A few days ago, I had a chance to visit the Kennedy Space Visitor Complex. The shuttle mockup at the entrance to the Center is quite impressive. Today, I had a chance to go on a public tour of the outside area of the actual KSC. There were many tour buses going out to the three stops of the tour that contained movies of the different aspects of human space exploration and neat models of real NASA equipment!

The first stop was the recently built Observation Gantry. This was a tall structure (actually way more minute than I expected). Sabrina, Linda, my dad, and I climbed up the gantry to an amazing view -- the shuttle sitting atop Complex 39-B! Since all my days in Florida so far, this was the first time I've seen the real shuttle. To believe that large piece of metal and propellant can blast off into space and orbit around our fragile planet just makes our reality much more wide! Along with this part of the tour were views of the enormous Crawler. This was gigantic, but what used to be placed on top of it -- a Saturn V rocket -- was so big that its thrust could equal an atomic bomb! What truly amazed me, though, was the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building). The VAB is the largest building by volume and once you see it, you'll know. It took millions of pounds of paint just to paint the NASA "meatball" logo!

After the shuttle tour, we headed off to the the Apollo/Saturn V stop. It was this place that made my day! There are numerous theatres (like Disney World!) that tell each part of the US's journey into space. The first show recalled the Mercury Program. Then, there was a film about Apollo 8, the first mission to send humans to the moon. The theatre was spectacular, with the actual Apollo Firing Room. It showed the countdown of Apollo 8 with sound effects of the ice coming off from the Saturn V. Everyone looked out at the windows because they thought KSC had a sudden hailstorm! An Apollo 11 film continued later. That was in a theatre with a mockup of the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) Eagle. The thing that made me scurry around the building like a little child was seeing the full-sized replica of the Saturn V rocket suspended horizontally in the middle of the room. The enormity...you would think that these things could not support their own weight! All the well, the Apollo/Saturn V Center is a place where you could spend the whole day in!

The last stop was about the International Space Station. I entered through the mockup modules. They are very small! Even with that, I would not give up the chance to actually live on one for anything. The mockup included the space toilet, which everyone wonders about. Then, climbing up some steps, we were lead into the view of the real Space Station Processing Facility. I have seen shots on webcams of the facility, but it was way better to see it in its full glory (and without the modem lag!). I recognized the Leonardo and Destiny modules. Amazing, all these pieces from around the world would form into this football-sized structure!

Ahhh, that was the end. I am really looking forward to what will be happening tomorrow. One thing that's sticking in my mind like rubber cement are the little Mars rovers on exhibit. The Mars exploration program has always been my area of fantasy and seeing the rovers was quite a sight. I even have my little model of the Sojourner rover safely packed away in my room!