Kennedy Space Center

I was born a couple of years after Sputnik became the first satellite in space. I was allowed to stay up to watch Neil Armstrong walking on the moon and later saw him at his “welcome home” parade in Wapakoneta Ohio. The first shuttle took off when I was in college where I watched it with my friends. So, we had to see Kennedy Space Center even though we’ve seen it before.

The place is cheaper than Disney World, but it’s still expensive. It is $10 for parking and the basic entry is $50 per person. Food is expensive plus they are constantly selling upgrades on tours, pictures, and shops are everywhere. All of that aside, it’s still a good place to visit with plenty of information of the history, current state, and future of the space program.

Since we visited, they’ve built a large building to house the Atlantis shuttle (the last to fly) along with all sorts of exhibits. Outside sits a replica of the tank and engines for the shuttle. Inside the shuttle sits displayed with the cargo hold doors open.

We saw several movies, rode in a take-off simulation, and tried to dock with the International Space Station.

The rocket garden is cool with a Saturn engine and a gantry.

We both touched a piece of moon rock.

On our bus tour we saw the Vehicle Assembly Building. It is so large (526 feet high) that we can easily see it from our campground that is around 8 miles away.

We saw the Apollo Mission Control Center.

The Saturn V display takes a LONG building and includes an Apollo Lunar Module (LM).