Kennedy Space Center

Many children dream one day of walking among the stars. For Retired Navy Captain Winston Scott, that reality was manifested when he was selected for NASA’s Astronaut Program.

Winston Scott grew up in Miami and attended Florida State University to study music. While at FSU he started getting into engineering and at one point the word astronaut flashed briefly through his mind. So, after graduating in 1972, he entered Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School and two years later became a Naval Aviator and served as a production test pilot flying the F/A-18 Hornet at A-7 Corsair. Mr. Scott was then selected by NASA to become an astronaut and reported to the Johnson Space Center in 1992. These days he’s Director of Operational Excellence at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex and in that role was touring last week so we brough him by the studio to talk about being an astronaut, and what goes on at the KSC Visitor’s Complex.

There's a space race brewing within The Sunshine State. Companies are spending billions in returning to space and giving a boost to Florida's economy in the process.

The last in the GOES-R satellite series launched Tuesday afternoon that will carry the latest weather technology and advancements into the year 2030.

Wednesday morning, after years of delays and billions in cost overruns, the Space Launch System rocket thundered skyward, rising from Kennedy Space Center on 8.8 million pounds (4 million kilograms) of thrust and hitting 100 mph (160 kph) within seconds.

“Right now, there’s nothing preventing us” from attempting a launch on Wednesday, said NASA’s Jim Free, an associate administrator.

During a press conference on Thursday, space agency officials said they were eyeing Sept. 23 or Sept. 27 as possible dates for the launch.

Space travel is never routine or easy and the Apollo 13 mission to the moon proved that point. An explosion aboard the spacecraft 55 hours after liftoff forever changed NASA.

Kennedy Space Center director and former shuttle astronaut Bob Cabana led a brief memorial inside the lunar theater, next door to a hall showcasing a…