Travel Through Time & Space
Posted on June 1, 2011 by bob in Travel
The Rocket Garden displays the base of historic rockets that launched the first Americans into space.
by Andrea Gross; photos by Irv Green
www.andreagross.com
My seat tilted back. There was a loud noise, followed by spine-jarring vibrations. I felt a pressure on my chest, pushing me back against my seat. Then there was another boom — this one more deafening than the last — and the launch simulator at the Kennedy Space Center made me feel as if I were soaring into space.
Suddenly all was still, and I saw the earth floating before me, a round ball with vague outlines of recognizable continents. A youngster, who was sitting a few rows ahead of me, broke the silence. “I’m going there someday,” he said, and all the adults nodded approvingly.
The Space Center, 50 miles east of Orlando and home of the United States’ manned space program, is that kind of place — as inspiring as it is informational, as entertaining as it is educational.
Rocket Garden display.
Here are some of the must-sees:
— “Space Station” is an IMAX® film that serves as a primer to living in outer space by showing how astronauts eat, exercise, sleep and, yes, float in a weightless environment. When the STS-134 crew roared into space in May, it was led by Commander Mark Kelly, husband of Arizona Representation Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords. The crew’s 14-day space odyssey is something my husband and I can relate to. After all, we’d been there, too, albeit by way of a three-dimensional film.
— Another IMAX® film, “Hubble 3D,” tells the story of the telescope that has given us unprecedented views of the universe. Watch this film towards the end of your visit when it provides a welcome excuse to sit down and rest your feet!
— Early Space Exploration isn’t the Center’s flashiest exhibit, but a quick visit helps put future advances into context. For a more personal look at the early missions, visit the Astronauts Hall of Fame, located several miles from the main complex. The hall is filled with astronaut memorabilia, including a Mercury spacecraft piloted by astronaut Wally Schirra.
— Fewer than 550 men and women have flown in space, but each day one of them hosts an Astronaut Encounter at the Kennedy Space Center. We heard a talk by Al Worden, who seemed like a nice, ordinary guy until I realized that as Command Module Pilot for the Apollo 15 moon mission, he’s one of only 24 people in the history of the world to travel beyond the orbit of the earth. Worden described walking in space 200,000 miles from earth, at which time he became the first human to see both the earth and the moon in their entirety. “It was kinda cool,” he said with a grin that indicated this was a grand understatement.
— The Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour takes visitors to an observation stand that offers the best view most of us are going to get of the launch pad that sends astronauts into space. Then it continues to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where the 363-foot long Saturn V rocket hangs from the ceiling, dwarfing everything around it. This rocket was used for Apollo 11, the United States’ first manned landing on the moon, an event that is depicted in a film shown in the Saturn V theater.
— We ended our Space Center visit at the Mission Status Center, where a NASA representative discussed the future of the United States’ manned space program. “The shuttle program is ending, and Washington hasn’t decided what to do next. Everything is up in the air,” he explained, without a trace of irony.
The Saturn V rocket was used to send astronauts into lunar orbit.
The next day we time-traveled back to the past at the nearby Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum, a combination restoration facility and exhibition hall that offers a unique view of aviation history. There are 25-30 aircraft on display at any one time, and in short order we saw a single-seat biplane from WWI, a military transport from World War II, a fighter aircraft from Korea, a helicopter from Vietnam, and a fighter jet like those used today. Also on display: a collection of related memorabilia including flags, flight gear and a plethora of model planes.
Every year more than 30,000 veterans and aircraft aficionados gather for the museum’s air show, which features everything from formation flying to rescue reenactments. (The next show will be March 9-11, 2012.)
Finally, we decided it was time to enjoy the present. The Space Center is surrounded by some of Florida’s best beaches, so instead of flying to the moon, we simply reveled in the sun.
