Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center is located about 60 miles south of Daytona.  We knew this would be an all day venture so we got a relatively early start.  By the time we got parked and purchased our tickets it was a little after 10 when we started our tour.

We started with the bus tour.  Buses start running at 10 AM and continue about every 10 minutes throughout the day.  The bus tour includes three stops.  At each stop you get off the bus and tour that area for as long as you like, watch the movie, and examine the exhibits.  Of course, there is a gift shop and a snack bar at every stop.

Crawler that takes the shuttle to the launch pad

Our first stop was the LC-39 Observation Gantry.  From here we could see the Shuttle Endeavor sitting on launch pad 39 A ready for the Feb 7th launch.  Well, you couldn’t actually see the “shuttle” because it was surrounded by so much stuff, but you could see the top of the orange thing it rides on.  We also had a great view of the crawler which carries the shuttles to the launch pad.

Command center used in the Apollo Program

Back on the bus to our second stop--the Apollo/Saturn V Center.  Although, actually seeing a rocket on the launch pad was very cool, the Apollo/Saturn V Center was my favorite.  This stop started out with a short film about the Apollo program then we went into another theater which had the actual command center set up which was used in the early days of the Apollo launches.  The demonstration here took us through the last minute of countdown and the launch.

Business end of the Saturn V

Inside this building was one of the Saturn V rockets.  It was massive.  I couldn’t even get a picture of the entire length.  We had lunch at the Moon Rock Cafe sitting underneath a lunar module.  There were several displays in this building of space suits and personal items from various astronauts.  We finished up our tour here by watching a very impressive film about the lunar landing.

Lunar module hanging over our lunch table

Our last stop on the bus tour was at the International Space Station Center.  Here you actually got to see work being done on parts for the space station.  How cool is that?  Well, by this time it was mid-afternoon on Friday and I guess the rocket scientists knocked off from work early, because the place was empty.  We were disappointed.  There were a few replicas of space station parts we walked through.  Perhaps we were too tired to appreciate the goodness of this area.

The ride home from a little trip to the moon

One of our bus drivers recommended the Shuttle Launch simulator.  We stowed all our stuff in a locker and walked up the ramp to the simulator.  We strapped ourselves into our seats and took off.  Gene thought is was really neat, but I wasn’t that impressed.  It about shook my head loose from my shoulders.

Rocket Garden

We ended up our day by walking through the Rocket Garden and then a quick lap through the gift shop.

Our tickets are good for 2 days, if used within a 7-day period.  We may decide to go back on Sunday.  Really, the only things we didn’t do were the I-Max movies.   The tickets were not cheap--$38 each--but they were definitely worth the cost.

Tomorrow, I have to rest.