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When visitors come to NASA's Kennedy Space
Center in Florida, iconic facilities such

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as the mammoth Vehicle Assembly Building and
ocean side launch pads leave lasting impressions.

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Another facility that has had a long-standing
impact on America's human spaceflight

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programs . . .

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. . . recently was renamed in honor of astronaut
Neil Armstrong, who has been hailed as one

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of the greatest heroes of America's efforts
to explore.

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"That's one small step for (a) man, one giant
leap for mankind."

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Originally constructed as the Manned Spacecraft
Operations Building, the facility was renamed

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the Operations and Checkout, or O&C, Building
prior to the start of the Space Shuttle Program.

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On Jan. 21, 2000, the O&C was added to the
U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

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The O&C was dedicated as the Neil Armstrong
Operations and Checkout Building in ceremonies

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on July 21.

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NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Kennedy's
Director Bob Cabana, Apollo 11 crewmates Mike

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Collins and Buzz Aldrin, along with astronaut
Jim Lovell and members of the Armstrong family,

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were on hand for the event.

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"It's altogether fitting that today we rename
this facility the Neil Armstrong Operations

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and Checkout Building."

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"He along with his crewmates, Buzz Aldrin
and Michael Collins, are a bridge from NASA's

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historic journey to the moon 45 years ago
to our path to Mars today."

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"I can't think of anybody better whose name
could be on it than Neil Armstrong."

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"Neil was one of the finest gentlemen I've
ever known. He was a superb engineering test

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pilot."

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The date coincided with the 45th anniversary
of Armstrong and Aldrin completing the first

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exploration of the lunar surface . . .

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"After Apollo 8, specifically, when questioned,
asked if he wanted me to go with him and he

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said, 'yes,' I will be ever, ever grateful."

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. . . and lifting off the moon to rendezvous
with Collins in the command module for the

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trip home to Earth.

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"I think we all remember Neil's one small
step. He took the process one step further,

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again that powerful, powerful combination
of curiosity and intelligence propelled him

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to the top of his profession. Over and over
again, he took it one step further and that

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eventually brought him to the last rung on
the ladder of the Apollo 11 LM."

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"Neil Armstrong was a close friend, an icon
that, I think, represented the best in America."

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A former Naval aviator, Armstrong flew the
X-15 rocket-powered aircraft seven times between

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1960 and 1962.

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After being selected as an NASA astronaut,
Armstrong served as command pilot for Gemini

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VIII in 1966, the first spacecraft to dock
with another orbiting vehicle.

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In 1969, he became the first person to walk
on the moon as commander of Apollo 11.

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Armstrong's last visit to Kennedy took place
in April of 2012, when he had an opportunity

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to try out the commander's seat of space shuttle
Atlantis. He died four months later at the

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age of 82.

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Today, the Neil Armstrong O&C Building's high
bay is the site where the agency's Orion spacecraft

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is being assembled. Orion is designed to take
humans farther than they've ever gone before.

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Orion is now being assembled into a flight-ready
spacecraft for the unpiloted Exploration Flight

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Test-1 atop a Delta IV rocket, slated for
December 2014.

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In the future, Orion will launch on NASA�s
new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System.

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More powerful than any rocket ever built,
SLS will be capable of sending humans to deep-space

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destinations such as an asteroid and Mars.

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It's possible that the first person to put
boots on the Red Planet will fly there in

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a spacecraft. . .