Kennedy Space Center
25 February 2013 | Cape Canaveral, Florida
Janet
Titusville was also our jumping off spot for visiting Nasa's Kennedy Space Center or KSC as everyone here calls it. It wasn't easy to get to without a car and we ended up taking a $30 cab each way to get out to it, but it was well worth the trip. Pictures really don't capture the wonder of this place, but this one is of the garage so to speak for the rockets. Those are garage doors that open to then wheel the rockets inside for storage. They are many stories high and I'm sure are the highest garage doors I'll ever see. This is a tour of superlatives and the numbers and sizes you hear boggle the mind and are difficult at time to take in, but you get the picture that we accomplished a lot in very little time. We spent the whole day here, and it went by very fast. There is a wide variety of things to see and take in. The 2 I-Max movies we watched on the Hubble Telescope and the Space Station were really well done and inspiring. We even did the shuttle launch experience where they simulate a space shuttle launch including sounds, speed and acceleration. As you approach and wait for the shuttle doors to open they build up to it with lots of warnings about securing yourself and your belongings, and anyone who wanted to bail at the last minute had the option. I must admit I was starting to wonder what we were getting ourselves into. Once you are launched into space they show the shot on the screen of looking back at earth in its orbit, and it is pretty amazing. In addition to all this mind boggling technology, Cape Canaveral and KSC take up 140,000 acres of land. Much of this land is kept as a nature reserve and it is wonderful habitat for birds, alligators, manatees etc. I just wouldn't want to be one of the birds that is hanging out to close to the rocket just before it is launched. I reccomend a stop here if you ever get a chance.