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| Space Cadet Jane |
Our first full day in Titusville was spent dealing with the nasty weather. We thought it might be time well spent at the Kennedy Space Center, but the weather was so lousy there wasn't much to do except stay on the boat and look at each other. The next day the weather cleared and we decided to spend an extra day in Titusville rather than move on. The space center was about 15 miles from the marina, so we rented a car and to drive out to see it, then visit some retailers for some re-provisioning of the boat (mostly we needed beer!). It was just becoming too inconvenient to make beer and grocery runs on bicycles.
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| There go the astronauts! |
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| Ready to launch 4/19/2011 |
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| Apollo Saturn V Main Stage |
We arrived at the space center early and decided to take the bus tour to various parts of the center. The space center is located on Merritt Island which a major portion has been designated as a wildlife refuge. As we came to our first stop on the bus tour, the driver announced that we should be on the lookout for the astronauts who were scheduled to do a training exercise at the shuttle that morning. We no sooner got off the bus when people started running toward the road. We caught a picture of the astronauts as they passed by in the astromobile on their way to the launch pad. We got to see the vehicle assembly center, the orbiter preparation building, and the huge crawler that rolls everything out to the launch pad. Our second stop was at the Apollo program museum. The shuttle stuff is impressive, but it was the Apollo program that in our opinion was this country's finest moment in space.
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| Jane kisses a moon man |
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| Rockets, rockets everywhere |
Watching the films and realizing how far we came with a lunar landing in less than a decade makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. This was the program we grew up with and we found it very moving.
We ended the bus tour with a ride through a swamp. Everyone was looking for alligators, but we weren't impressed. What was impressive was an old bald eagle's nest that has been used continuously as a nesting site for 40+ years. A little is added onto it each year and it is estimated to weigh between 800-900 pounds. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a picture, and we were lucky to catch a glimpse. After we returned to visitor's center we toured the grounds and saw rockets and spacecraft from the Mercury and Gemini programs, then we headed out to do our shopping.
We arrived at the space center early and decided to take the bus tour to various parts of the center. The space center is located on Merritt Island which a major portion has been designated as a wildlife refuge. As we came to our first stop on the bus tour, the driver announced that we should be on the lookout for the astronauts who were scheduled to do a training exercise at the shuttle that morning. We no sooner got off the bus when people started running toward the road. We caught a picture of the astronauts as they passed by in the astromobile on their way to the launch pad. We got to see the vehicle assembly center, the orbiter preparation building, and the huge crawler that rolls everything out to the launch pad. Our second stop was at the Apollo program museum. The shuttle stuff is impressive, but it was the Apollo program that in our opinion was this country's finest moment in space.
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