Fly Me To the Moon at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
It was just a coincidence that I ended up at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida at the 50th anniversary of the July 20, 1969 Moon landing. I remember being wowed at the time, all those years ago, as I watched the black and white feed of Neil Armstrong stepping foot on the sandy Moon surface. Visiting Florida’s Space Center provided another wow experience because of all the advancements made in bringing the world of space down to earth with sophisticated hands-on interactive exhibits and updated IMAX movies.
Alan Shepard’s space outfit
Probably those same types of advancements that were discovered by NASA engineers over the years as they wrestled with putting a human into space. There are plenty of warehouse-sized buildings to exhibit rockets, shuttles, space suits, and memorabilia. One “must-see” experience is visiting the replica of the rocket “firing room” as the preparation, countdown and launch of Apollo 8 happens right before your very eyes. It’s a spectacular and thrilling experience since, when you think about it, we’re really shooting a man into space on the top of a rocket.
Inside the Vehicle Assembly Building with Saturn rocket overhead
After arriving at the complex, we opted to take a short bus ride to the Vehicle Assembly Building for a guided tour of what is a national landmark — the only building large enough to assemble a rocket, and the final assembly point for a space shuttle. It’s where engineers added the external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters before launch. Now if all that sounds too technical, the tour guides available do an excellent job of translating that into a language we civilians can understand.
Recovered Apollo 8 capsule
Like space itself, there’s so much to see. Like meet an astronaut and hear space stories in the Universe Theatre, or fly into space with the Peanuts gang, and for those who really want to grow up and be an astronaut, there are stories of upcoming NASA missions. We got to touch a moonrock, experience a space shuttle launch, see a life-size replica of the Hubble Space Telescope, and the actual Apollo 14 capsule recovered in the Pacific Ocean in 1971.
Apollo 13 Rescue Book
Probably viewing the Apollo 13 Rescue Book under protective glass with its hand-typed cover page and signature of Spacecraft Commander Jim Lovell was one big thrill. Bound with gold clips as if it were a high school science report, the guidance provided in those pages, matched with the spontaneous “on the ground” ingenuity got the crew back home. Sometimes it’s not always the bells and whistles that can be the most engaging, it’s the human element and the reminder that when we work as a team, miracles do happen.
It’s a perfect day for kids as there are plenty of activities to keep them engaged, air-conditioned buildings filled with eye-catching space souvenirs, videos, snack bars, and bathrooms. It’s as well-designed as a space rocket. Kids will particularly enjoy watching the video of an astronaut making a peanut butter sandwich while in zero gravity. How do they keep things like the jar of peanut butter, and knife from flying away? By utilizing another engineering marvel.
Velcro.
Top photo: Firing room to watch a launch
Photos by MJ Hanley-Goff
Spacelaunchedule.com – for those who would like to know about future NASA launches, watch live feeds, and hear real-time conversations of launch engineers. Available as an app as well.
