Rockets & Shuttles & Such

     The past two days at NASA's spectacular Kennedy Space Center have been absolutely marvelous in every way. We got dock space in Titusville, Florida on Friday afternoon after coming from Daytona Beach. (On a side note, we got showers and laundry, so morale was quite high.) My great aunt Mary Alice drove over from her home a couple hours away to meet us for a visit the following morning. We drove out to the space center and spent the day touring some of the magnificent.

    When we first we got there, we got on a tour bus and went out to an observation deck that allowed us to see the launchpads. We saw a shuttle sitting out on the pad getting worked on and prepped for it's launch in February. We also saw the "crawlway" on which giant machines transport the rockets and shuttles from the gigantic building where they are made to the launch site. It was basically just a big swath of gravel. We boarded our tour bus again and drove past the gargantuan building in which these rockets and shuttles are constructed. A fun piece of trivia that I picked up was that the Statue of Liberty could easily fit into the door; without ducking.

     We went and saw the Saturn V Rocket after. It is the most gigantic, complex piece of machinery you can possibly imagine. It was suspended overhead in multiple sections that were designed to detach during the early part of the flight in certain stages. Words can't even express how small you feel next to something so big, powerful, and all around impressive. I also got to touch a piece of rock that NASA astronauts brought back from the moon. It was fascinating. 

     That evening we had a nice dinner at a restaurant in Titusville. After eating a slightly gluttonous portion of chicken, we found my aunt a hotel room and went back to the boat. It got down below freezing that night, which is quite a bummer when you have no heat on your boat...

     This morning we went back out to the space center again with Mary Alice. First, we got to go aboard a space shuttle, which was very neat. You could peer through the Plexiglas in the shuttle and see the small living quarters that sustained astronauts as they plummeted through space; it was one of the most awe-inspiring things I have ever experienced. After that we saw the memorial to the astronauts who died in the tragic explosions that NASA has unfortunately had. It was a very nicely done memorial. We watched two fascinating IMAX movies on the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. We purchased an obscenely overpriced lunch at the museum cafeteria. After that we strolled through the Rocket Garden and saw rockets of all shapes and sizes. My dad and I walked through an exhibit about the current/ future missions of NASA and got to talk to a wonderful fellow that works there in the museum. The passion that these people have about space exploration and scientific innovation is so exciting and so contagious. 

     I could have stayed there indefinitely, but alas, we had to leave. We stopped at a grocery store on the way back to the marina and bought cases and cases of canned food. (During our time in the Bahamas we won't buy non-perishable food because it's very expensive there. Instead we're stocking up in the States.) Aunt Mary Alice drove us back to the marina and then headed back home. It was lovely to see her. 

     My parents and I have spent the evening meticulously stowing away the 23580487839573948 cans that we just bought. (That's an estimate, there's probably more.) We have invented an organizational system that seems like it will work well; not exactly rocket science like we saw at the museum, but still quite well thought out.

     I will be sure to upload pictures when my computer decides to cooperate. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday season!