KSC Visitor's Center - September 16th, 2007
Finally take the time and money ($40) to visit the KSC Visitor Center
And the famed Rocket Garden . . . Explorers Welcome!
Behold, two Atlas rockets in the rocket garden
Missing the Titan II ICBM that put Gemini capsules into orbit
Kids can get a feel for the room in a Gemini capsule
Mercury Atlas put John Glenn into orbit on February 20, 1962
Don't bother trying to squeeze into a tiny one-man Mercury capsule
Mercury Redstone put the 1st American, Shepard, in space on 5/05/1961
Atlas-Agena sent 8 Rangers to the moon starting in 1962 to find landing sites for the Apollo missions
Delta put Telstar telecommunication satellite into orbit in 1962 for realtime intercontinental television signals
Juno 1 put the Explorer I satellite into orbit on January 31, 1958
Juno II sent Pioneer 4 past the moon on March 3, 1959
The Saturn 1B launched unmanned Apollo 5, the . . .
3-man Apollo 7 mission plus 3 separate Skylab crews to orbit
Kids are invited to try out the comfy capsule
Closed off test capsule for your viewing pleasure
The Saturn V had five J-2 engines on 2nd stage & one on 3rd stage
Five F-1 engines powered the Saturn V's first stage
Eight H-1 engines powered the Saturn 1B's first stage
Take a walk for a complete shot of the Saturn 1B used to put astronauts in earth orbit for Skylab and the Apollo 7 mission
And another shot of the rocket garden uprights
Not another annoying Comcast Cable TV commercial!
Robot scouts are trailblazers for human exploration
Starquester 2000 introduces us to his way off friends
Viking, Pioneer & Magellan all report home for us
The scout's data will help build the future Mars base
A decent representation of my office back at JSC B30A
Astronaut spacesuit workshop is represented here
Step outside to the reflecting pond over by the Space Mirror
Natural light is reflected into the back of the Space Mirror Memorial
Since designated a National Memorial by Congress and President Bush
The black granite monument is 42.5 feet high and 50 feet wide
The Astronaut Memorial honors the 24 Astronauts who gave their lives
. . . for space exploration, paid for by Florida residents who purchased
. . . the special Challenger mission automobile license plate
Rocket park's Saturn 1B appears beyond the pond and past the double IMAX theater on the left
Dedicated to those who believe the conquest of space is worth the risk
Challenger top, Apollo 1 middle, and the other astronauts who have given their lives for the cause of conquering new frontiers
Sadly, Columbia astronauts were added in 2003
Impressive brass relief of all the fallen astronauts
Over to the shuttle and SRB stack mockup
Life sized twin SRBs and External Tank mockup
Shuttle Rocket Boosters push the shuttle off the pad
What is all that smoke? Are they are coming to life?
No, just a brush burnoff putting forth large clouds of billowing smoke
Smoke is visible beyond the External Tank
Head back towards the shuttle mockup
Explorer has two levels to investigate
No cameras in the Shuttle Launch Experience
The Shuttle Launch Experience gave me a good headache
Let's hope the Explorer is a little less dynamic
View of the flight deck from under an A/C vent!
Check out the Intelsat payload mockup in the shuttle payload bay
Over to Exploration in the New Millennium & see the Viking Mars Lander
An actual Mars meteorite on display has been rubbed smooth
Viking landed on Mars in 1976 and operated 6 years
Hubble Space Telescope mockup
Cassini-Huygens studied Jupiter & Saturn, launched in October, 1997
Space family symbolizes the future of exploration
A final look at Exploration in the New Millennium
Brush burnoff smoke fills the skies beyond the cafe
Sycamore planted from seeds taken aboard Apollo 14
Final view of Rocket Park upon departing the Center
Ash and soot cover the rent car in the parking lot