I usually post some pictures from our Snow Chasing days, but with a No-Snow year, we went in another direction, Florida! As many on here know, I'm very much into Aviation. Especially the Fly In in Oshkosh known as the E.A.A. and one of the many items on my list of things to do before the Grim Reaper comes calling is to visit NASA's Kennedy Space Center. So, we made it happen last week. Flew into Orlando, did some sight-seeing, and then spent a whole day at NASA's Visitor Center. The following pictures help tell the story...
This is in front of the early rockets they used for the first satellites and the Mercury and Gemini missions. The one on the right is a Titan, Ballistic Missile that they used for Gemini. It's the only one they had that they could rely on, all the others would blow up on the ground.
Here's the Saturn 1B, it's huge but only about half the size of the SB V that went to the moon. They used this one to prepare for the actual Moon Shots.
This would be one of the Engines of the rockets that took them to the moon. There were 5 of these needed for liftoff. The engine itself measures 18 feet tall as it sits on this display.
You may recognize this as the Fuel Tank and Solid Boosters for the Shuttle Missions.
This is the actual shuttle, Atlantis on display.
And this would be the "business end" of the Shuttle Engines.
That covers it in pictures. We had great weather, I give my wife credit for her patience. My taste for things that make a lot of noise, fire, and go Boom is not shared. In her favor, we stayed at a great hotel with excellent food and entertainment. So, a win-win. If you go, take along comfortable shoes as there's a lot of walking, sunscreen, and money. I think just the add-on fees and local taxes were over $100 for our room.
This is in front of the early rockets they used for the first satellites and the Mercury and Gemini missions. The one on the right is a Titan, Ballistic Missile that they used for Gemini. It's the only one they had that they could rely on, all the others would blow up on the ground.
Here's the Saturn 1B, it's huge but only about half the size of the SB V that went to the moon. They used this one to prepare for the actual Moon Shots.
This would be one of the Engines of the rockets that took them to the moon. There were 5 of these needed for liftoff. The engine itself measures 18 feet tall as it sits on this display.
You may recognize this as the Fuel Tank and Solid Boosters for the Shuttle Missions.
This is the actual shuttle, Atlantis on display.
And this would be the "business end" of the Shuttle Engines.
We made another stop, but I'll save that for another post.
A little side-note on the location, why build the launch pads there? The area was mostly just snakes and alligators in a big swamp. Since the early rockets had a habit of blowing up on the ground or shortly after launch, they didn't want the things falling on someone's house. The ocean was a better place for mishaps. And as Paul Harvey was accustomed to saying, "Now you know the rest of the story".
