"We get it. We understand that things have to change. While it is inherently against human nature to make change, we understand that for the safety of flight, for the future astronauts who will fly on the shuttle, we must do business differently," Kennedy said.

In the meantime, the KSC workforce already is moving forward with implementing the findings and recommendations of the CAIB report that directly apply to the Florida base.

To that end, Kennedy offered these updates:

• Ground equipment and launch processing software is being modified to handle the addition of heaters on the shuttle's external tank. The heaters will replace a wedge of foam that was the source of the debris that hit Columbia's wing.

• Similar modifications are in work to handle the addition of rocketcams on the shuttle so engineers can better see any foam shedding from the tank during launch. At least one camera is to fly on the tank, while others may be attached to the orbiter.

• The number of available tracking cameras that follow the shuttle during launch should be doubled from five to 10, a number that should ensure there are at least three quality views of the vehicle from liftoff through the first two minutes and 45 seconds of the mission. Details still need to be worked out.

• The definition of Foreign Object Debris is being standardized so that no matter where a shuttle is at KSC, all workers are following the same guidelines for preventing "litter" from getting into the vehicle or damaging it. The CAIB found that hasn't been the case before.

• The reinforced carbon carbon (RCC) panels for shuttle Atlantis have been removed and returned to their original factory for non-destructive testing. The panels make up the shuttle wing's leading edge and protect the vehicle from the hottest re-entry temperatures.

• Engineers are looking at a technology called flash thermography to inspect the RCC panels without removing them. The procedure involves sending heat pulses into a panel and tracking temperature changes through the composite material using a heat-sensitive imaging system.

• Necessary changes to KSC's contribution to NASA's Return to Flight Implementation Plan following the release of the CAIB report on Tuesday were proposed within hours and will be incorporated into the final document, which is scheduled to be complete by Sept. 5.

• All of the ground support equipment needed for shuttle processing is being inspected and tested to make sure the hardware still meets the requirements of its original certification -- an effort not specifically requested by the CAIB.

Although he hadn't read all 248 pages of the report yet, Kennedy said he did have a clear understanding of KSC's role in meeting the CAIB's requirements and was optimistic his team would be ready to fly when the agency was.

Moreover, the extra work that is likely to be levied on the Florida spaceport will mean there won't be any jobs lost, and could mean new workers will have to be hired, Kennedy said.

"We are taking a look at the requirements to do work that was not previously on our plates. And I will tell you that there is an upswing in the requirements, both for our (United Space Alliance) contractor and for NASA oversight/insight activity at the Kennedy Space Center," he said.

"The work ahead of us is clear, it is significant and will not result in a loss of jobs."