Kennedy Space Center
We got up early this morning and drove 60 miles or so to the “Space Coast” to explore NASA’s launch headquarters – at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. We spent the entire day looking around the facilities there, and had a bus tour that showed us the inside of the International Space Station Center, and drove us around the massive Vehicle Assembly Building, Launch Control Center, Orbiter Processing Facilities, and then drove us out to the two space shuttle launch pads, before dropping us off at the Apollo/Saturn V Center where a real Saturn V rocket (the one that was used to send astronauts to the moon), was on display (it was a very big building, and the rocket was laying on its side).
We spent time wandering around the visitors complex, watched a 3D IMAX film on the International Space Station, chatted with an astronaut (John Blaha), looked inside a 1:1 scale replica of a space shuttle orbiter, and wandered through their “rocket garden”, showcasing the various generations of rockets used in the space race.
We filled an entire day – and could easily have spent much longer there, and then we stopped at the Astronaut Hall of Fame, just down the road, on the way out for an hour or so looking at the history of the US space program, and investigating artifacts, memorabilia, and a detailed timeline of the events that lead to a man walking on the moon. Again, we could easily have spent much longer there browsing through all the information and history. As it was, it was well after 8pm by the time we got home – a fascinating day. We’re both keen to try and get back there to witness a space shuttle launch one day (before the space shuttles are retired in 2015 !).
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