Looking Up

We did not know what to expect, but the Kennedy Space Center provided a full day's excitement and education. We arrived at the KSC for opening at 9am and were there at the close, at 7pm. We had done some research on their website and from an extensive brochure that we had picked up at the Florida Welcome Center. This morning we went online and purchased an annual pass each and that provided us with free parking ($10), admission, the General Tour and discounts on food. We also didn't have to wait in line to enter.

The space shuttle Atlantis is the newest star in what they call the "world's most authentic space attraction".  And people from all over the world were there! I'd say at least 50% of those in attendance were foreign speakers. There was even a small contingent of Buddhist monks!

The first thing we did was view the two 3-D IMAX presentations - one on the Hubble Telescope, which was fitting because the Hubble Telescope was launched from a space shuttle and several shuttle missions were use to repair and update the telescope. This film was narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio.  Tom Cruise narrated the second film about the assembly and life aboard the International Space Station. It turns out that seeing these films first helped us appreciate a lot of what we later saw.

We had lunch about 12 noon and immediately after boarded a bus to go out to the Apollo/Saturn V Center. This is also the location that provides the best viewing for space launches. We spent a little time visiting the exhibits at the Apollo/Saturn V Center and then around 2pm we joined the crowd (there were about 4,000 that watched the launch from this location) that was assembling for the Falcon 9/SpaceX-3 launch. The hour and half wait went by quickly as we met Dick and Barbara Black from Liverpool, England. They have been to the U.S. several times before, once to Newport & Boston, another time to Rapid City, South Dakota, our home town, and several other visits to places in the U.S. They have also been to South Africa and New Zealand.

Frederick in his lime green jacket and hat in the upper right-hand corner of the bleachers. That is Barbara on Frederick's right and Dick on his left.

Since it was overcast, and occasionally raining, we were frequently cautioned that the launch could be postponed. But right at 3:25.30 we witnessed the launch.They had set up speakers in front of all the bleachers and there was a running commentary from an NASA official who explained the process and the details of the Falcon 9 launch.

I realize that these pictures (and the many others that I took!) don't convey the excitement of the launch.

We didn't heat the roar of the rockets until maybe 7 - 10 seconds after we saw the first light. The roar was quite loud.

After the launch we returned to the Apollo/Saturn V Center to finish our tour. There is an actual Saturn V rocket that is the star of the exhibit. It is the largest rocket ever flown and was the 363-foot rocket that was America's lunar transportation.

It's impossible to convey the size and complexity of this rocket.

We then returned to the Kennedy Space Center and toured the two year old Atlantis Exhibit Hall. The presentation of the space shuttle program and Atlantis was extremely well done with lots of hands on experiences and information about life aboard a space shuttle and the various missions. 

Atlantis on display.

Frederick in a mock-up of the space shuttle cockpit. The black structure above the display panels is a "heads-up" display that Frederick worked on at Kaiser Electronics.

A portion of a mock-up of the Hubble Telescope.

The specially designed Airstream that was used to transport the astronauts to the launchpad. 

And this for you, Bill. The first building we went into was Nature and Technology. Most of Cape Canaveral is a nature preserve and there was an exhibit of the early Native American culture - and arrow heads!

Enjoy!

It was a very full day!