March 8-9, 2012 The Space Coast

We left Okeechobee and headed to Melbourne Florida so we could visit the Kennedy Space Center.  200 mile drive.

Florida Oranges. They have huge orange orchards around Lake Okeechobee and a an orange juice processing plant at Clewiston. The bus at Wickham park campground

The bike path at Wickham Park, view from the bus at Wickham park campground

Space Port Florida-an airport I think, and the Kennedy space center visitors complex. They call this area the space coast

John going into the 3D Imax on Hubble. He put those on early and said, wow everything is so 3D, so life like. John in a space capsule. He says it was even too small for him.

Rocket science made simple. . ., Rocket Garden, it traces the evolution of the space program

John staying dry in the fountain, NASA

Danger Will Robinson!!-the robot from Lost in space. The real Mercury mission control room

a space capsule and a comparison of the sizes of the rockets from older to newer

Robot scouts is an exhibit on the robotic scouts, the Kennedy space center tour includes the visitors center, the shuttle gantry and the Apollo/Saturn center

Model of the shuttle launch pad at the observation gantry, a launch pad

part of a space shuttle rocket engine, here they put the rockets together

The real Apollo mission control room, the engines on a Saturn V rocket-a real one they haven’t used yet-363 feet long

To the moon was a multi media show on the lunar landing and Neil Armstrong's historic moon walk. the engines on the second stage of Saturn V

a model of the rocket showing what is inside, below the real one and the lunar landing module

the control module, the space capsule

inside of the control module, Barbie goes to space

a launch pad, and Space Princess

Explorers wanted-Hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of darkness, constant danger, safe return doubtful, Honor and recognition in case of success-Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer, 1914. The explorer center was about future space travel, had rovers in it and models of the newer versions, vehicles and habitats. And hands on simulators and cool multi media shows.

Mars rovers. The first two on the right have already gone to mars and the big one on the left launched in 2011 and will arrive on mars in August 2012. The Milky way soft serve and space dots. . .