2019 Trip 1: Orlando Again: Jan. 20

View of Hubble telescope which had been put into orbit by the space shuttle

Orlando, Sunday January 20

Up early again and off to Kennedy Space Center (KSC). KSC is an hour drive from Orlando and we wanted to be at the gates before it opened at nine. We were, but today the gates remained closed until the official opening time, no early jump. I, of course, added to the delay by grabbing the wrong gate ticket for Daniel and had to go to guest relations to have a new one issued. SL was excited to be here, her early career ambition was to be an astronaut.

At Kennedy Space Center

We grabbed one of the first tour buses that brought us to the Apollo/Saturn V complex. (Unfortunately, the partial government shutdown restricted us from visiting the Vehicle Assembly Building and various launch pads.) At the Apollo center, we viewed a series of films covering the Apollo program including a film shown behind a series of desks and consoles from the actual mission control room in Houston. Even though we knew the end result, the re-enactment still sends shivers down ones spine. Watching a film replaying the scenes from around the world as Neil Armstrong took the first step on the surface of the moon brought back the power of hope and adventure that America has frequently delivered to the world.

We returned to the main KSC complex where we experienced a variety of shows and exhibits. The group split up, Chris and I in one group, Sarah, Sarah, and Daniel in another. KSC offers a wealth of options, one could easily spend a day and a half trying to see everything, probably two days when the full tours are offered.

One of the theaters presents the history of the space shuttle Atlantis. Besides being informative, the ending has one of those dramatic moments when the film transitions to a curtain opening up to a view of the actual shuttle hanging in front of you.

Close up view of the white blankets on the space shuttle

In one of the activities, Chris and I had a docent tour about the Atlantis shuttle and heard some interesting details. First, while it is estimated 400,000 people worked at some point on the Atlantis project, an important element was the 18 women who sewed the thermal protection blankets used on about one-third of the shuttle. The use of tiles was more publicized but the blankets provided a lighter weight alternative that reduced the weight of the shuttle by 8500 pounds. We even met one of the women whose background was as a candy store operator but she could read blueprints and sew. That got her one of the jobs.

Second, the shuttle flew through space upside down and backwards. Upside down gave a view of Earth for the astronauts that provided a better sense of where they were than looking at the infinity of stars. Backwards allowed any floating debris in space or during re-entry to hit the strong rocket structure instead of the windshield of the shuttle.

The cargo area of the space shuttle Atlantis

Third, a young girl asked why the shuttle was so big. The docent gave an illuminating comparison: the shuttle is like a space pick-up truck. It was used to bring material into space to build the International Space Station.

Fourth, the docent related a tale of how the shuttle was hung in the museum. Several astronauts were consulting with the contractor. It had been agreed that the shuttle would be hung in a way to best showcase its form, at a 45 degree angle. The astronauts came back and said the shuttle had to be at a 43.21 degree angle. There was bickering back and forth but the astronauts won out. Later the contractor asked why 43.21 degrees. The astronauts answered, they wanted a countdown sequence somewhere in the display. Thus 43.21 degrees was the countdown sequence 4-3-2-1 lift-off.

Sarah, Sarah and Daniel went to a presentation put on by Mark Lee, an astronaut who had been on four shuttle missions.

All of us saw a large screen video of Planet Earth featuring views of earth from space. It was an emotional film, encouraging us all to continue space flight, to work cooperatively, and to undertake efforts that would preserve the quality of the Earth’s environment.

We would certainly encourage people to visit KSC if you go to central Florida. People from all over the world come here; on our small group docent tour were people from Brazil and Australia.

Our hope was to have dinner overlooking either the ocean or the Indian River. We lucked out at a small bar and restaurant on the Indian River, the Old Florida Grill and Oyster House in Cocoa. The initial appearance made us doubtful but the parking lot was busy so we gave it a chance. It turned out just fine although since it was so cool, we had to eat indoors and lost our view.

Atlantis hanging at its 43.21 degree angle

Ed and Chris. Jan. 23