'What does this photo have to do with deep space exploration,' you immediately wonder? A newly hatched alligator rests in a container inside a laboratory at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (nasakennedy) in #Florida, home to the first launch of Space Launch System and Orion in the not-so-distant future. Kennedy’s Ecological Program studies several facets of alligator health, including nesting. The center shares a boundary with the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, which encompasses 140,000 acres that provide a habitat for more than 330 species of birds, 31 mammals, 117 fishes, and 65 amphibians and reptiles. And there it is. Happy #wildlifeWednesday, folks! Credit: NASA/Dimitrios Gerondidakis #gators #spacecoast #wildliferefuge #merrittisland #wildlife #closeup #insidenasa #nasa #kennedy #spaceport