The second stop on our random bus tour was to the Saturn V Center. This was definately the biggest surprise of the entire trip. What we were about to see would blow our minds, and we had no idea it was coming!
When we entered the center, we watched a welcome movie about early space travel and our journey to the moon.
I like President Kennedy. Unlike our current President, he inspired our nation to be excited about space, and motivated us to be the first to the moon. He understood the importance of not limiting ourselves to our planet.
After the movie, we entered a room which had real Mission Control, when it was in FL. This was preserved just like it was back then. We were part of a simulated launch, which, even though pretend, was very exciting.
All the dials lit up, and spotlights followed each station's launch sequence as a narrator played each part. When the rocket launched, the whole building shook, and you could see the fire out the windows behind the computers. It was pretty cool!
Once the launch sequence was over, doors opened to reveal the Satun V rocket. BIGGEST THING I'VE SEEN IN MY WHOLE LIFE! I can't even fathom how they could blast this baby into space. It is the size of 2 shuttles! Those are 5 F1 engines!
Several crews flew in the Satun V Rocket, all their mission patches were hung along the length of the rocket.
I couldn't even put in to words or capture a picture to show the size of this. All the rockets in the rocket garden couldn't come close.
If you enlarge this photo, you may be able to see how this thing compares to common structures. But, really, I have no way to describe the giganticness of this rocket.
Remember the VAB? This was originally built to get the Saturn V Rocket flight-ready.
This is one tread of the crawler. Same crawler that was used to move the shuttles, also moved the Saturn V Rocket.
One more glimpse of the massive engines!
The first men on the moon flew up in the Saturn V rocket. Misson Apolo 11.
This is the Lunar Module. It's what the people landed on the moon with.
The module was wrapped in this special foil to protect it from the heat of the sun.
The command module was the piece of the rocket where all three astronauts stayed for their entire trip. It was tiny!
Model of the rocket attached to the launch platform.
Early astronaut suit.
Me touching a piece of moon.
Robb is standing next to a lunar buggy, used to drive around the moon.
Another early astronaut suit.
I can't remember, but I think this was Apolo 13's command pod. They didn't clean it after their dramatic trip.
Very cool moon rocks!
They were very very old!
They had some pretty interesting things in the museum part.
This is the actual space suit worn by Al Shepard, first astronaut in space!
We definately had a fantastic time on our random bus tour! On the way back, we passed by an 8 foot eagles nest! It was pouring rain, or I would have a picture. But it was quite the sight to see.
There was a life sized shuttle replica that you could walk through.
This was as close to a real shuttle as I'd ever be.
The building behind the ship was the Shuttle Launch Experience, which I was very much looking forward to.
Our pretend shuttle was even marked the same as the real ones.
This is the cargo bay. The cargo bay is one of the most valuable things ever invented for space travel. It is the only way that large pieces of space station or satellites were brought into space. There is currently no technology that has the same ability now that the shuttles are decommissioned.
Here's a mock up of the flight deck. Front seat!
The computer system we were told, is fairly easy to operate and hasn't changed at all in the last 30 years, since the shuttles were built.
This is the kitchen, where they store all their food.
This guy was an astronaut in his suit. It was actually kinda creepy to see a guy standing there behind the glass.
Our next adventure was the Shuttle Launch Experience, which was a realsitic simulator of a launch. Even real astronauts said it was similar to the real thing, minus the G forces.
Oh look who it is! Our old buddy Bruce. The video was about launch and what it felt like.
Then we went in to our safety briefing, where we learned how to be safe on our launch. I don't have any pictures of inside the launch itself. We were being tossed and shaken around, we couldn't have ever held on to a camera. It was a lot of fun, we got launched safely into outer space.
Outside the Shuttle Launch Experience, there was a life sized replica of the rockets for the shuttles. They had two solid rocket boosters and one external tank, just like real life.
See little me under the tanks. This gives an idea of just how huge they were.
Imaging all that fire shooting out the bottoms of the tanks! And with a Florida storm, comes a Florida rainbow! Pretty!
The last thing that we saw was the memorial garden. This honored all the astronauts who lost their lives for space travel.
This wall purposefully reflected into the sky, and had the names of all the fallen astronauts lit up.
It was a pretty somber place.
As we were walking out, it was a tradition for people to sign a banner for the astronauts of each mission. How cool to be able to be a part of history.
I wrote, "You're so lucky! <3, Carisa and Robb Adams."
