The Kennedy Space Center

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    Last month marked one year since my family took a vacation to Florida. We originally planned just on going to Disney World, but I knew that the Kennedy Space Center was right there in Florida too, not too far from Orlando. So, after talking with my parents and getting our schedule changed, we planned to spend a full day at the Space Center. 

The Kennedy Space Center is definitely a place where all space-enthusiasts should visit at least once in their life. I was in awe of everything they had there. Everything was space or NASA themed, from the food to even the streets. However, some of my favorite things to do at the Kennedy Space Center included the Shuttle: A Ship Like No Other attraction, the Behind the Gates bus tour, and the Race to the Moon: Apollo/Saturn V Center. 


One of the first things you see when arriving at the Space Center is the giant scale model of the 149-foot-tall Atlantis Space Shuttle Stack (NASA, 2013). It is located right outside of the building that houses the real Atlantis- one of the space shuttles that was in operation from 1985 to 2011 (NASA, 2013). It is on full display there at the Center, with its Canadarm extended. Visitors are able to read the story of Atlantis, as well as all the other space shuttles in the Space Shuttle Program, right there in the building. They have a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Columbia and Challenger tragedies as well. Also in that building, they have a scale model and the history of the Hubble Telescope. 


Image from https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/explore-attractions/shuttle-a-ship-like-no-other/featured-attraction/space-shuttle-atlantis

    The Behind the Gates Bus tour was easily the most informative and fun part of our day at the Kennedy Space Center. During the tour, we got a close-up look at several different launch pads, used by both NASA and SpaceX, the Vehicle Assembly Building, and even one of SpaceX’s buildings. It was amazing hearing the history of all the launch pads and even the Vehicle Assembly building, which stands an astounding 526 feet tall (NASA, 2020)! The American flag on the building alone is 209 feet by 110 feet. The stripes on the flag are 9 feet wide, which is as big as the tour buses themselves (Dumoulin, 1999)! I’ve never felt smaller than I did while driving past this building. We weren’t allowed to go inside the building, but when we drove by it, our tour guide noticed that they had a Crawler outside of the building. A Crawler is a huge barge that is used to transport rockets short distances, like from inside of the Vehicle Assembly Building to outside the building, just before launch.



    The last stop on the bus tour was to the Race to the Moon: Apollo/Saturn V Center. There were several attractions in and around the center, including a real Saturn V rocket inside the building. The rocket was laying on its side, so we got a close-up look of the rocket. Next to the rocket hanging from the ceiling was giant mission patches from each of the Apollo Missions. Also within the center was the Apollo Treasures Gallery, which housed several artifacts from the Apollo missions. Some of these artifacts included training gear, prototypes for space suits, and even a few Moon rocks.


Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, most of these attractions are closed at the Space Center. Visitors can still enjoy many of the outdoor attractions, but many of the indoor spaces, including the bus tour, are closed. However, I still highly recommend every space enthusiast to take a trip to the Kennedy Space Center. And, if you’re a big Star Wars nerd like me, a trip to Galaxy’s Edge in Disney’s Hollywood Studios is also a must!


Bibliography

Dumoulin, J. (1999, June 10). Vehicle Assembly Building. https://science.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/vab.html

Kennedy Space Center. (n.d.). MISSION ZONE: RACE TO THE MOON APOLLO/SATURN V CENTER. https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/explore-attractions/race-to-the-moon

NASA. (2013, April 12). Shuttle Stack Construction Marks Latest Milestone. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home/srbstacking-kscvc.html

NASA. (2013, April 12). Space Shuttle Overview: Atlantis (OV-104). https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/atlantis-info.html

NASA. (2020, January 2). The Crawlers. https://www.nasa.gov/content/the-crawlers

NASA. (2020, September 23). Vehicle Assembly Building. https://www.nasa.gov/content/vehicle-assembly-building


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