Day 3: Kennedy Space Centre
We decided to drive to Kennedy Space Centre today, since the GPS claimed that it is closer to get to from Siesta Keys than from Miami.
I thought I’d save time by purchasing tickets online via the KSC website … but then I forgot to bring my printouts! Luckily they were able to retrieve my booking details and so were able to get in. Phew!
Once in, we were hungry so we decided to grab a quick bite at the "Orbit Cafe". The food available was quite limited: greasy fast food with fries, and soggy sandwiches, which was what we ended up with. After scoffing our lunch down, we joined the queue for the KSC tour bus.
This is what we saw along the tour route …
Vehicle Assembly Building
A crawler transporter platform
Crawler transporter tracks with a space shuttle in the background
Wild boars digging up the crawler path
The tour bus dropped us off at LC-39, where we viewed a video and looked at the surrounding views from the observation gantry.
A shuttle launch pad in the distance
We’ve seen many of these vultures circling the skies throughout Florida …
A vulture circles overhead
But we managed to have a closer look at one that landed …
A vulture has landed
Moon rock fragment
We boarded another bus which dropped us off at the Apollo / Saturn V centre, where we viewed another video, and items from the Apollo moon mission.
A command module
A rocket in parts
Snoopy!
We arrived back at the main visitor centre in time for a shuttle launch experience, which I joined with much trepidation. Luckily, it wasn’t as scary as I feared it would be, which was unfortunate for Muffin! After buying some souvinirs, and with not much time left, we headed to the rocket garden …
Old rockets on display at the Rocket Garden
It was soon closing time and we returned to our car. On the way back we stopped at a Chipotle Mexican Grill for dinner.
Our visit to the KSC was very inspiring for us, and we hoped that someday we’d be a part of a large project that made a difference to humanity!