Day Eleven: The Kennedy Space Center, Titusville, Florida

hartohana

Friday, July 20th is the 50th anniversary of man landing on the moon. There was just no way we were going to be in the area and miss the fun!

We arrived at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) just after it opened at 9:00 AM. I had gone online to purchase tour tickets. You can get a bus tour for free when you pay admission, but I signed us up for the Explore Tour (!) which took you to some off-limits places the regular folk don’t get to see. Boy was I glad I did that! Our tour started at 10:00 AM, and when we got to the tour bus terminal, the line was out the door and almost around the corner of the building! After finding and checking with an employee, we found that because we had the “special” tour, we didn’t have to stand in line – we could just go to the front and get in to our Explore Tour (!). I was so glad about this because, I don’t know if you’ve read my other blogs, but the heat sucks out here!

In the south, a large man like myself, begins to sweat the moment I get out of bed, until the moment I can stand in front of the air conditioner in our hotel in the evening. I’m going to use a disgusting word here so be ready: I am frequently moist. Like, all day long. It’s not like Hawai’i (where at least there are trade winds), but no wind, 90+ degrees, 90+% humidity. It was like my trip to Japan all over again.

On our bus tour, we were taken the 8 miles out from the Visitor Center to the various launch pads which are there. We saw the VAB building (Vehicle Assembly Building). This is the iconic building in which the space shuttles were assembled, then wheeled out on giant “crawlers”, and taken to the launch pad. It is a huge building. NASA is still using the building – it has been reconfigured for the next mission: Orion.

We were taken to some bleachers, about 3.5 miles from the main launch pad. This is where people are allowed to watch live launches. When the Apollo program was active, they used the Saturn-V rocket, which at the time was the largest object ever sent into space. Filled with liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen, if the rocket were to ever explode, it contained the force of an atomic bomb. Engineers figured that 3 miles would be a safe distance, but just for good measure, they added a little more.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I was a space shuttle fanatic. In Hawai’i, I had to get up at like 3:00 in the morning to see the first ever launch live in 1981. I had a huge poster in my room of a space shuttle launch. I got up early to watch the space shuttle Challenger take off live on TV in 1986, and remember my grandmother asking me, “Is it supposed to do that?”, and me, looking at the TV set dumbfounded saying, “No grandma. It just exploded.” Needless to say, this was a profound moment as I got to tour these amazing buildings where history was made. I was surprised to find out that just about every NASA launch, from Apollo to the final space shuttle launch (Atlantis in 2011) took off from one of two launch pads here. Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch. I tried to imagine what it would have been like to be Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins as they went to bed the night before their launch. Just can’t do it.

In my classes, we often talk about heroes, and I’m reminded of a passage in Tom Wolfe’s book “The Right Stuff”, where the test pilots are making fun of the new Gemini astronauts, saying that a monkey could go into space (monkeys and dogs!), and Chuck Yeager of all people informing them that a monkey doesn’t know that he’s sitting on a bomb. Each of the astronauts tend to have the same “right stuff”: smarts, dedication, courage, and a sense of exploration and adventure. Heck yeah, these people are heroes. We were told that we are sending people to Mars in the next 20-30 years. I believe them.

Too big to be astronauts, but smart enough to maybe send them there?
The actual control room for the Friendship 7 launch
The Friendship 7 capsule, which contained astronaut John Glenn
The flight helmets for various astronauts, who all came from distinguished service in the military
John Glenn’s space suit
On the tour bus. I’ve been told we look alike (and apparently smile alike). Nolan and I.
These days, NASA isn’t the only game in town. We saw buildings for Space X (Elon Musk), and Blue Origin (Jeff Bezos), all of which is in competition with NASA. They share/rent facilities at the Kennedy Space Center
Preparations are being made for the next Space X launch at this launch pad, for sometime in the upcoming months
The iconic VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) which was used for every space shuttle mission, and is still in use today
Can you tell which one just got jabbed in the ribs, and which one is responsible?
A better picture
The escape module for NASA’s next big thing: Orion
The actual gantry (walkway) for the space shuttle missions. Astronauts walked from the “clean room”, down this walkway, and into the shuttle.
The actual control room for Apollo 14

The Apollo 14 capsule
Nolan touching a moon rock
The Apollo missions all used the Saturn-V rocket, which is one big mutha
Astronaut Alan Shepard’s space suit from Apollo 14
There is still moon dust on his shoes
Jim Lovell’s flight suit from Apollo 13. In case you’re wondering, Tom Hanks played him in the movie.
The Space Shuttle’s fuel tanks and solid-booster rockets are HUGE!
The space shuttle Atlantis – the final shuttle to launch
Close-up of the Atlantis cockpit

A few random things:

  • There was a place where you could put on a space suit and stand in front of a green screen and pretend you’re in space or on the moon. Nathan immediately said, “That’s how they faked the moon landing.” Indeed, the boy is smarter than he looks.
Two Japanese dudes showing how the moon landing was faked
A man and his daughter showing us how easy it is to fool billions of people
  • Startling fact for the day: The Saturn-V rocket, the very first official mission of the Apollo Project, was launched on November 9th, 1967 – the very day I was born.
  • Second startling fact for the day: Famed astronomer, Carl Sagan, was also born on November 9th. Coincidence? I think not.
  • At the food court, we sat next to some people who were clearly not from around here. Nope, they weren’t aliens. They were Irish! A family of about 5 or 6 were sitting there and I thought they would make great conversation. They did! They told me that they just completed week 2 of a 5 week trip to the USA! And they haven’t even been out of Florida yet! I asked them…why? They said that they’re huge football (soccer) fans, and have seen several Orlando MSL games. They had a few other places to go, but they were pretty much basing their trip on watching American soccer. The dad was also very excited to tell me that they are big American Football fans. I said, “You see those games in Ireland?” And he says, “Oh yes. We watch as many as we can. The only problem is that the games start at 3:00 AM, but we get up and watch them!” I asked him if he had a favorite team. He told me his team was the Kansas City Chiefs. Couldn’t explain why. Neither could I.
  • Today we saw our first alligator. He was in a water-filled ditch that we drove by while on the tour bus. On the way in to KSC, in the morning, we saw dolphins swimming and surfacing, just yards from the shore! There was also a gecko outside our motel room this morning, and I’ve also seen several dead armadillos on the side of the road – in case you’re keeping track of animals I have seen on this trip, dead or alive.
  • One last thing. We really did land on the moon. I was just joking. The following photograph proves it…Have a great day, and we’ll talk tomorrow.
Neil Armstrong? Could be…

Leave a comment