KSC Visitor's Center - September 16th, 2007
KSC Visitor Center Astronaut HOF Launch Pads: Mercury - Gemini - Apollo
Finally take the time and money ($40) to visit the . . .
Behold, two Atlas rockets in the rocket garden
Missing Titan II ICBM 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 2/20/62
Don't even bother trying to squeeze into
a tiny one-man Mercury capsule
Mercury Redstone put the first American,
Alan Shepard, into space on May 5, 1961
Atlas-Agena sent 8 Rangers to the moon starting
in 1962 to find landing sites for Apollo
1962 Delta Telstar telecomm SAT for RealTime TV signals
Juno 1 put the Explorer I satellite into orbit on 1/31/58
Juno II sent Pioneer 4 past the moon on 3/3/59
Saturn 1B launched unmanned Apollo 5 and . . .
3-man Apollo 7 plus 3 separate Skylab crews to orbit
Kids are invited to try out the comfy capsule
Closed off test capsule for your viewing pleasure
Saturn V had 5 J-2s on 2nd stage & 1 on 3rd stage
Five F-1 engines powered the Saturn V's 1st stage
Eight H-1 engines powered Saturn 1B's 1st stage
Take a walk for a complete shot of the Saturn 1B
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
Over to the reflecting pond by the Space Mirror
Natural light is reflected into the back of the mirror
The Space Mirror Memorial was 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 special
Challenger mission automobile license plates
Rocket park's Saturn 1B appears beyond the pond
and past the double IMAX theater on the left
The memorial is dedicated to those who believe
the conquest of space is worth the risk of life
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 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
Look out! They are coming to life!
Nope, it is just a massive brush burnoff
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
Got a headache from the Shuttle Launch Experience
Hope the Explorer is a little less dynamic
View of the flight deck from under an A/C vent!
Checked out the Intelsat in the payload bay
Over to Exploration in the New Millennium
An actual Mars meteorite has been rubbed smooth
Viking landed on Mars in 1976 and operated 6 years
Hubble Space Telescope mockup
Cassini-Huygens sent to Saturn in October, 1997
Space family symbolizes the future of exploration
Final look at Exploration in the New Millennium
Brush burnoff smoke fills the skies beyond the cafe
Sycamore planted from seeds taken on Apollo 14
Final view of Rocket Park upon departing the Center
Ash and soot cover the rent car in the parking lot