On July 1, 1962, NASA officially activated the Launch Operations Center at the seaside spaceport known as the Missile Firing Laboratory at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The following year the center was renamed to honor the president who put America on the path to the moon. NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center has helped set the stage for America's adventure in space for five decades. The spaceport has served as the departure gate for every American manned mission and hundreds of advanced scientific spacecraft. From the early days of Project Mercury to the Space Shuttle Program and International Space Station, from the Hubble Space Telescope to the Mars rovers, the center has enjoyed a rich heritage.