But against all the odds, on the 16 July 1969, just 30 months after the fatal fire - the first Saturn V rocket attempting to carry men from the surface of one world to another rose into the Florida sky.
As the intelligent, charismatic and well-spoken son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio rose through the ranks quickly to become speaker of the Florida Assembly before taking on Crist for the GOP Senate nomination.
In October, Rose again came close to a first US Tour victory at the Disney Classic in Florida - having opened with a course record, again he slid back to fourth.
The ACC will send either Florida State or Georgia Tech to the Orange Bowl, the Big Ten will have Nebraska or Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl and the Big 12 will be represented in the Fiesta Bowl by Kansas State or Oklahoma depending on how their games play out this weekend.