Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex - Launch Pad Tour

and Astronaut Hall of Fame

26 April 2013

Our plan was to visit the Astronaut Hall of Fame as we hadn't been since my ATX Astronaut Training back in 2004. We arrived there at 11.30am to find it didn't open until noon. Sigh. Rather than wait, we decided to return after our Launch Pad Tour. It would be a bit of a rush though.

We passed by the building of the new Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit as we turned into KSC. On arrival, we used our $5 upgrade annual passes to get free parking, saving us $10!

As we walked to the Will Call kiosk to pick up our tickets we were greeted by a completely new entrance concourse with a single line to several ticket booths as well as machines to print your pre-booked tickets or to book extra tours and/or experiences. There's a new gift shop too, so you can buy stuff without visiting the park if you really want to - but you should go inside, the place is awesome.

There's a memorial to President John F Kennedy here. He announced that America would go to the Moon, "before this decade is out" (the 1960s) and they did! If only the people were as interested today, maybe the Space Shuttle program would not have been shelved.

   

Once we had our Launch Pad tour stickers we headed to the new outside (but covered) security stations. There were no lines for our visit so we were quickly through.

This new layout is much better as you enter straight into the Rocket Garden. It has real, but unused rockets from the 1950s and 1960s. This has been a bit out-of-the-way in the past - this is a great improvement.

To the right, as you enter, is the new Rocket Garden Cafe. In a 1950s style, it looked good but we didn't have time to try it - we'd spotted a sign stating that in ten minutes there was to be an introductory guide to the Rocket Garden.

   

Many of the rockets started life as inter-continental ballistic missiles or other missiles which were converted for space flight. Our guide explained which rockets were for the Gemini, Apollo and other programs.

It is a very cool place. They even have the actual walkway Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Mike Collins used to climb aboard Apollo 11! You can walk across it too, although it is much nearer to the ground than they were! However, we've been before so skipped it this trip. If you were thinking of visiting they also have mock-up Command Modules you can sit in - there's plenty of room for stuffies like me but it must have been a bit of a squish for humans! It was a good introduction to the Rocket Garden and something I hadn't done before.

   

We had some time before our tour so we looked where the astronaut interaction was. Today's astronaut was Jon McBride who flew several Space Shuttle missions. He was my ATX Astronaut Training Instructor, back in 2004. It would be nice to see him again after nine years. I'm pretty sure he won't remember me - even though he can't have trained that many bears. Trouble was, he was due to finish at 3.25pm and we doubted we'd be back from the Launch Pad in time to see him.

We spotted the new Angry Birds exhibit so figured we should check it out. Beyond a game on your phone, I don't really know what Angry Birds is. Inside there are a few interactive tablets you can do stuff on, then a bigger room where you use one of six large catapults to fire stuffie angry birds that you fire at targets.

   

I have to say the assistants and I gave it a go, but we were hopeless!

   

They also have as mirror maze. This starts out easy but quickly gets confusing - is that a path or the reflection of a path. Ouch! Reflection!

   

Unsurprisingly the maze exits through a gift shop full of Angry Birds stuff - I can see it would have a certain appeal, but it's really not for me. There were some more interactive tablets you could play on as we left - no idea what they were doing though! We left the mayhem to those that understood (geeks and twelve year olds!) I used to think I was a geek, but I must be slipping!

   

We took a look at a few of the items on show in the courtyard between the IMAX movies and the gift shop. The tree was grown from a sycamore seed flown on Apollo XV! The capsule, below right, is the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Capsule which can go to the International Space Station and beyond.

   

We decided in the time we had left to go ride The Space Shuttle Launch Experience. To get there we had to pass through the gift shop (my excuse) and spotted that Jon McBride (astronaut) would be making an appearance here until 4.30pm! Cool! We might just make that.

There's a lot of construction work going on around the Launch Experience as this is where the new Atlantis exhibit will appear. In fact, it's inside now, but we're not able to go in yet. The life-size mockup solid rocket boosters were being built (I've since read they are now completed).

