KSC Visitor Complex plans major new attractions

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is planning a major expansion during the next five years that is designed to build on the success of the space shuttle Atlantis exhibit that opened in 2013 — but also have a focus on missions to Mars.

Among the things in the work are a "Mars Rover," as well as an attraction that would allow visitors to experience brief periods of weightlessness or increased G forces similar to what astronauts experience during a launch.

The $100 million Atlantis exhibit helped Brevard County's most popular paid tourist attraction come out of a slump in the period of the recession and the end of the space shuttle program. During that slump, annual attendance fell by more than 29 percent from 1.59 million in 2009 to 1.12 million 2012, according to Therrin Protze, chief operating officer for the KSC Visitor Complex. The complex also experienced a 31 percent decline in annual revenue from 2008 to 2012, Protze said.

The end of the shuttle program in 2011 "greatly impacted attendance," Protze said in a presentation to local tourism officials during a Brevard County Tourist Development Council leadership retreat in Cocoa Beach.

Astronauts, veterans open 'Heroes and Legends' at KSC

U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame closing soon for relocation

But Protze said things turned around, largely due to the opening of the Atlantis exhibit, as well as an increase in rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Another new attraction opened in November — the Heroes & Legends exhibit. That $20 million attraction also includes exhibits that previously were housed at the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, a site that's about 6 miles west of the Visitor Complex, near U.S. 1.

Delaware North operates both the Visitor Complex and the Hall of Fame.

By midyear, Protze said, the Visitor Complex will debut a Mars Rover concept vehicle that could be featured on a national cable television show.

Protze said the concept vehicle will be used in conjunction with a "Mars Generation" promotion that includes an offer of free admission to the Visitor Complex for fifth-graders throughout the country. Details are still being worked out.

There also will be a nationwide Visitor Complex Mars Rover marketing tour.

"This is going to be a huge promotion this summer," Protze said.

But that's just the beginning, Protze said,

Protze said the Visitor Complex is considering introducing "something that is even bigger than Atlantis" in the future that could offer visitors a chance to experience "six seconds of weightlessness" and "3G's" of gravitational force. That's the equivalent of three times the force of gravity that humans are normally experience on Earth, and equivalent to what an astronaut might experience during a launch.

That proposed Mars Deep Space attraction, which could open as early as 2021, would be located at the current site of the Visitor Complex's administration building, which would be relocated.

Protze also promises "something big" for the former Astronaut Hall of Fame building, which had its exhibits relocated to the main KSC Visitor Complex campus as part of Heroes & Legends.

"It will be something really enticing for our guests," Protze said, while playing it coy for the time being on what might go there.

Protze said the Visitor Complex set an attendance record of 1.66 million in 2016. The increasing attendance has enabled the facility to increase its staff to 794 full-time and part-time employees, up 59 percent from 498 in 2014. And, as the Visitor Complex expands, Protze said, so will the staff level, potentially by 40 percent to 50 percent in the next five years.

Protze said the Visitor Complex has been working to get away from "antiquated" facilities and to aim for "quality storytelling, with a focus on the future" to attract visitors.

He said the Visitor Complex's strategy also includes major sponsorships, space industry partnerships, an experienced project team and an education focus.

Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Eric Garvey said, with all the recent and planned upgrades, the KSC Visitor Complex will become "a multi-day attraction" for the region.

"As they add more, it will be a destination onto its own," Garvey said. "It's tremendously exciting."

Protze said among other projects in the works for later this year and beyond:

• An expanded Astronaut Training Experience, with separate programs for student and families, primarily focusing on a simulated trip to Mars. The facility will have a capacity of 176, up from the current 94.

Protze said the Visitor Complex will use "the gold standard in technology and educational content."

• Making the pathways between exhibits "a wow factor" through interactive exhibits and learning experiences along the pathway tiles, which also can create energy as guests walk over them. Designed into the walkways will be areas depicting planets. It is a concept known as "piezoelectric pathways" and will tie into a new smartphone application.

Young visitors to the complex "will be able to learn while you're playing" along the pathways, Protze said.

• An expanded "Lunch with an Astronaut" experience, with a capacity of 380, up from 252.

• More exhibits of space-flown vehicles, including a SpaceX Dragon capsule recently put on exhibit that took cargo to the International Space Station.

• A more-interactive photo services, called Picsolve, which will include creative selfie photo venues and the ability for visitors to create what amounts to "a photo album of their day" at the complex.

• A redesign of the Visitor Complex's "Main Street" that will include updated building facades and a 46-foot-tall bus tour entrance gate that looks like a small version of the iconic Vehicle Assembly Building.

• Turning the Launch Complex 39 observation gantry into an activity learning center that potentially could include such things as interactive activities, a Mars simulation and a launch viewing center.

• Upgraded dining options.

Schedule of upcoming Florida rocket launches

Space Notebook: SpaceX Valentine's Day launch, Musk meets Trump

The Visitor Complex also:

• Has or will be doing promotions with Chick-fil-A, Little Caesars and National Geographic.

• Significantly boosted its social media reach, followers and engagement.

• Showed strong metrics, compared with other major Central Florida attractions, related to positive reviews by customers.

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com, on Twitter at @bydaveberman and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dave.berman.54.

Annual attendance

Therrin Protze, chief operating officer for the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, provided the following attendance figures for the complex during a Brevard County Tourist Development Council leadership retreat:

2008: 1,588,318

2009: 1,594,550

2010: 1,511,006

2011: 1,389,625

2012: 1,124,962

2013: 1,213,304

2014: 1,383,071

2015: 1,582,539

2016: 1,660,105