STS-123 - A Space Geek’s Pilgrimage : Part III - Kennedy Space Center

Today I made my way toward Kennedy Space Center’s visitor complex for a day of tours, sights, and souvenirs. All in all it was a pretty good trip, though from a geek’s point of view I felt it left a little to be desired. I had already purchased my ticket for the “NASA Up Close Tour” weeks in advance and tickets for the other tour were sold out so I wasn’t able to use the advice left by a viewer yesterday. I did however get to see the launch pads and the vehicle assembly building up close, and man are they big. I can remember seeing pictures of the Saturn V’s and the Shuttles rolling out of the VAB. The American Flag and NASA logo painted on the side with such pride. To see them up close was a sight to behold. I did see Endeavour on the launch pad, but keep in mind the portion of the launch pad that swings over the orbiter was in place so you couldn’t view the entire shuttle assembly.  Here is an image showing the orbiter being protected before a launch. [Side note: Technically the “Space Shuttle” includes the solid rocket boosters (white rockets on the sides), the external liquid fuel tank (big and red), and the orbiter (the ship itself). Where as the ship alone is referred to as the orbiter. This is a very common misnomer.] But I figure the best way to summarize my trip is to list it out as follows:

The Good:

Seeing the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and the Launch Pad. The Apollo/Saturn V Center was very neat. Keep in mind all of these are part of a tour separate from general admission.

The Shuttle Launch Experience - This is a newer theme park ride style addition. The purpose of this ride was to simulate a shuttle launch. You are strapped into seat (along with around 40 other people) next you are placed into a verticle position, and then the real fun begins. This entire ride shakes violently and thrusts you back and forth just like astronauts do during a launch. This is of course down scaled just a “wee” bit. I was really surprised and how much fun it was, and how much they shake you. My checks were actually flapping around like a dog with its head out of a car window. Props to NASA on this one.

IMax 3D - Have you seen the Duracell commercials on tv that advertise the IMax being used on the Space Shuttle? Well this was the end result. I was only able to watch one of the two movies but I found it very informational. Best of all it provided a very unique up close and personal look at life on ISS. They also spent some time in the Russian space program. I was very shocked at how differently the two programs operate. I would highly recommend anyone to see both movies if time allows.

Gift Shop - Now before you yell at me for getting sucked in to money draining gimmicks, I will say I managed to slide out of there at right around $100 dollars and I brought back some major cool stuff. And I have to hand it to them, when I walk in and hear the Imperial Death March from Star Wars in the background it put me into a regular geek spending frenzy.

Rocket Garden - Whats more awesome than viewing 8 rockets from the 1960’s era. Not much I say. It really puts things into perspective when you can walk up three feet away from one of these giant roman candles. Some I honestly always thought were bigger. But do keep in mind those were also the first words out of my mouth when I saw Hoover Dam. Maybe I often set my expectations too high. Anyway, this is definitely worth the 15 minutes for photos, and 15 more for some reading. They do offer a guided tour of the area which I wasn’t able to attend. I wish I would have scheduled my time more efficiently because there wasn’t much information accompanying the rockets themselves. (Seemed to be a trend, Personally I’m never easily satisfied, and one or two paragraphs just doesn’t cut it for me.)

The Not-So-Good:

The tour was a big regimented, exploring wasn’t really allowed. The information provided wasn’t really anything new or shocking. In fact with the exception of the IMax movie I didn’t really learn a whole lot of anything new. This was somewhat disappointing. Now it is possible that I simply did not visit the right areas of the Visitor Complex because I did have to leave a few things out. But for the most part I was left feeling that it was just a closer look at what I already knew. I did make the mistake of going through the children’s Robot Scouts demonstration. Please keep in mind I am a CS major and have a very vested interest in robotics so I thought it might hold something interesting. I was wrong. Anyone older than about 9 or 10 would probably be as bored as I was. One word came to mind, “cheesefest.”

Itenerary:

Tomorrow is more or less a free day for me. In short, that means the beach, and some R & R. I have been busting my tail at work and at school and I need the rest. Tomorrow night: Endeavour, the launch of STS-123. I am very excited and can’t wait. A life long dream come true.

Please note I did take pictures like promised, I will be editing, sorting and posting as soon as I have a chance. Worst case scenario, it will be Wednesday when I get back home. Oh and for all you people back home stuck with 20 degree weather, It was in the seventies today, I had the sunroof open, Steve Miller band playing on the radio, the whine of the car’s turbo, and launch pads in the skyline :).

Scott

1. Mrs. Smith's Science class Says:
   March 11th, 2008 at 1:59 pm

   Scott,
   Thank you for sharing your experience with us! I shared this with my 6th grade class (Colton’s Class). He says Hi! We would apprecieate to see your pictures when you get them posted.

   Thank you,

   Mrs. Ronda Smith

2. ScottMiller Says:
   March 12th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

   Mrs. Smith and Class,

   I was overjoyed to see a group of 6th graders following along. I hope you find my story interesting. I know not all of what I have talked about has been directed toward students. If you like, I would love to come in and talk about my experience and answer any science or space related questions this week while I am home.

   Scott

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