here's the one thing in the whole center that was much bigger than we expected - the saturn V rocket. here is brian standing in front of the only unused one left. it's more than two-space-shuttles tall.
kelly standing under the space shuttle explorer, sitting in the visitor center's parking lot. there's an extension cord hanging out the wheel pocket. must be for the block heater.
on monday, we drove from central florida to the coast - a 45 minute trip. there where took in cape canaveral and the kennedy space center. we took the basic tour, which includes a trip to an observation gantry, the apollo exhibit, and the international space station assembly area/exibit. worth the trip to florida all by itself. we wish we could get jobs there - we'd even put up with the weather. ( back to florida. )
in the apollo exhibit, they have the actual consoles from the control room, where they replay the last three minutes of the countdown. when the launch happens, there are bright lights and window shakers behind you that go off. it gave kelly chills, but brian thought it was hokey.
one of the two active launch pads in the distance. the crawler road is in the foreground. they told us over and over again that the crawler is so big, that each link in's caterpillar-style wheel tread weighs 1 ton. we heard them the first time. anyhow, its very big and holds a moderately sized shuttle.
brian gazing into a copy of one of the space station storage modules. we also got to look through thick glass windows at the actual ISS under construction with people in clean-room bunny-suits walking around.
the internet - the government investment that keeps on giving. nice to know that space station residents can surf porn sites like the rest of us. I guess the focus group decided people break their RJ-45 connectors too much and went for a more durable ethernet jack..
this railroad car apparently holds a section of the shuttle's reusable booster rockets. "do not hump" apparently means "don't lift" but we think it's some sort of government moralism-speak.
woo! this ride is not our tax dollars at work. guess thats why it cost $25 to get in. I think nasa should pay for it. after all, every person who comes will support the space program after they see the place, so they'd get their money back come budget time anyway. If $25 seems cheap, you can spend another $20 to visit restricted areas or $40 to have breakfast with an astronaut on a wednesday or friday.
