We were up bright and early this morning. It was just after 8:00 when we headed out on this beautiful sunny morning. We arrived at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor’s Complex just before 9:00 a.m. There were others with the same idea of being there when the Center opened at 9:00 a.m.
This picture was taken on our way to Kennedy Space Center--Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) is on the left....
Today was a momentous day! The very first time we received the “Senior’s Discount”! Yessiree...55 years and over and you qualify for the senior’s discount...sweet! This calls for the “full meal deal” tickets (i.e. the full guided tour)! Well, okay, we had already decided on those tickets but being eligible for the senior’s discount was definitely a bonus.
Launch Facilities &Support Buildings....
The bus even stopped to watch the dolphins feeding and allow us to take pictures...
One of the Launch Pads...
Crawler Transporter road from VAB to Launch Pad (Each set of tracks moves on either side of grass)...
The VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) is where they mount the Orbitor to the rockets and fuel tank. The building is 52 stories & 520 feet high. The flag is 20 stories high-each star is 6' from tip to tip. Our tour bus could fit within a single stripe. It's almost an illusion as it doesn't appear nearly that big when your standing there!
These are the shuttle hangers...
A Moon Buggy...
We learned a lot today and we haven't even finished seeing everything. Let me share some of our new-found knowledge...
The earlier launches were done at Cape Canaveral but in the 1960's Nasa aquired Merrit Island and built the Kennedy Space Center for the Apollo program and eventual moon launches. Cape Canaveral is now used by the Air Force and is separated from Nasa's Kennedy Space Center by the Banana River. The Air Force uses part of Kennedy for their launches.
The term "Space Shuttle" is the Orbitor mounted with the two solid fuel rockets and the single external fuel tank...on it's own the spacecraft is known as the Orbitor.Because of cracks in the external fuel tank the Nov. 2010 Shuttle launch was cancelled. We thought we might stay in the area for the Feb. 3, 2011 launch but that has also been cancelled because of cracks. The next earliest launch is Feb.27th...unfortunately we will be long gone out of the area by then; which is too bad because there are only 2-3 launches left before the Shuttle fleet is retired.
After seeing the 3D movie, Hubble, at the IMAX theatre, we decided to call it a day. It was 4:15 p.m. and we had had a full day. The admission ticket is good for 2 days within the seven days following the purchase so we will be back Monday to see the rest as well as the Astronaut Hall of Fame. So we headed out to the truck and home.
We were both quite exhausted so we had a quiet evening. I finished off yesterday’s blog and posted it and then made dinner. We both dozed off and on while watching TV and then headed to bed. We are looking forward to visiting our new Florida friends, Roy and Sandy in Port Orange tomorrow.
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