Today was the day we returned to Kennedy Space Center. Of course, it was the first time for Madison to visit the place, and for her part she was actually looking forward to it quite a bit. Perhaps she was looking forward to the playground they had there the most, but the fact is that we've been doing a great Space Camp series all this time at KidPak, and the theme of space travel is in the air.
So we arrived mid-morning, after a bit of a drive up the Space Coast, passing by Port Canaveral, which was sadly empty at the time. We even experienced another first for Madison: a drawbridge. These aren't the biggest deal in the world, but we were able to watch it slowly rise and then slowly return to position afterwards. We theorized jumping it, as we were in a rental car. But even Madison knew that would be silly.
So we got to Kennedy Space Center, and our first stop was to meet an actual astronaut. This was pretty cool, actually. His name was Jack Lousma, and he did the first of two presentations describing the differences between the Saturn rocket launching and that of the Space Shuttle launch. Of course, there were obvious differences, but there were plenty of other things we learned as we heard him speak. He described the earth as a beautiful place from above, just as the Master painted it, and then afterwards took time to pose for pictures with us.
Next we saw the exhibit dedicated to explorers, which highlighted a huge theme of the park visit: traveling to Mars. The Orion is getting ready, they tell us. NASA is not downgrading at all after the close of the space shuttle program. It is in fact gearing up, we're told, for a trip to Mars. Which is pretty amazing to think about. Who would want to do that? A lot of people, apparently. It's a trip of a lifetime, as in you're spending a great deal of your life on the way there, quite isolated for quite some time. But there are folks brave enough to want to take this journey, so I salute them. It just isn't for me at this point, as space travel is pretty time consuming, this even despite the tremendous speeds you go at. Plus, as anyone knows from watching all these Mars movies, the planet isn't safe. Seriously, pretty much any movie about Mars features serious trouble. I think "John Carter of Mars" and "Mars Needs Moms" end up with a planet that is in better shape to visit, but even those two show us there's a whole lot of danger in going to Mars. We asked Madison if she wants to go to Mars, and this was without throwing any bias her way. After seeing the explorer exhibit, we asked her, and she emphatically said, "NO."
After Mars, we went over to the IMAX to see a movie, Madison's first IMAX experience. It was a feature narrated by Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame, and had to do with space travel, the International Space Station, and of course, traveling to Mars. Yep, there it is again.
The next stop on our tour was a great one, not to say we didn't enjoy the other ones. But to Madison, the visit to the Atlantis really stood out. It did for us too. They had the Space Shuttle Atlantis actually in an enormous facility, and there was a lot do do there, beyond sitting there dwarfed in size by this ginormous space shuttle. There were slides and a miniature space station to crawl about in, and there is even a space shuttle ride experience, which we first thought about doing, but Madison opted out of at the last minute. We watched the riders go from a camera, and it didn't seem that bad afterwards, but it was certainly a bit noisy. We're noticing Madison is not a big fan of loud noises. This is something you can't really avoid with the space shuttle!
The next thing we did was something Mommy and Daddy didn't get to do last time - the bus tour. It was nice, actually. We even saw a manatee on the way over to the VAB. It was in the water, close to the shore, I guess finding some green stuff to munch on underwater.
As for the VAB, the Vehicle Assembly Building, it is in fact ginormous. They say you could put Yankee Stadium on top of it, and still have room for five acres of parking. I know this was brought up as a stat, but perhaps they should really do this. It'd be a lot of fun to watch a game up there, right?
Okay, not. We went on from there and saw a few of the launch sites, which were pretty impressive - and then we were dropped off at a place where a huge Saturn Rocket rested on its side.
It is amazingly big. We watched another movie, and then one after that - and then got to go in the building. It was mandatory, but by this point we were 'movied out.' Seriously, we saw two movies at the Atlantis experience, and the IMAX, a movie short at the astronaut meeting, and now two movies here. I was interested in the movie about the moon landing, but we were suffering from movie fatigue!
But the site had some other things to do that were pretty cool. For one, there was an exhibit where you could see the Apollo 14 capsule. This is the one that Daddy has been reading about lately, the one with Alan Shepherd in command. Also we saw a whole lot of great costumes - and Madison even got to touch a moon rock.
There was food there at that station too, so we had a bite to eat. We even finally tried the dehydrated ice cream, 'astronaut food.' We'd been waiting for that one, and Madison had fun trying that out.
But it was getting late, so we got back on the bus to go back to the main area. We passed by some endangered turtles on the way, and found ourselves walking back through the park to return home. Yes, we stopped at the playground, of course. That was mandatory.
And we also went through the rocket garden, and posed in a few of the capsules there. It was a fun day, and it wasn't actually over with yet. We returned back to Satellite Beach, and you just can't have a condo on the beach without walking up and down it frequently. So we did that when we returned there, chasing crabs around and enjoying the pleasant weather by the shore.
