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Friday made for a more relaxed, less hot day as we ventured to NASA, Greg's favorite place. He was most excited about showing his dad all of the exciting space memorabilia and history.
It takes about 45 minutes to drive from the time share to Nasa. About 2/3 of the way to NASA, the road turns off the Bee Line Highway and continues down a little highway from Cocoa Beach. It's historic to think about all the famous astronauts that have traveled this highway to and from work and launches. |
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| On the NASA restricted areas tour, we drive by the vehicle assembly building where all of the rockets and space shuttles have been assembled prior to launch. Just to the left of the picture (out of site) are four hangers where 4 of the 5 shuttles are kept for refurbishing after a mission. To our extreme left is the landing runway for the shuttle. When the shuttle lands, it's a simple 1/4 mile journey from the runway to the hanger. Just past the building is mission control, a safe three and a half miles away from the launch pads. |
| On the way to the launch pads, we passed a launch pad being prepared for the next launch. After each launch, the entire launch pad is sand blasted and repainted. There are four crawlers which position themselves under the launch pad and moves it into the Vehicle Assembly Building. There the shuttle, solid rocket boosters and external fuel tank are mated. Once loaded with the shuttle, the crawlers move the launch pad at 1 mile an hour to the launch site. |  |
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As close as we are able to get, we are one and a half miles from the launch pad where there is a new visitors center. Here, a quick look at one of the shuttles' three engines can be viewed up close. Small, yet powerful. The remaining part of the engine actually exists down stairs below this floor. |
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| Taking time for pictures, Susan snaps a shot of Grandpa, Preston and Brooklyn under the Saturn V Rocket. This is an actual rocket which was built, but never flew. It was prepped for launch as an emergency plan to aid in a possible disaster of Apollo 17 but was not used. If you ever watched Armageddon, this is where Grace and A.J. where filmed making out in the engine nozzle. Further up the Saturn V, you get to view a moon rover, a lunar module and a capsule. After learning about all of the phases of rockets, the kids enjoyed Space Dots, Ice Cream made into fun, small pebble like pieces. |
| Greg enjoyed tell his dad all about the stages of the rocket. Four years ago, while enjoying Orlando with the Lewis', we actually got to watch STS-75 launch into space. What took Greg 36 years to get to see, Preston and Brooklyn only had to wait about 3 and 4 years to see. |  |
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| With arms stretched out, Preston shows just how big the shuttle fuel tank is. A full scale shuttle was also available for us to go inside. The Enterprise at one time was an actual flying shuttle, but it was only used for glide tests and never went into space. Even so, it's an amazing thing to walk under its body and to see inside the cockpit and shuttle bay area. |
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Ending the day and the vacation, we enjoyed the Pirate Dinner Adventure. This exciting dinner show included a full scale ship full of pirates fight for a fair lady princess. Preston took part in that last part of the show. After dressing up, he, along with other kids from the audience, attacked the pirate ship with guns. |