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BC Visits the Kennedy Space Center

The Apollo/Saturn V Center

The bus ride to the Saturn V Center gives visitors an excellent insight into the hidden resources of the Space Center. KSC is also a National Wildlife Refuge. Along the route, awed visitors can view a gigantic eagle's nest. The American Bald Eagle's have returned to this same nest for over 30 years each winter. We were fortunate to see the Eagles perched atop several nearby trees and power poles. The symbolism between these magnificent creatures and man's quest for flight could not have been more dramatically displayed.

The Apollo/Saturn Center houses a 363-foot Saturn V Moon Rocket which is only one of 3 in existence. At this complex visitors join in the recreation of the Apollo 8 launch and the Apollo 11 moon landing. This building may look familiar to movie buffs who saw Tom Hank's Apollo 13. This building housed the Premier Party for the movie and many of the scenes in the movie were filmed at KSC. Along the perimeter of the building, visitors can view Apollo mission summaries, compare the Moon programs to the current Space Shuttle program, and even touch a real moon rock.

So now that we've touched on America's past and present in Space, what about the future? Who will be our next Astronaut?

On leaving the Apollo/Saturn Center, we headed for the International Space Station. Here we watched a briefing on the current status of the Space Station and then exited to walk through a mock-up of the Space Station. The mock-ups included both living and working areas. Through out the exhibit, everything is touted as "State of the Art" but when you look at the components and switches it becomes painfully obvious that NASA has a lot of catching up to do. At the end of the tour, visitors can cross an open air catwalk to the building where they are actually assembling the components for the Space Station. We arrived during lunch hour so not much was going on.

On your way to/from the International Space Station building, be sure to look at the buildings carefully. For those of you either fond of reruns or those of us old enough to remember you will see some very familiar buildings. I'll give you a hint: A 60's comedy about an astronaut and a very pretty blonde who blinked very well. For the answer, check the bottom of this page, or TVLand.

By the time we returned to the Main Visitors Complex, it was lunch time. We had seen Mila's Restaurant when we were walking to the Shuttle Plaza and decided to lunch there. Mila's is the only full service dining at KSC. The "Lunch Pad", "Orbit", and "Planetary Chicken" all offered cafeteria style meals. At each stop, there had been a refreshment stand and souvenir shops but we wanted full service so in we went. Hugh ordered the Cesar Salad and I had a burger. Hugh was greatly impressed with his lunch. I will admit the burger was huge but not particularly tasty. Other menu offerings included various seafood dishes and sandwiches. I had seen what the other diners (only 3) were having and figured the burger was the safest. Guessed wrong.

After lunch, we headed to the IMAX theaters. We only had time for one movie. Our choices were: The Dream is Alive, Mission to MIR, and L5-First City in Space. The Dream is Alive gives an insider's view of the Space Shuttle program while Mission to Mir explores the Russian Space Station MIR. We elected L5. This provides a fictional look at future space settlement.

In the IMAX building also houses the NASA art gallery. Local, national, and even international artists use a variety of media to capture the essence of the Space Program. Of everything we have seen so far today, this was truly the most emotional. I was not the only one shedding a few tears over the dramatic displays.