March 19, 2014
Kennedy Space Center and Daytona Beach
KENNEDY! We had a fairly full contingent for the Kennedy excursion. James, Jane and Tyron headed for the beach and Mason stayed back at the house not feeling well. Somewhat surprisingly, the remaining 15 had our coffee and breakfast and were on the road a mere 15 minutes later than our target departure of 8 am. The early start tricked us into thinking we could make a quickie stop for Starbucks, where we could also buy more ground coffee for the house, and still be off in excellent time. We pulled into a little, quiet-seeming Starbucks nestled in a shopping complex where the line was so long it took 35 minutes before we were back on the road. Then, 5 minutes out, we got a text from Dave Duns in car #2 stating he was out of gas. The GPS indicated an exit for gas but it took additional help from Siri to find the station a few miles down a back country road. Then, a line up and post-coffee pit stops meant it was another 25 minutes before we were finally Kennedy-bound. Dave S quote of the moment: it took us an hour and a half to travel 10 minutes. About right.
We had clear sailing for an hour, until I spotted the distant Vehicle Assembly Building and pointed it out to everyone in the car (“there it is!!”), seconds before we got another text from the Duns car asking if I was “out of control”. Har har har!
Finally here!
The biggest surprise at Kennedy was the lack of crowds, which was awesome! We wandered around the Rocket Garden and Dave S found the exhibit containing the actual platform that the Apollo 11 astronauts walked down for the first lunar landing mission. We rounded up the kids, forced them to read the placard, took a bunch of pictures and then walked in the footsteps of Neil Armstrong himself!
Neil Armstrong walked here!
Next up, being a tiny bit tight for time, we jumped on the bus tour that drives around the VAB and launch platforms. The main shuttle launch platform is still standing, but is destined to be deconstructed soon, after which they will be building launch sites for Space X and other private enterprises who can lease the site for their launches. Private companies are already being contracted to send supply missions to the ISS, apparently. To add some excitement for the kids on the tour, we spotted several gators along the way. And the best story: NASA built an office building with a motion sensor door and one day an alligator made its way into the lobby. After that, they switched to standard locks. This is only slightly better than when Jeff walked in on the cobra in his office in Malaysia.
At the Apollo/Saturn V building, visitors are ushered in to watch a video about the early days of the Apollo space program and the efforts of the US to catch up to and ultimately surpass the Russians by landing a human being on the moon before the end of the 60’s. It ended with the successful launch of Apollo 8 on its mission to orbit the moon. The launch itself was recreated in the very room that was the control center in those days. The VERY ROOM! OMG! Anywayyy … The launch video was exceptional and moving. When it was over, we were released into the main visitors’ building and to find ourselves face to face with the massive engines of the Saturn V rocket. This building houses the entire Saturn V rocket suspended from the ceiling, details of the Apollo missions from 8 through 17, a small piece of actual moon rock that you can touch (which I did), a variety of spacesuits including the one worn by Neil Armstrong (still covered in moon dust), and the Apollo 14 command capsule.
The Apollo 14 Command Module.
Moving along, next up was the Atlantis building, which again featured a video highlighting the 12 years it took to design and build the first shuttle and culminating in the sudden reveal of the Atlantis Space Shuttle behind the movie screen.
Space Shuttle Atlantis
In addition to showcasing the Atlantis, this building contains several hands on exhibits including simulators where you can try your hand at landing a shuttle, docking with the space station or manoeuvring the Canadarm. I had a nice chat with an employee who told me the longest non-ISS-docked mission on a shuttle was 17 days, which, given the size of the living space, seems a bit crazy. The Atlantis building also houses the Shuttle Launch Simulator which all of us went on, including Andi and Sofia who had originally thought they would just watch from the “observation deck”. It was pretty cool, supposedly a decent simulation of the first 6 minutes of a shuttle launch.
With just enough time left to make the last IMAX show, we were able to catch the Hubble Space Telescope movie, narrated by Leonardo di Carprio. It was an excellent movie showing how Hubble was launched and repaired through several shuttle missions, including its last (and final) extensive set of upgrades and repairs to extend it’s life to about 2017. It included some of Hubble’s most impressive images, including the deep space field, and portrayed them in simulated 3D. It ended with a 3D look at the structure of galaxies within the known universe. Very impressive. Seems like overall everyone enjoyed the day, except for Jackson who could probably have listed about ten thousand things he’d rather have been doing. He did get to see some pretty big gators, though 🙂
Jane and Taryn dressed for lobster
Back at the house, Jane and James made hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner and Andi whipped up her famous pina coladas and after a few drinks we proved beyond a doubt that 19 people cannot play a game of boys v girls Heads Up. Lesson learned! Jane had a great story about sharing a lobster with James for lunch and helping herself to the entire tail, and telling James that he could have the other half.
Meltdown count: 0
Breakdown count: 4 (Hot tub heater and pump, kitchen sink tap handle, Jane and James’ shower which won’t turn on, and another blowout of the kitchen breakers)
Rundown count: 1 (Mason)