KENNEDY SPACE CENTER Though NASA relies on Russia to transport astronauts into orbit, retired astronaut Winston Scott remains optimistic about the next half-century of American spaceflight.

Monday, NASA showed off its new Orion crew capsule at Kennedy Space Center in advance of an unmanned 2014 orbital test flight. This deep-space exploration program may ultimately send humans to the moon, asteroids and Mars.

And on a parallel path, SpaceX's Dragon capsule splashed down in May in the Pacific Ocean, pushing commercial spacecraft closer to servicing the International Space Station.

"We're moving forward. We're just moving forward very slow," Scott said Sunday during ceremonies marking KSC's 50th anniversary.

"Many of us would like to see America accelerate let's get back in the game quickly. But it's slow. And we are making progress," Scott said.

KSC opened July 1, 1962, as NASA's Launch Operations Center during the Space Race with the Soviet Union. The Merritt Island complex was renamed Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 29, 1963, one week after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, said Stephen Smith, KSC Visitor Complex spokesman.

Constructed amid mosquito-infested marshland, the facility later hosted the historic Apollo 11 lunar launch and 135 shuttle missions.

Scott flew aboard Shuttles Endeavour and Columbia as a mission specialist in 1996-97. Sunday, he shared photos, videos and personal anecdotes including a primer on how astronauts use strap-in space toilets with spectators at the KSC Visitor Complex. He also signed autographs and posed for photos.

Scott said astronauts should have set foot on Mars by now but the federal government has lacked political will and economic incentive to even return to the moon in recent decades.

Carol Scott, NASA commercial crew program manager, said the final shuttle flight last July has caused confusion among the general public

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NASA shows off deep-space exploration capsule at Kennedy Space Center