It was a full day, one we're a bit tired from, actually. It's been a great vacation though, with a good mix of new sights and relaxation. Tonight we'll fall asleep to the rhythmic sound of ocean waves, dreaming of the stars.
So we arrived mid-morning, after a bit of a drive up the Space Coast, passing by Port Canaveral, which was sadly empty at the time. We even experienced another first for Madison: a drawbridge. These aren't the biggest deal in the world, but we were able to watch it slowly rise and then slowly return to position afterwards. We theorized jumping it, as we were in a rental car. But even Madison knew that would be silly.
So we got to Kennedy Space Center, and our first stop was to meet an actual astronaut. This was pretty cool, actually. His name was Jack Lousma, and he did the first of two presentations describing the differences between the Saturn rocket launching and that of the Space Shuttle launch. Of course, there were obvious differences, but there were plenty of other things we learned as we heard him speak. He described the earth as a beautiful place from above, just as the Master painted it, and then afterwards took time to pose for pictures with us.
Next we saw the exhibit dedicated to explorers, which highlighted a huge theme of the park visit: traveling to Mars. The Orion is getting ready, they tell us. NASA is not downgrading at all after the close of the space shuttle program. It is in fact gearing up, we're told, for a trip to Mars. Which is pretty amazing to think about. Who would want to do that? A lot of people, apparently. It's a trip of a lifetime, as in you're spending a great deal of your life on the way there, quite isolated for quite some time. But there are folks brave enough to want to take this journey, so I salute them. It just isn't for me at this point, as space travel is pretty time consuming, this even despite the tremendous speeds you go at. Plus, as anyone knows from watching all these Mars movies, the planet isn't safe. Seriously, pretty much any movie about Mars features serious trouble. I think "John Carter of Mars" and "Mars Needs Moms" end up with a planet that is in better shape to visit, but even those two show us there's a whole lot of danger in going to Mars. We asked Madison if she wants to go to Mars, and this was without throwing any bias her way. After seeing the explorer exhibit, we asked her, and she emphatically said, "NO."
After Mars, we went over to the IMAX to see a movie, Madison's first IMAX experience. It was a feature narrated by Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame, and had to do with space travel, the International Space Station, and of course, traveling to Mars. Yep, there it is again.
The next stop on our tour was a great one, not to say we didn't enjoy the other ones. But to Madison, the visit to the Atlantis really stood out. It did for us too. They had the Space Shuttle Atlantis actually in an enormous facility, and there was a lot do do there, beyond sitting there dwarfed in size by this ginormous space shuttle. There were slides and a miniature space station to crawl about in, and there is even a space shuttle ride experience, which we first thought about doing, but Madison opted out of at the last minute. We watched the riders go from a camera, and it didn't seem that bad afterwards, but it was certainly a bit noisy. We're noticing Madison is not a big fan of loud noises. This is something you can't really avoid with the space shuttle!
The next thing we did was something Mommy and Daddy didn't get to do last time - the bus tour. It was nice, actually. We even saw a manatee on the way over to the VAB. It was in the water, close to the shore, I guess finding some green stuff to munch on underwater.
As for the VAB, the Vehicle Assembly Building, it is in fact ginormous. They say you could put Yankee Stadium on top of it, and still have room for five acres of parking. I know this was brought up as a stat, but perhaps they should really do this. It'd be a lot of fun to watch a game up there, right?
Okay, not. We went on from there and saw a few of the launch sites, which were pretty impressive - and then we were dropped off at a place where a huge Saturn Rocket rested on its side.
It is amazingly big. We watched another movie, and then one after that - and then got to go in the building. It was mandatory, but by this point we were 'movied out.' Seriously, we saw two movies at the Atlantis experience, and the IMAX, a movie short at the astronaut meeting, and now two movies here. I was interested in the movie about the moon landing, but we were suffering from movie fatigue!
But the site had some other things to do that were pretty cool. For one, there was an exhibit where you could see the Apollo 14 capsule. This is the one that Daddy has been reading about lately, the one with Alan Shepherd in command. Also we saw a whole lot of great costumes - and Madison even got to touch a moon rock.
There was food there at that station too, so we had a bite to eat. We even finally tried the dehydrated ice cream, 'astronaut food.' We'd been waiting for that one, and Madison had fun trying that out.
But it was getting late, so we got back on the bus to go back to the main area. We passed by some endangered turtles on the way, and found ourselves walking back through the park to return home. Yes, we stopped at the playground, of course. That was mandatory.
And we also went through the rocket garden, and posed in a few of the capsules there. It was a fun day, and it wasn't actually over with yet. We returned back to Satellite Beach, and you just can't have a condo on the beach without walking up and down it frequently. So we did that when we returned there, chasing crabs around and enjoying the pleasant weather by the shore.
It was a full day, one we're a bit tired from, actually. It's been a great vacation though, with a good mix of new sights and relaxation. Tonight we'll fall asleep to the rhythmic sound of ocean waves, dreaming of the stars.
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