One of my favourite places to visit in Florida is the Kennedy Space Centre on Cape Canaveral. I’ve been there four times now, and each time I think it gets better!  There was never any doubt in my mind that I would go there again on this trip.

According to Wikipedia: “The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is one of ten National Aeronautics and Space Administration field centers. Since December 1968, Kennedy Space Center has been NASA’s primary launch center of human spaceflight. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. …the center manages launch of robotic and commercial crew missions, researches food production and In-Situ Resource Utilization for off Earth exploration, and more. Since 2010, the center has worked to become a multi-user spaceport through industry partnerships, even adding a new launch pad (LC-39C) in 2015.  There are about 700 facilities grouped across the center’s 144,000 acres. Among the unique facilities at KSC are the 525 ft tall Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking NASA’s largest rockets, Operations and Checkout Building which houses the astronaut crew quarters, and 3-mile-long Shuttle Landing Facility.”

One of the first things you see as you enter the visitor’s centre is the Rocket Garden.  There were a number of interesting rockets here, but nothing new that I hadn’t seen on previous visits, so I didn’t spend much time here.  They also seemed to be cleaning the rockets, so there were barriers in front of some of them.

I headed straight for the bus tour that takes visitors out to the launch pads and the Saturn V center.  On the way we drove by the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).  It’s HUGE!!  The flag painted on the front is about 21 stories tall.  Wiki says: “The VAB is 526 feet (160.3 m) tall, 716 feet (218.2 m) long and 518 feet (157.9 m) wide. It covers 8 acres (3 ha), and encloses 129,428,000 cubic feet (3,665,000 m³) of space.  Located on Florida’s Atlantic coast, the building was constructed to withstand hurricanes and tropical storms with a foundation consisting of 30,000 cubic yards of concrete and 4,225 steel rods driven 160 feet into limestone bedrock. …The VAB is the largest single-story building in the world, was the tallest building (160.3 metres (526 ft)) in Florida until 1974, and is still the tallest building in the United States outside an urban area.”

Near the VAB is the Launch Control Center (LCC), with it’s large windows facing toward the launch area.

As we were driven out to the launch pads, we passed by one of the crawlers, the vehicles that move the rockets out the to pads.  As you can see from the trucks parked near the left hand side, they’re also HUGE.  They move only a few miles per hour, it takes 6 to 8 hours to move a rocket to a launch pad, and each section of each of the eight tracks weighs a ton.  Wiki again: “The crawler-transporter has a mass of 2,721 tonnes (6,000,000 lb) and has eight tracks, two on each corner. Each track has 57 shoes, and each shoe weighs 900 kg (1,984 lb). The vehicle measures 40 by 35 metres (131 by 114 ft). The height from ground level to the platform is adjustable from 6.1 to 7.9 m (20 to 26 ft), and each side can be raised and lowered independently of the other. The crawler uses a laser guidance system and a leveling system to keep the Mobile Launcher Platform level within 10 minutes of arc (about 30 cm (1 ft) at the top of the Saturn V), while moving up the 5% grade to the launch site. A separate laser docking system provides pinpoint accuracy when the crawler-transporter and Mobile Launch Platform are positioned in the VAB or at the launch pad. A team of nearly 30 engineers, technicians and drivers operate the vehicle.”

We drove by launch pads 39A and 39B next — the picture below is 39A.  Wiki says: “As of 2015, Launch Complex 39 is in the midst of substantial modification to prepare for new uses with new vehicles. SpaceX has leased Launch Pad 39A for use with both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy, while Launch Pad 39B, the Vehicle Assembly Building and Crawlerway are being readied for launches of the government-owned Space Launch System (SLS).”  The two gravel tracks that curve toward the SpaceX building are the Crawlerway… HUGE.

Back near the VAB, this is the Mobile Launcher Platform being put together for the new Space Launch System (SLS) scheduled to launch in 2018.  It seems to be taller than the crane, so I’m not entirely sure how they’re constructing this!

The bus tour lets visitors off at the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where we learned the history of early space launches, especially the Saturn program.  Sitting in the launch control room, we saw the entire launch sequence for Saturn V — the seats shook and the windows rattled when the rocket took off!  The consoles are not reproductions, but the actual ones used for the launch.

After watching the launch, we walked out into a large hanger to see an actual Saturn V rocket.  Again… HUGE!  I couldn’t really get it all in one picture..

I walked up to the other end to check out the Service and Command Modules.

