Kennedy Space Center!

On Friday, we toured the Kennedy Space Center with Marc & Michele from Marcs Ark, and Greg & Donna from Lady in Red. This facility is HUGE! It occupies many square miles. There is a visitors center where they have numerous exhibits, a Saturn 5 rocket displayed, two I-Max movie theaters, a launch control center where you can watch an actual launch sequence, a ride that places you into the Space Shuttle for a lift off, astronauts who give talks about the space program and answer questions, and numerous capsules and devices on display that were / are used in the space program.

Here are the girls ready for blast off, and the launch control center.

There were numerous significant newspaper clippings showing both the good and the sad.

From the visitors center, they had motor coach buses which took us out to viewing areas where we could get a closer look at the other buildings, and the launch towers - assuming you call a few miles away close! Above is the VAB, or Vehicle Assembly Building. This is where the shuttles and rockets are put together, and readied to take to the launch sites. It is one of the largest buildings in the world!

How large???

You know how big a water tower is - right?? Look at the water tower in the bottom left of the picture!

The American Flag and NASA insignia were recently repainted. It took 300 gallons of paint just for the flag! One of the motor coach busses we were on could drive up one of the red stripes in the flag without its wheels being off the stripe! Now THATS A BIG BUILDING!!!!!

Here is a graphic showing 9 motor coach buses stacked end to end, 2 space shuttles, a Saturn 5 rocket, two Statues of Liberty, 4 Mercury rockets, and a football field.

It is really hard to comprehend how big this stuff is until you see it first hand. The closest anyone can be to the launch pad during a lift off is 3 miles. Within a mile, you would burn up from the heat. Within two miles, the concussion from the sound would kill you.

When we were traveling up the Intracoastal the next day, Pat commented - “Look over there - there is the VAB.”  Three hours later, we could still see it!

Here is one of the launch pads. Of course they would not let us near them. This photo was taken from a few miles away.

Here Pat is touching a piece of Moon Rock!

Our day at Kennedy was truly inspiring. It is amazing what we can do when we put our minds together!

Captn Ken