We have both regretted that we never made it to a shuttle launch, Lord knows we really wanted to. But upon our arrival in the Orlando area, one of the first things we did was learn how far away the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) was from our park. About 50 miles – that’ll work! At least we could do the next best thing, which was to check out the space center and the new space shuttle Atlantis display set up just a few months ago after its final mission. Even though we were able to see the space shuttle Discovery in Washington, DC recently, we never get tired of seeing, in person, these fantastic man-made machines that have done so many amazing things.
The KSC is huge, 140,000 acres to be exact. It has many launch pads and control centers located throughout the complex. We took one of the more extensive tours of those pads, and the massive Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). We also saw the huge crawler-transporter vehicles used to move the assemblies to the pads, and at the end of the tour we were dropped off at the building which houses a complete Apollo/Saturn V rocket with all of the lunar and command module components included.
We learned that NASA is currently building a new Space Launch System (SLS) that includes the launch tower on the stand with the new Orion rocket. What this means is that they will be able to mount the vehicle and the tower on the launch stand inside the VAB. That way, they can do all of the systems testing before moving it outside and shorten the time that it sits on the pad from 3 weeks to only one.
The Vehicle Assembly Building stands 525 feet tall and 518 feet wide. It covers eight acres and encloses a volume of 129,428,000 cubic feet. It takes 45 minutes to open one of the building’s 456-foot-high bay doors.
The next generation spacecraft, the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle is part of NASA’s new plan to explore beyond low earth orbit and into deep space. We first heard of this project when we toured the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas early this year. The Orion’s first flight test is scheduled in September 2014.
At the end of our tour, we were dropped off at the Apollo/Saturn V Center. It contained a spectacular display, even more impressive than the Saturn V display we saw at the Johnson Space Center several months ago. All the Apollo missions with their crews had unique symbols displayed as well. We went to a “launch countdown experience” that included the actual consoles and computers from the control center used for Apollo missions. It was extremely well done. Seeing these things after growing up and witnessing them during our lifetimes made it a very exciting day.
Finally, we saw the fabulous Atlantis orbiter display, and we were totally amazed! It was displayed in such a way that we could walk under, around and above it, or as they say “on-orbit configuration.” They really did this one right.
This is a must-do excursion if you are in the area and if you grew up with the Apollo missions in the 60’s. Be sure to take a tour that includes the Vehicle Assembly Building. It isn’t cheap, but it’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience for most of us and well worth the price of admission.
Lastly, Steve (who was outside writing this post) heard a noise and was surprised to see this guest on Christmas eve helping himself to the bird feeder…
Lowes Travels 
Very impressive photographs. I sure hope to travel down/up the east coast. What a wonderful guide you have provided.
I can’t believe you had a bear at your feeder!
Happy New Year!
Thank you Gay. That bear strolled right along behind the rig and I was just right there frozen for a moment.
Great photos!
It’s so funny, I don’ think of FL as being a place for bears…it’s so cool you saw one!
Agree, I can not associate Bears and Florida but we were thrilled to get a visit from one cute black bear.
Love the bear pics. Glad it was only a little one! Did you know that the stars on the flag on that Nasa building are six feet across? It gives some idea of the size of the building! 🙂
Oh yes, the tour guide did mention a few interesting facts about the VAB but the contributing writer chose not to mention it 🙂
Oh my, a bear! Good thing to check outside before you step outside. You have now seen bears from Alaska and Florida.
Love Kennedy Space Center. Been there twice, but really want to go again to see the vehicle assembly building and Atlantis. Love that time in history!
Yeah! exactly, I’ve seen from both ends of the spectrum from Alaska up north and Florida down south. Amazing.
We haven’t been to the space center since the kids were little. It was much smaller back then. We didn’t see a launch but did see them moving a shuttle out to the pad. Pretty impressive place.
I love the bear. Guess it is time to move the bird feeder inside. We were told not to leave anything outside while in Big Cypress because of the bears.
That is great you saw the shuttle being moved, that must have been an awesome sight. It gives us a kick seeing bears in Florida, an animal you hardly associate with being here.
Oh yes indeed, “Houston we have a problem”…..ML in a space capsule!!! Cute Bear….disappointed no photo with you standing next to him 😉 We’re having dinner with Hector and Brenda this evening, wish you were here to join us!
Oh,awesome you get to meet Hector and Brenda ! I do wish I was there to cheers with the Margaritas!
fun, fun time…..we need to schedule a rendezvous with the six of us in Colorado some time 🙂
Great overview. Some really neat places you are seeing. Hope your Christmas was great.
Thanks Wayne and hope you had a wonderful Christmas.
Awesome is a word that applies for sure. So glad you “get” the space thing … I totally geek out on all the amazing detail. Great post and beautiful pics! Enjoy Florida.
Hector
I would say this year, we had been “spaced” out but loving it. Enjoy Arizona.
Isn’t the Kennedy Space Center great? We visited many years ago when the shuttle program was going strong. Even managed to snag tickets to a nighttime shuttle launch. Unfortunately, the countdown was halted before lift off and we missed our chance to actually see it go into space.
Nice visitor you had there to your rig.
Yes, it is great! Growing with the Apollo Program and seeing the launches on tv, and now actually here is beyond excitement.
Great pictures… One of our very best RV Adventures was watching a night launch from our RV.
Safe Travels and Happy New Year to you both.
Rick
What a great post this was. We will be in the Orlando area later this winter so may need to check this out. Your photos are wonderful Mona. Can’t wait to learn more about my Lumix camera. Although bears were a common sight when we were in Yellowstone, I do not think of them when I think of FL.