Knowing my love of monster machinery and spectacular engineering, you can imagine how happy I was at this point!  BIG TOYS!!  There was a café in the hanger, so I had lunch next to the Saturn V, and even got a Moon Pie.  I don’t even like Moon Pies, but it was just so fitting…

Also in the hanger were displays of the equipment used to space and moon exploration. Here’s a Moon Buggy.  Although I never thought about it before, it turns out that these are “some assembly required” — there were transported in pieces and assembled by the astronauts on the moon.

I also saw the Apollo 14 Capsule, named the Kitty Hawk, that brought the 3 man crew back to Earth in February 1971.  The meteorite pits and burn marks on the underside were incredible… impressive… actually, kind of terrifying…

Some other equipment on display included prototype space suits for extravehicular exploration.

The helmets, with their many visors, one coated in gold…

When I had seen all there was to see at the Saturn V Center, I returned to the Visitor’s Complex to look around some more.  I don’t remember seeing the Space Shuttle building before, but I can’t find any information on when it opened either, so maybe I missed it in previous visits, or maybe it’s new.  The entry is underneath the External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters.  Have I used the word HUGE recently…?!

Inside I watched a video on a large screen about the history of the Space Shuttle development, up until the launch of the first shuttle, the Atlantis.  Then the screen went dark, covered with stars… and then it went transparent… and we saw the shuttle coming towards us through the stars.  It wasn’t until the screen lifted that I realized that it wasn’t an image… it was the Space Shuttle Atlantis!!  What an entrance!!  Seriously, I have no words, it was breathtaking!!

I wasn’t expecting to see an actual Space Shuttle, must less the first one, and so close!  I completely lost my cool at this point, and just stood there staring with a stupid grin on my face for the longest time.  Then I started hyperventilating and ran around giggling and taking a million pictures.  (The good thing about traveling alone is that I can’t embarrass anyone else…)

Just imagine… this nose cone and these thermal tiles reentering the Earth’s atmosphere, glowing with heat, and then gliding down to land safely!!  The power, the heat, the energy, the precision!!  Sorry, I’m getting excited again as I write this…

I had always imagined that the exterior of the Shuttle would be all smooth, but not so.  This picture is of the outside of the engine covering.  It looked almost quilted, although I never did find out the reason for this.

Engines!  Tail fin! Eep!

Of course, the primary purpose of the Shuttles was as transportation.  The bay doors were open and the arm extended, showing how much room there really was for equipment.  There was a model of the Hubble Telescope nearby, showing how the equipment used to repair and upgrade the telescope fit inside the shuttle.

When I finally caught my breath again I went down to the ground floor to see it from below.  The wings!!  I could almost touch them!  (But not quite, I tried..)

I got a closer look at the thermal tiles…

They had the tires that the shuttle landed on!  I touched them, and spun them on their axels!

They also had the original model that started the design team thinking about the concept of a reusable spacecraft.  It obviously changed quite a bit from the original concept.

There was a section for kids to learn about the shuttle missions as well, including this slide to demonstrate landing trajectories.  Are you wondering if I tried it??  Then you don’t know me very well… of course I did!!

As I think I’ve made clear, I was completely blown away by seeing the Atlantis up close and personal.  The fact that it was a complete surprise made it that much better, and I spent much of my day just wandering around it, reading and learning as much as I could, just amazed at being near something so beautiful and effective in it’s design!  But eventually I had to tear myself away…

Of course, the big news in the space industry is the planning for manned exploration of Mars.  There were several areas at the center that explained different aspects of the past and ongoing missions, and plans for the future.  I especially liked the Destination Mars exhibit, that used data from the Spirit and Opportunity Rovers to create a 3D rendering of the Mars surface that we could wander through with virtual reality glasses on.  After fitting the glasses and getting instructions, we only got about 20 minutes to wander around on the surface of Mars, but it was really impressive!.  About 10 people at a time are admitted into a black room, and in spite of being instructed to the contrary, we walked around bumping into each other and ogling the dry and rocky landscape, the moons above, and even met Opportunity coming towards us across the surface.  It’s one thing to see pictures, but in spite of the occasional rendering glitch, this really felt like being there, and was an amazing experience!  It was impossible to take pictures of this experience, of course…

Another Mars exhibit explained the state of the technology currently being used to explore the surface, and how plans were progressing for manned exploration.  I always get a bit emotional when I think about Opportunity up there wandering around alone for so long… doing it’s job and sending back data long after it was expected to have stopped working… with no hope of ever going home again… *sniff*

Obviously this was an emotionally draining day for me, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world! I love Kennedy Space Center, and highly recommend it to anyone who will be visiting in the area.  On my way out, I had another unusual experience, being stopped by the raising of a draw bridge, something that’s never happened to me before.

Well.  Everything taken together pretty much red-lined the coolness meter for this day…. Unbelievable.  Atlantis!  When can I go back….?