Pad 39A,B on Cape Canaveral or NOT??

An old dispute has flared up again regarding the
geographical location of pads 39 A & B, at KSC.

Is there any OFFICIAL decree about whether they are
on what is officially called 'Cape Canaveral' or rather
on the land that is officially part of 'Merritt Island'?

I suppose the Board of Geographic Names in DC might have to be
the final arbiter on this.

I'm in the 'Merritt Island' camp but my esteemed NBC colleague
Jay Barbree is equally insistent that 'Cape Canaveral' is
geographically correct.

Can anybody help with links to official pronouncements
on this cartographical confusion? THANKS!

JimO
www.jamesoberg.com

Am Sat, 23 Jul 2005 15:52:38 GMT schrieb "Jim Oberg":

An old dispute has flared up again regarding the
geographical location of pads 39 A & B, at KSC.

Is there any OFFICIAL decree about whether they are
on what is officially called 'Cape Canaveral' or rather
on the land that is officially part of 'Merritt Island'?

As an outsider I would say "Merritt Island", because in a geographical
manner even "Cape Canaveral Island" is part of Merritt Island, because
these "two" islands _are_ linked naturally (not by bridge nor other
artificial means). So the question should maybe told in the other
direction: Is that half-island called Cape Canaveral in reality part
of Merritt Island, or is it even cartographed officially under the own
description "Cape Canaveral (half) Island"?

BTW: There is no doubt, where the borderline of Cape Canaveral Air
Force Station is (from Titusville beach [false cape] through Banana
River down to Port Canaveral), but IMHO there _are_ doubts, if the
northern end of this border can be seen as a natural border between
two islands - for me the single possible type of border between two
distinct islands has to be WET - VERY wet - and if there is the
smallest "natural bridge" (independent of tides), the islands have to
be counted as one.

So the position of LC39 _IS_ Merritt Island - without _ANY_ doubt,
while the other launch complexes said to be on Cape Canaveral might
said to be situated on Merritt Island, too...

cu, ZiLi aka HKZL (Heinrich Zinndorf-Linker)
--
"Abusus non tollit usum" - Latin: Abuse is no argument against proper use.

mailto: http://zili.de

"Jim Oberg" wrote in message
...
Can anybody help with links to official pronouncements
on this cartographical confusion? THANKS!

Excellent question. Looking at it in a landscape morphology context there
is no way it can be Merritt Island, but it would probably be considered a
part of it in a political context, and maps generally show political
boundaries.

The "land" that the pads were dredged on is a part of the geologically young
barrier island. Merritt Island proper consists of two landscapes - the west
side of SR3 is much older than the east side. The pads are north of what
used to be Banana Creek which connected the Indian River Lagoon to the
Banana River Lagoon and cut Merritt Island off from the land that the pads
are on. So the real question becomes Which part is pad 41 on...

So, without a name for the land north of Banana Creek, it would default to
Merritt Island.
0.02

http://arcimspub.sjrwmd.com/website/...ont-end%20Tool

"Jim Oberg" wrote in message
...
An old dispute has flared up again regarding the
geographical location of pads 39 A & B, at KSC.

Is there any OFFICIAL decree about whether they are
on what is officially called 'Cape Canaveral' or rather
on the land that is officially part of 'Merritt Island'?

I suppose the Board of Geographic Names in DC might have to be
the final arbiter on this.

I'm in the 'Merritt Island' camp but my esteemed NBC colleague
Jay Barbree is equally insistent that 'Cape Canaveral' is
geographically correct.

Can anybody help with links to official pronouncements
on this cartographical confusion? THANKS!

JimO
www.jamesoberg.com

Where is all of that old film footage of building the Saturn complex? ..
which was sponsored and underwritten by Gulf Oil. I remember seeing it on
the NBC network during the Gemini launches

As I remember the "PR spin" from 1965 / 66... it was usually always
presented to public as Merritt Island ... with footage and narration of how
much earth had to be hauled to the site to "fill-in" to create the "39"
complex and VAB ... in this naturally wet coastal environment.

LBJ's designation as "Cape Kennedy" following his assassination .. added a
bit more complexity during that time period.

gb

Jim Oberg wrote:
An old dispute has flared up again regarding the
geographical location of pads 39 A & B, at KSC.

Both launch pads are on NASA property (Kennedy Space Center). The
Banana River separates all but the northern tip of Cape Canaveral from
Kennedy Space Center.

Is there any OFFICIAL decree about whether they are
on what is officially called 'Cape Canaveral' or rather
on the land that is officially part of 'Merritt Island'?

