I took the Family to the Kennedy Space Center!

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The entrance to the Kennedy Space Center.

The Rocket Garden.

Toy Flash Gordon ray-guns. I believe the one on the top right is what George Lucas based Han Solo's blaster upon.

Donald K "Deke" Slayton's bomber jacket and survival knife.

Detail of Slayton's jacket.

Statue of Alan Shepherd in the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Engine detail in the Rocket Garden.

A mock-up of the Orion Capsule that will be used with the Space Launch System (SLS).

Model of the SLS.

All the actual equipment from Mission Control. In the presentation they played the audio recordings from the Appollo 8 launch that went around the moon for the first time with Astronauts on board (Lovell, Borman, & Anders). As each station reported, a light shined on the station reporting.

This is an actual Saturn V rocket. Not a model. Not a mock-up. The real thing. This Saturn V was built to completion for Appollo 18, but wasn't launched because the Appollo program was canceled due to budget cuts.

A piece of basalt brought back from the moon that guests are allowed to touch.

The Command & Service Modules on the Saturn V. Below is the top portion of the Lunar Module.

Appollo 1 Crew.

This is the actual gangway that the Appollo 11 crew walked down to board the Saturn V that would take them to the moon.

The Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). Large rockets like the Saturn V, the Space Shuttle, and now the SLS are assembled in this building and then transported to their assigned launch facility via a crawler. To give you an idea of the massive scale of this building, each strip on the flag is wide enough for a bus to drive down. Each star on the flag is six feet wide. The doors to this building when a rocket leaves the building are the largest doors on Earth.

To the left of the VAB 2 crawlers are visible. They are identical in size and are the largest moving vehicles on Earth. The move at about 2 miles per hour and are capable of carrying an 18 million pound load. It takes about 17 hours to get a rocket from the VAB to its launch facility.

The fuel tank and solid rocket boosters for a Space Shuttle launch.

My first glimpse of the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Detail of the nose of Atlantis.

It was pretty amazing to see all the texture on the surface of the a Shuttle. It is not at all smooth like a conventional aircraft.

Aft of Atlantis and open cargo bay.

Cargo bay with mechanical arm.

Atlantis' engine cluster.

Detail of a shuttle engine. You can see a turbo charger in the middle of the frame. It's about the same size as you would see in a passenger car.

Underside of the Shuttle.

The Beany Cap. This would be placed at the top of the external fuel tank to fill it up.

Atlantis from below.

There are 2 RVs that I want. Lone Star's Winnebago, and this one.

Millennium Falcon tax.

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science

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DrLOAC

#10 this is not actually Mission Control. Mission Control is in Houston. This is Launch Control. Kennedy has control until the vehicle leaves the tower then Houston takes over.

2 years ago |

TooSoonOldTooLateSmart

# 16? The VAB supposedly has weather inside.

TuffyTDog

Some years ago I had the choice of visiting Disney World or the Kennedy Space Center, and I chose the Space Center. Just like your visit, it was really cool, I took a lot of photos, and had a great time learning about historical spaceflight stuff I didn't know beforehand.

ILoveTheChipShop

Thanks for posting this. If I ever get an opportunity to travel to the States then the space centre would be top of my list of places to visit.

B166ERMaximus

Epic! Great post @OP.

straha242

#1 #2

DJOldguy

Cutting the Apollo program was Nixon's biggest disaster, it began the long, slow slide of our technical leadership. Lot of other nations have now caught up, India even. Now we are so busy with orange fuck heads and other hateful idiots that we can't look up at the stars.

MisterLemons

You don't truly appreciate how large the shuttle is until you're standing next to it. It's ENORMOUS, and then there's the S-5. Absolutely asinine that the thing made it off the ground.

BlackStealth08

As a employee at the KSCVC I'm glad you enjoyed it. Also I see you got a photo of one of my fellow employees lol. But anyways I sometimes do tours out there and I got stuck behind a rocket on it's way to LC40.

AReallyFatPony

I've actually been in the VAB! Our tour bus had to shelter there from a tornado. The inside is so massive that the shuttles hanging on the walls looked like toys (this was before they shut down the shuttle program).

Geek13

Never thought of it before, but when they swung something out of the shuttle bay with that arm, they would have had to calculate how much that would twist/move the shuttle the other direction. I know the weights are probably drastically different, but when you have such little leeway for error...

dodgese

It's breathtaking to see the shuttle. It can only be experienced first hand

sleestacks

I’m so glad they renovated it. I went in the mid 80s as an impressionable teenager and it was depressing - no real museum aspect, and rockets and machinery just rotting and rusting.

I agree. That was about the state of the place when I went there in January of '86. I have a picture of me in front of Launch Facility 39B. The Challenger's fuel tank and SRBs are visible on the launch pad. Thankfully, I was not there on launch day. They had a lot of delays for that launch because Florida experienced a strong arctic blast that winter. I recreated that picture with my son on this trip as well as one with myself.

sydneygirl

I've been there too! Its really amazing. When the screen rolls up and you see Atlantis - no words, I got a bit teary- I'm not even American..

