Mark De Pomper, age 10, of Bedford, Ohio, for his question:

Why was Florida picked for Cape Kennedy?

Every young space ager would like to be there when rockets are launched into the wide blue yonder. We envy the people of Florida who have the launching pads of Cape Kennedy right on their doorsteps, so to speak. But there was a very good reason why this site was selected for our space program. Not all the launchings are satellites that go straight into orbit or spacecraft that take off to survey the moon or planets. Most of the launch¬ings are test rockets planned to travel up and back again to the earth.

A test rocket must not be allowed to come falling down in the wrong place. Space engineers must plan for it to drop on some safe, unpopulated spot. But these experts also need to know how the rocket behaves on every step of its journey. They need something like a big rifle range with check points along the way. Cape Kennedy is a natural place for such a rocket range. Test rockets zoom safely out to sea. And along the path there are islands just right for checking stations. Cape Kennedy happens to be in just the right spot to launch rockets down the Atlantic's built in rocket range.