|
|
|
|
One major reason- other than to spend the New Year's
holiday visiting and having fun at the DisneyWorld attractions in Orlando in 2007, was to pesonally experience the
sights and sounds at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. . .
So I got me the tickets and schedule for the Space
Center Tour, then hopped on the bus, and off we hit the road for that once-in-a-lifetime Space Flight Fantasy- the KSC
Experience . . .
|
The KSC at Merritt Island : The Geographic Location . . .
|
|
The Kennedy Space Center complex is situated on
Merritt Island- some XX miles east of Orlando, Florida. The island, which is part of Brevard County, FL, and is
adjacent to nearby Cape Canaveral, is 34 miles long and about 6 miles wide that covers about 219 sq. miles
of land area. As the space vehicle
launch facility and Launch Control Center, the KSC is a major tourist destination in the State of Florida as well, and receives
more than a million visitors each year..
Since much of KSC is a restricted area and only nine percent
of the land is developed, the site also serves as an important wildlife sanctuary; Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore are also features of this area.
Leaving Orlando, I think it took our
tour bus just about nearly an hour to get to the Space Center at Merritt Island, with a brief stopover at a
point along the way where some of the "tourists" got off for a different tour program. . .
|
At the Welcome & Information Center . . .
|
|
At the entrance of the Space Complex (right) with the NASA
logo prominently at the backdrop. . . .
The Center has its own fleet of official Tour Buses (above) for
visitors. These buses move about the Center continuosly, so you can take your time at each point of interest along the
entire tour. . .
Inside the Center- where you wait to take the official NASA
tour bus, the receptionist would be taking your photo against the large backdrop of the Space Shuttle. . . of course, your
photo is not for free and you pay for it at the time before you leave the Center. . .
.
|
|
|
|
The Rocket Garden . . . yes,
this is where they all are still standing today; the rockets of yesteryears. . . that's me near the KSC Entrance, with the
Garden at the far background. . .
|
The Vehicle Assembly Building . . .
|
|
Then it was time to board the official NASA Tour Bus, and the
tour immediately started in no time at all. . . From the main entrance, the tour bus rolled off passing by the giant VEHICLE ASSEMBLY BUILDING (VAB)- the largest of its kind in the world. . .
I made this instant snap as we drove by the impressively large
edifice . . .
|
|
|
|
. . .and along the way, we also caught a glimpse of the huge
CRAWLER that had been employed in the transport of the Apollo-Saturn moon vehicle from the VAB to the launching complex
. . .
|
. . . And for our first stop-over, we drop by to visit the Launch
Control (LC)-39 Observational Gantry to check what's up . . .
|
|
|