Cape Canaveral (except for the city of) is on Air Force property. Any
good Titusville map will verify that. If not, refer Jay to an Air Force
map of the range.

I suppose the Board of Geographic Names in DC might have to be
the final arbiter on this.

I'm in the 'Merritt Island' camp but my esteemed NBC colleague
Jay Barbree is equally insistent that 'Cape Canaveral' is
geographically correct.

Give Jay my regards. It's been a long while since we visited. Tell him
I hope he hasn't been falling prostrate on the beach again lately.
(That was a hair-raising news story for all of us.)

Challenger's Ghost

Jim Oberg wrote:
An old dispute has flared up again regarding the
geographical location of pads 39 A & B, at KSC.

Is there any OFFICIAL decree about whether they are
on what is officially called 'Cape Canaveral' or rather
on the land that is officially part of 'Merritt Island'?

I suppose the Board of Geographic Names in DC might have to be
the final arbiter on this.

I'm in the 'Merritt Island' camp but my esteemed NBC colleague
Jay Barbree is equally insistent that 'Cape Canaveral' is
geographically correct.

Can anybody help with links to official pronouncements
on this cartographical confusion? THANKS!

Here's one sight that at least provides some historical
insight. It could be that you are both wrong!

"http://www.rootsweb.com/~flbreva2/History/10K-1820.html"

"Merritt Island

The Spanish referred to Merritt Island as Isla de Punta de
Piedra or Stoney Point. The tip of Merritt Island has a
distinctive outcropping of coquina rock eroded by water
into fantastic shapes.

[MY NOTE: This feature is at the extreme southern tip
of Merritt Island. When you look at a map, Complex 39
does not appear to actually be on this "Merritt's
Island". It doesn't appear to be adjacent to the
Cape of Cane Reeds (Canaveral) either. The nearest
formerly named location near where the pads are now is
a spot that used to be called "Titusville Beach".]

Merritt Island was referred to as Merritt's Island as early
as 1803 and as recently as 1930. The post office was
commissioned as Merritt Island on June 1, 1935. In John
McIntosh's grant it is described as "An island in the Rio
Ais, known by the name of the Isla de Punta de Piedra or
by the Isla de Marrat, which name was given by the
memorialist having a man of the same name residing
thereon." (Spanish Land Grants in Florida, vol. IV, Con.
M28b-c, M29) Some believe Marratt may have been Captain
Pedro Marratt, head surveyor of the Spanish governor in
East Florida from 1791-1800. McIntosh was said to have
250 people on his grant including five white men, two of
them with their families. (Certificate of Grant, May 18,
1803) The earliest map on which Merritt's Island is named
is the 1823 Tanner map."

- Ed Kyle

"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
oups.com...

[MY NOTE: This feature is at the extreme southern tip
of Merritt Island. When you look at a map, Complex 39
does not appear to actually be on this "Merritt's
Island". It doesn't appear to be adjacent to the
Cape of Cane Reeds (Canaveral) either. The nearest
formerly named location near where the pads are now is
a spot that used to be called "Titusville Beach".]

Yep, that's what my point was - Banana Creek cuts that Merritt Island off
from where the pads are.

On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 15:52:38 GMT, "Jim Oberg"
wrote:

I suppose the Board of Geographic Names in DC might have to be
the final arbiter on this.

I'm in the 'Merritt Island' camp but my esteemed NBC colleague
Jay Barbree is equally insistent that 'Cape Canaveral' is
geographically correct.


Well, "Canaveral National Seashore" stretches a lot farther north of
Cape Canaveral proper than LC-39, so if it gets the name, I suppose
LC-39 should, too.

Brian

Good point, where's the link to a map that shows this designation, please?



"Brian Thorn" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 23 Jul 2005 15:52:38 GMT, "Jim Oberg"
wrote:

I suppose the Board of Geographic Names in DC might have to be
the final arbiter on this.

I'm in the 'Merritt Island' camp but my esteemed NBC colleague
Jay Barbree is equally insistent that 'Cape Canaveral' is
geographically correct.


Well, "Canaveral National Seashore" stretches a lot farther north of
Cape Canaveral proper than LC-39, so if it gets the name, I suppose
LC-39 should, too.

Brian

On Wed, 27 Jul 2005 07:51:10 GMT, "Jim Oberg"
wrote:


http://www.nps.gov/cana/

"http://usparks.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.nbbd.com/godo/cns/images/0212CANAmap.pdf"


Brian

Good point, where's the link to a map that shows this designation, please?


Well, "Canaveral National Seashore" stretches a lot farther north of
Cape Canaveral proper than LC-39, so if it gets the name, I suppose
LC-39 should, too.