# @nasaartemis on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/7tMhqgGh2O
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/15347510-nasaartemis-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/7c24dfc32e.jpg
- **Posted:** 2015-09-16T21:14:33.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA Artemis (@nasaartemis) — https://gondola.cc/nasaartemis

## Caption

'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

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 2,662
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 10

## Tags

nasa, wildliferefuge, spacecoast, gators, wildlife, spaceport, merrittisland, kennedy, closeup, insidenasa, wildlifewednesday, florida

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