Although I've been a resident of Florida for many years, sometimes it is still fun to act like a tourist. There are so many places to visit in our state (its been almost 17 years, barely considered a transplant anymore), that it is easy to become a tourist only hours away from home.
I've been fortunate to be able to travel several places across the US and enjoy sharing my journys with Steemers that haven't had the opportunity to see the sights.
This trip was to John F. Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida with my family. There was to be a launch that day but it was delayed by the weather. In several of the photos you can see the clouds rolling in, and it only got worse from there. Living across the state, every once in awhile if the sky is right, we are able to see launches from the Cape, about 160 miles away. I have tried to photograph them several times and the contrails are the only thing that show up. One of these days I would like to get a high power camera and try to catch the shuttle just after lift off.
I hope that you enjoy my photographical tour of the Space Center and are able to visit some day yourself. I've included some links to information about the shuttles and their missions if you would like to read up on them further.
The Rocket Garden
There are several shuttles on display outside of the center which are situated in what is known as the Rocket Garden.
My daughter and I scrunched into the Mercury spacecraft. They were only meant for one person for short missions during the Mercury manned spaceflight program in 1959. You can read more on America's first manned space program here .
Next came the Gemini program, bringing the US into the space age during the early 1960s.
Gemini had four main goals: to test an astronaut's ability to fly long-duration missions (up to two weeks in space); to understand how spacecraft could rendezvous and dock in orbit around the Earth and the moon; to perfect re-entry and landing methods; and to further understand the effects of longer space flights on astronauts.
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Gemini was made most memorable by Ed White during the Gemini 4 mission as accomplishing the first US spacewalk
More details about each of the Gemini Program missions can be found here .
Inside the JFK Space Center
Not only can you see the outside of the massive shuttles and rockets
But you can see what the astronauts experienced on their historical travels into space
The Saturn V Moon Rocket is a massive rocket, this is only one small section that is on display at the Center. The Program was in motion from 1967 to 1973, carrying astronauts for Apollo missions and the Skylab space station. To give you an idea of the size scale, I found these diagrams .
Apollo 13 is one of the most famous missions, aimed at the moon with near-disaster striking the crew before completing their goals. The details of the missions as reported by NASA can be found here . The Smithsonian also provides a concise summary of the mission along with links to each of the other Apollo missions, 1 through 17.
There have been many Rovers sent by NASA to the moon and Mars. This is a lunar rover (LRV) on display inside of the Space Center.
The original cost-plus-incentive-fee contract to Boeing (with Delco as a major sub-contractor) was for $19 million and called for delivery of the first LRV by 1 April 1971, but cost overruns led to a final cost of $38 million. Four lunar rovers were built, one each for Apollos 15, 16, qnd 17, and one that was used for spare parts after the cancellation of further Apollo missions.
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For more information about lunar rovers, visit here
and for more information about rovers sent to Mars, Space.com has a wonderful infographic.
In the observation tower, we were able to get up close to a rocket engine on display. To give you an idea, my ex-husband stood next to it, and he was about a 1/3 of the engine's height. There are more engines on display throughout the center, inside and out.
Of course, displays have been changed since I've been there, as new Programs have occurred throughout time. You can find an updated map of the JFK Space Center here
And last but most important...
Mission Control. The brains of the operation once the missions are ready to head into space. This is a display of the older control rooms, although a tour is now available to see the inner workings of the Launch Control Center and Firing Room.
For many years, space travel, astronomy and science in general have caught my interest. While doing the research for this article, I found so many new places and displays that I have put Cape Canaveral and JFK Space Center back on my bucket list. If you are also interested in the NASA programs, I highly recommend taking a trip to Florida's Space Coast and making a day of it at the Space Center.
##More Information
If you would like more information about JFK Space Center and NASA, definitely check out these links: