The Kennedy Space Center

We had a 2-week whirlwind trip back East at the very beginning of the summer and it was SO GREAT!  The main purpose of the trip was to see extended family, but before we met up with anyone, we had a day to ourselves.  We flew into Orlando, arriving very late Wednesday night, then drove to Titusville to go to the Kennedy Space Center on Thursday.  We were all really tired from the late arrival the night before so we took it easy in the morning, barely getting our hotel breakfast before they put it all away, and arriving at KSC later than we planned, but we maximized the time we had there, even closing down the gift shop well after closing time.  There were several things we didn't get to do, so I guess we'll have to go back some day.

We watched a few movies to get psyched for this day, some of which were more educational than others: In the Shadow of the Moon, Space Buddies, Capture the Flag, and Apollo 13 (for Ben and me - and I wished we'd started earlier so we could also watch First Man and The Right Stuff).  It definitely helped me have more of an appreciation for what we saw at KSC.

In our preparation for this visit (watching movies) I started wondering why it was so
important to the US to win the Space Race.  This quote at the entrance explained it well. 

A Real Live (Person in an) Astronaut (Suit)!

Luke in front of a capsule at the Rocket Garden 

Gus Grissom's space suit

The Astronaut Hall of Fame

There's a bus tour that leaves the main KSC complex and shows visitors the Vehicle Assembly Building (where massive rockets like the Saturn V were built - it covers 8 acres and the inside volume of the building is nearly four times that of the Empire State Building), the Crawler (a huge tracked vehicle that transports spacecraft from the VAB to the launch sites), the SpaceX building, and two launch pads, then finally arrives at the Saturn V complex.  The bus ride was cool, and we really loved the Saturn V area.

Apollo Missions Mission Control

Saturn V Rocket

  

Apollo 14 Capsule

We had a very long conversation with Saturn V engineer James Stone, who had
some great stories to tell.  It's so amazing that they were able to solve the millions
of challenges to make this rocket work and accomplish their missions!

One thing I learned was that when the Apollo 1 disaster happened,
there were several support crewmembers in the room, and six of them
risked their lives to try to get the astronauts out of their capsule.

Back in the main visitor complex, our last stop was the Shuttle area.
There's a good little film teaching about the development of the space shuttle
program and how important and cost-effective it was to have a spacecraft that could
be used over and over again.  When the film was over, a screen lifted and the
Atlantis shuttle was right in front of us, surrounded by a huge museum.  It was really cool.

The shuttle launch simulator

 

We took a minute to admire the LEGO Mars Rover on our way out.
Anything made of LEGOs is automatically cool.

We left the KSC at about 7:00 and decided that while we were in the area, we'd take the kids to Cocoa Beach, since technically Luke has never been to the Atlantic.  We drove out there, then drove around some more to find a public beach access with bathrooms so we could change, but none was to be found.  We finally decided to just park near an access and let the kids put their bathing suits on in the car.  As soon as they were changed and we were about to walk out to the beach, someone needed to use the bathroom, immediately.  So we drove a couple of blocks to the Ron Jon Surf Shop Complex (3 buildings = complex) to use the bathroom, then as we did a little shopping, and exploring, and separated, and found each other, and did a little more shopping, and took some pictures, the sun went down.  And we found ourselves finally going to the beach at 9:00, in the pitch black.  But the kids still had a BLAST running, playing, splashing, and laughing, and it felt like the perfect vacation day.  

We cleaned up a bit, then had a later-than-ever-before dinner at Waffle House before heading back to the hotel.