YoungSpiszer

I built some of the hardware on the Orion capsule for Artemis One! I did a bunch of work on the ACM (Attitude Control Module) slices before they were integrated with the vehicle.

I can't wait to see what happens with NASA and Mars over the next few years. Not to mention going back to the moon!

That is way cool!

spiceass9000

You touched something that was on the moon. That’s pretty fucking cool

cyberspork

KSC is cool af

jinbee

You have great taste in RVs my friend! Quality post.

wikkit

The Atlantis reveal is one of the best bits of stagecraft, I recommend it to everyone. I'm not sure if it's still there, but a little lunar lander I designed and built is in one corner of the commercial space area.

ButtonsAreForPushing

The reveal at the end of the presentation when the curtain moves and Atlantis is in front of your face brings tears to my eyes every single time. It’s done so well and I’m just overwhelmed with the scope of what humans could do.

ShamanSam

Atlantis and the Saturn V were my favorite parts of the whole place. The shear sense of scale just astounds me

SirRuppOfFigs

Quality post, thanks

It was my pleasure.

demshadowwolf

Did you get to stay in the area for the Launch tonight OP?

KSCVS rarely stays open past operational hours even for launches. Typically if it's a significant launch like a Falcon Heavy or manned launch it'll be open but thats it.

oh no i meant stay around the local area lol

CrimsonShortOne

I was there in like 2007... I think! It was pretty cool then too.

@Vosper

VosperOfAntarctica

Glad you got to see the Apollo Center and touch the lunar basalt. Right outside are the stands where we got to watch the launch of STS-118

Lonecoon

Did you see the Space Mirror? I thought that was one of the most important parts of Kennedy.

IHateToTurnUpTheVolumeOfMyTvBecauseMyCatIsSnoring

Could you explain for the unknowing?

quzar

https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/explore-attractions/heroes-and-legends/space-mirror-memorial

I did. I got pretty emotional at a few of the exhibits.

dripstone

yes the Shuttle is cool to see, but the Saturn V is another level in my mind. No picture ever does it's size justice. The first time I went I showed my wife pictures and she said "meh". Then when she saw the Saturn V herself she was in awe.

I made a video walking underneath it's entire length. I'm not sure how to break it down into gifs, but the entire walk took 2 minutes 18 seconds.

chronolost

The Orion space capsule that went around the moon.

Dude, that freaking awesome! JPL?

Nope, I'm a NASA contractor.

Nice!

Vergenbuurg

#4 Deke was one of the original seven selected astronauts, but didn't fly during Mercury, Gemini, or the lunar portions of Apollo due to a detected heart defect. He instead joined NASA's administration, and was the one who selected who flew which missions. He's the one who selected Armstrong as CDR for Apollo 11 (though he originally wanted Grissom to be the first man on the Moon, prior to the Apollo 1 tragedy). He finally flew, as the oldest astronaut at the time, on the Apollo/Soyuz mission.

I knew most of that except for the Grissom and Apollo/Soyuz tidbits. Thanks for sharing!

Grissom was a consummate "company man". Whatever NASA wanted him to do, he was on-board with it. He was also on very good personal terms with members of NASA administration, particularly Deke. He flew the first manned Gemini flight, and was supposed to fly the first manned Apollo flight and first Moon landing. Though his Mercury flight ended with the capsule inadvertently sinking (later proven to not be his fault) and had a bit of a curmudgeonly sense of humor, NASA brass loved him.

I knew he look a lot of heat for Liberty Bell 7 sinking before his innocence was proven.

AllTheGoodOnesAreTaken68

I tear up every time I see the Saturn V. Such immense power for the betterment of mankind. To me it's a symbol of the greatness humans are capable of when we focus on progress rather than punishing people for their skin color or who they love. Always take time to look up, and never lose the sense of wonder.

One of the places I got emotional at was seeing the Atlantis up close. I remember being 4 years old and watching the Columbia launch for the first time. When I was 9, I saw the Challenger on the launch pad. I've also seen shuttles fly over head in orbit. But this is bar none the closest I've ever gotten to a Space Shuttle.

se24990

I'm 62. Watched the moon landing on TV. I followed the shuttle program. My dad worked at Stennis in the late 60's. I now have a bucket list destination. I want to see the Atlantis.

That introduction video they have is incredible, wrapping up with "Atlantis, welcome home!" as it's landing, only to have the actual shuttle appear behind the screen. Just...yeah. It's a moment.

I agree! There was also some cringey shit. Like the video for the Heros & Legends... Jim Lovell lists his hero as Lindbergh, and some dude-bro says Elon Musk. I've noticed that they have toned down the Von Braun hero worship at KSC though.

Praising the Nazi war machine is never a good look regardless of how instrumental it was to the success of the US space program. Definitely can't sweep it under the rug, but it can be noted while kept within the context of history. Random, but if you haven't read the Haynes NASA Saturn V Owner's Workshop Manual it's worth your time. Fantastic detail of the rocket and its history and development.

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