. I always considered every launch a barely controlled explosion.” -Aaron Cohen, NASA administrator

The first step on humanity's grand journey across the stars sits on a small sliver of land off the coast of Florida. Merritt Island, a tiny barrier island barely 15 km (10 mi) wide, houses the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), the primary mission facility for NASA. Here, at the legendary Launch Complex 39, the incredible astronauts of the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs have made their way from our little rocky planet to the vast beyond.

The very first rocket launch from this site was in 1950 out of Cape Canaveral, when the RTV-G-4 Bumper was tested by NASA's precursors. The site was shared with the Air Force before the space agency's official formation in 1958, when it was then used to send the first Americans to space with the Mercury and Gemini programs.

Though it was still a relatively small complex, this was all about to change. In 1961, when President Kennedy issued his famous challenge to land a man on the moon by the end of the decade, Cape Canaveral’s facilities were expanded onto neighboring Merritt Island, increasing their capabilities to launch 50 rocket tests every year in order to facilitate their new program: Apollo.

This was Complex 39, a pair of new launch pads that contained 160 acres of space each. The towering Saturn V rockets were readied in the nearby Vehicle Assembly Building before being ferried on massive crawlers to their launch pads to blast off. Launch Pad 39A stood at the heart of our efforts, cradling the first test flight of a Saturn V rocket in 1967, and bearing witness to the world-changing Apollo 11 launch in 1969.

As the Space Shuttle era dawned, the complex transformed once more with structures crafted from blast-protective steel. With a tighter budget, the Shuttle program reused many of the assets originally constructed for the Apollo missions as well as a new pair of Fixed and Rotating Service Structures for the crafts. These umbilical towers allowed for crew and maintenance access in order to load the shuttles and make final adjustments. From the first shuttle mission STS-1, launched in 1981, to the last shuttle flight STS-135 in 2011, this launch pad played an important role as the origin point of NASA's many science and exploration missions.

Today, the KSC continues its legacy of exploration as it transitions to function as a multi-user spaceport. The facility still hosts NASA launches for the Artemis program, as well as launches with other organizations like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and OneWeb. Poised by open water and benefiting from the speed of Earth’s rotation near the equator, it remains the launchpad of our species' celestial dreams.

You can actually see the light pole on Google Maps in 2012, before it was removed! Here it is on the Fixed Service Structure street view. Click below to look for yourself!