HOME > VACATIONS > 2009 > FLORIDA > KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
Quick Search:
Kennedy Space Center : South Florida : Trip Report
Jump to:

Kennedy Space Center

What are we going to do this weekend? I hear there is a Shuttle launch scheduled. Wanna go? Sure, why not.

About 2/3rd of the way up on Saturday morning I got a call from my mom to let me know she heard on the radio that the launch was scrubbed. We decided to drive up and enjoy the museum anyway, then spend the night up there and try again for the launch the next day.

Unfortunately we never did see STS-127 launch. It got scrubbed again the 2nd day about 10 minutes before lift-off due to an approaching thunderstorm. And worst of all is the traffic to get back to I-95 was a nightmare. All told I think it took us 6 hours to get home to Hallandale.
Click on thumbnail for a full-size picture

Approaching the Visitor Center.
One of the trainers which the astronauts use to hone their flying skills.
Life-size replica of a Space Shuttle.

Actual boosters and tank from a Shuttle.
Rocket Garden.

The thankfully very sparse memorial wall.
Crowd gathering to watch the launch.
Those clouds don't look good.

Cute family photo. Erin, Greg, Lily, Jasmine, Giselle.

Kennedy Space Center Tour

The highlight of the trip is to take a bus and visit some actual facilities. Since the Shuttle was on the pad we were limited to what we could see. On the way to the Apollo/Saturn V center you see the actual facilities where the Space Shuttle is prepped.
Click on thumbnail for a full-size picture

Mercury rocket on the tour.
One of the crawlers that brings the Shuttle out to the launch pad.
The Vehicle Assembly Building and two of the Shuttle garages.

Vehicle Assembly Building again.
Watching an Apoolo launch simulation.
A Saturn V rocket is big.

An Apollo era space suit.
Cool moon landing show.

Where is the launch pad with STS-127?
Oh, there it is.

International Space Station Center

The other cool thing to visit is the building where the pieces for the space station are prepped. It's a big clean room where scientists work on the modules to prepare them for assembly. We visited on a Sunday so it was empty.
Click on thumbnail for a full-size picture

Dinner with an Astronaut

One of the coolest things was to have dinner with an astronaut, which is also the only way to get a real meal at the facility. By real I mean other than pizza, burger, hot-dog.

During the delicious buffet dinner the astronaut came out and did a talk about him and his history with the space program. Then the meat of it was that he took questions from the audience and answered them, some of them with brutal honesty. Very good, extremely educational and really got my two girls very interested in science. Yes, they not play with toy rockets and not just Barbies.

There are plenty of other opportunities to meet astronauts. In the bookstore there was one signing autographs and another signing copies of his book.
Click on thumbnail for a full-size picture

Comments From People Like You!
Kennedy Space Center : South Florida 2009		Add a Comment add a comment
There are no user contributed comments for this page. Click add a comment to be the first.

That's It!: Go back to the Home Page.
All pictures and text are the property of Gregory Gulik unless otherwise specified. Please contact site owner if you would like permission to use these pictures for your own purposes or to make comments about anything you see here.