It was a short drive from Disney World to Titusville, my basestation for visiting the Kennedy Space Center. I’d toured Johnson Space Center outside of Houston many years ago, but, really, the action was at KSC. I was wowed by what I saw.
Originally, I’d planned to spend two nights in Titusville: the night after I drove over on the 5th, and the next night after I’d toured KSC. But looking at the KSC website, I discovered that the launch of a SpaceX rocket was planned for the evening of the 8th, so I changed my plans to hang around for that. As it worked out, I was busy on the 6th anyway, picking up some documents at a FedEx in Cocoa Beach that needed my signature, signing them, and immediately FedExing them back to the University. It was graduation approval forms for a Ph.D. student I had advised. So I toured KSC on the 7th.
Admission to KSC isn’t cheap: $50. But I wanted to see more than the basics, so I bought the additional $25 bus tour that takes you around to the launch sites; money well spent, in my opinion. Once past the ticket booth, the first exhibit you encounter is various types of rockets:
I was impressed by the actual gantry used for several Apollo missions. This is what astronauts saw as they approached their ride into space:
I also liked seeing a preview of the Orion, America’s next manned space transport:
Turning a corner, you enter a cluster of buildings that are the main exhibit area:
The flags represent countries that contributed to the U.S. space program. I was really impressed to see a SpaceX Dragon capsule that had been through liftoff and landing:
It was a limited time exhibit. The next photo I took because I swear I did a double take; it was so realistic I thought the guy was standing there:
There was a series of Mars rover vehicles:
From top to bottom, they represent Sojourner (the size of a large RC toy car), Spirit and Opportunity (about the size of card tables), and Curiosity (the size of an ATV).
At that point, I got on the bus for the tour of the grounds. The old, glowing numerals that I remember from countdowns when I was a kid have been replaced by a jumbotron.:
We visited the area of the Vehicle Assembly Building:
The stars and stripes in the foreground are the same size as those on the building. Our guide said that for much of the Apollo program, the escape plan was that “if something started to go wrong”, astronauts would exit the capsule, slide down a chute to the ground, enter the vehicle below, and drive like hell away from the rocket. Really?!!:
Two of the three “garages” where shuttles were kept between flights:
The crawler that transported assembled rockets to the launchpads:
A separate display of one of the crawler treads, about six feet end-to-end:
The crawler track approaching one of the launch pads:
(the two lighter strips, not the concrete in the foreground.) A “bare” launch pad, used when the gantry comes out with the rocket:
SpaceX uses this launchpad. The towers are lightening rods. Launchpad 39A:
This is where Apollo 11 was launched, and many of the Shuttle missions. A solid steel blast deflection panel that has endured the fury of a rocket’s exhaust:
This was taken through the bus window, but you can see the effects. There’s not much to it, but this is (a small part of) the Shuttle landing strip:
My imagination was probably overstimulated by this point, but I thought this cloud resembled a shuttle:
I was surprised by the amount of wildlife we saw while touring the grounds. Some examples:
That’s a bald eagle in its nest, one of several on the facility. The tour bus drops you off at a building separate from the main display area to see a complete Saturn V rocket:
Top of stage 1, bottom of stage 2:
Same engines from the other side, showing more complexity:
Top of stage 2:
Bottom of stage 3:
An instrumentation ring that went on top of stage 3:
The shroud that contained the Lunar Excursion Module, and at its right end, the Service Module:
(The ribs are part of a cradle, not part of the spacecraft.) This model clarifies what you’re seeing above:
The LEM:
By the way, nothing in any of these displays is a mock-up. They’re all actual test models or spare parts. The command station inside the LEM:
The service module and command module:
The Lunar Rover:
A moon rock that you get to touch:
There’s also a theater that does a very dramatic recreation of the moon landing:
and control consoles actually used during the Apollo program:
A shuttle bus is available to take you back to the main display area. It was already getting late, so I headed right over to shuttle display building. There’s an impressive exhibit of the solid rocket boosters and the external fuel tank outside:
It’s maybe even more impressive seen from inside the building:
You watch a short movie about the shuttle, then the screen raises up and this is what is behind it:
That is the actual Atlantis, that flew many times into space. The effect is breathtaking. You feel like you can reach out and touch it. (But it's just out of reach.)
A separate display shows the pilot’s station in the shuttle:
The copilot station:
The station where the arm is operated from:
One of the main engines:
Nearby is a display of the Hubble Telescope:
Also, a typical crew “bedroom” aboard the Space Station:
The bus that was used to transport astronauts to the launchpad:
Should have known Airstream got that contract. A bit isolated away from the display area is a tribute to the men and women that have lost their lives in the space program:
It’s hard to make out, but their names are etched on that stone. On the way out of the park, there’s a small display of Soviet space technology:
The difference in level of sophistication (or lack thereof) is striking.
For me, KSC was a thrill equal to, though different than, seeing Epcot. Oh, and that launch I stayed over two extra days to see? There was a perfect view from my RV park. Several hundred people and I lined the shore facing Merritt Island. The countdown of the SpaceX rocket proceeded… and was scrubbed with two minutes to go. An instrumentation failure. I couldn’t wait around. I don’t think the launch actually took place until a week later. I was already up the coast at my next destination, St. Augustine.
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