Kennedy Space Center

Saturday, Feb. 18th-After resting for a day from our Disney experience, we spent the afternoon and evening at the Kennedy Space Center.  It was a special day as John Glenn and Scott Carpenter were honored in an evening program celebrating 50 Years of Americans in Orbit entitled "On the Shoulders of Giants."  More on this later.

Celebrating 50 years in space

We started off our visit with  the Hubble Imax movie which was very interesting.  We then immediately went on an upclose tour and went to the vehicle assembly building.  The drive was interesting because we saw so much wildlife.  KSC owns 140,000 acres (1/5 the size of Rhode Island),  6000 acres are used for the space program.  The rest is like a wildlife reserve.  Apparently, next to Alaska, this property has the most bald eagles in the country.  We got to see one and a nest too.  The tour guide was very diffiult to understand but we all understood, Alligator!!! Stefan counted 21 and thought this was pretty cool. 

When we got to the assembly building, we were amazed at the sheer size.  It's the highest single story building in the world, if I understood this correctly.  We saw the Atlantis space shuttle and learned an interesting tidbit:  The rocket crane operators go through a rigid audition, only 60 people have passed.  They have to lower 500 tons on a single egg without cracking it.  When they move the rockets out of the building, they drive about 1 mile an hour.  Thought it was interesting that the tower that holds up the rocket is called, The launch umbilical tower. 

We then stopped at the Apollo/Saturn V center and were wowed the the sheer size of the rocket on display hanging from the ceiling.  It was interesting to see the sheer size of the fuel tank and learn how the different parts of the rocket fall off.  This huge  rocket launched in 1968 and had several firsts:
l.  Carried first humans to journey to and orbit the moon
2.First pictures taken of earth from deep space
3. first astronauts to fly at 25,000 mph  

We also enjoyed the movie about the lunar landing on the moon.  It had special effects with a lunar actually landing in real form.   Janae and Stefan enjoyed the hands on activities especially the floating gravity ball and landing the lunar computer game.  We learned about the Curiosity lunar that is due to launch in August to Mars.  Learned that investing in America's space program yields new products, technologies and processes here on Earth called "spin-offs."  Computers, freeze-dried foods, satellite communications, weather-study and numberous mediacal technology are all examples of these spin-offs.

A highlight was staying for the evening program and hearing John Glenn speak and the words said about him.  Since he is from my hometown and I went to John Glenn H.S., it was moving to be here and celebrate all that has happened in my lifetime. It was a beautiful, crisp evening and a women in the VIP section moved over and let Janae and I sit in the third row.  So much was shared but what stands out:
l.  Steve Robinson, the astronaut who was in charge of the mission that JG went on when he was 77 spoke.  Steve shared when he was in elementary school in San Francisco, he won an art contest of JG's  rocket .  Little did he know that 38 years later he would be flying with JG strapped next to him.  He shared that the crew was a little worried about JG's speed on the exit drills until they had the first one.  They asked where JG was, he was already out. 
2.  He also shared that JG wasn't too thrilled about developing computer skills but soon adapted quite well.  One day, Steve saw JG writing an email.  He said, "Are you writing to Annie?", he said no that he was writing the President. The President?  Yep.  And the next day, there was a response from the President who had interviewed a 90 year old woman and asked what she thought of a 77 year old going into space.  To which she responded, more power to the young guy.
3.  Scott Carpenter shared how the parade in NYC honoring JG was the biggest in history for a single individual.
4.  We learned that saminella and the merca viruses are closer to a cure with answers that have been found with the space program.
5.  It was moving to hear John Glenn and the other astronauts during the day express how beautiful the earth is and how it touched all of their souls.
6.  How on one hand, JG is disappointed with the lack of funding for the space program now but on the other hand is encouraged by 18 countries who have come together to manage the space station.

7.  Scott Carpenter ended his speech with "We haven't seen anything yet."