TGTips
Stuffies take note that, while lockers for loose items are provided (have a quarter handy - you'll get it back) I have, on MANY separate occasions asked to ride and I have been allowed on. I must have done this ride a dozen times! Even my teddy pals Frank and Theo got to ride last time! So ask! It's amazing!


Take note, they will take a green screen photo of you on entry to the ride, which you can buy on your way out - you as a Space Shuttle astronaut! I saved my dollars, but it would be a fun photo to have! I've never had to wait long before entering the anteroom where astronaut Charlie Balden explains what happens during a Space Shuttle Launch. It's a funny film and he does a great job of giving you context about what is about to happen. I'm sure I've explained this before! Sorry.

Next you stand (or sit, if you are me) on a spot - that spot represents you're seat for the ride. There's a short wait before taking your seat. Strapped in, they tip you back, countdown and launch. Considering it's a simulator, it is a lot of fun. Always five Teds!

     

Our next stop was to get in line for our Launch Pad Tour. After our previous tour problem - they put us on the wrong bus! - we made sure we were on the right bus! (They probably wondered why we kept asking this IS the launch pad tour, right? We set off, past the eagle's nest, the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Launch Control Center and the Crawler road and out to one of the launch pads 39A. Unlike previous tours we'd done, this time the bus goes inside the fence!

   

With some firm security warnings we got off the bus. Oh. My. Bear. Now, I accept, if you're not a space fan, this next bit could get boring, but tough. Do you not realise how awesome (proper use of the word for a change) this really is? The Space Shuttles and rockets that have taken off from this very launch pad. Stunning.

The tall tower is a water tower to dampen the noise of a launch (not the fire!) The vibration of the noise would be devastating without the use of water as a dampener.

   

The big white tank would contain liquid hydrogen for the launch and this was one of the components of the fuel in the large disposable external tank. Mixed with liquid oxygen, held in a similar tank on the other side of the launch pad this gave the Shuttle it's enormous thrust into orbit. It also needed the fuel in the recyclable Solid Rocket Boosters to kick start the launch and, once lit, the Shuttle was going, like it or not!

   

We got a fantabulous view (really! It's a word. Trust me) of the launch pad. I took a LOT of photos before rejoining the bus. I thought that was it, but we drove so close and then closer still. Then the bus drove ONTO the pad. And then, bear faints we were able to get off the bus!

   

This walled cavity is immediately below the launch structure. We weren't allowed to get any closer than this, but that's okay, just to stand in such close proximity to this structure that has soooo much history associated with it was a huge privilege. Below centre is the arm that swings out to give the astronauts to climb into Shuttle. Below right is a spotlight that was used to light up the Shuttle when it was resting on the launch pad.

   

I never thought I would be able to stand ON the launch pad! Seriously! We stood on fire bricks below the metal structure. Below centre you can see some of the bricks have a blackened colour. They were painted this colour with fire resistant paint, but they found, from the more recent launches, that while they haven't repainted, the bricks do not seem to get that seriously damaged anyway. Just to think of the huge power of the Shuttles lifting off from this very spot. Wow!

From this vantage point we could see the second, liquid oxygen fuel tank.

   

Soon, it was time to get back on the bus so I grabbed a few (lot) more photos as we drove away.

 

   

As we headed back, we drove past Launch Pad 39B - this used to look similar to 39A, but has been mostly dismantled. I might be wrong, but I thought I remembered walking a little way up that hill years ago, maybe during ATX Shuttle flight training? Well, I remember it, dunno if it's true though!

We got close to Launch Pad 39B too. Can't remember what the big fire-resistant boards are (below center). Below right is an observation deck. This is the closest the regular visitors get without taking the VIP tour or more. It's a pretty good viewing platform but not as good as our view. I suspect it may be a limited run tour, particularly if the Space Program picks up again, so get over there now and do it! I know a place in Orlando you can stay (winks).

   

We were dropped off at the Saturn V exhibit. This is another amazing exhibit but we've done it many times and we were in a rush so didn't go inside this time. Instead, we made straight for the bus stop to return to the main complex.

We got off the bus about 4.05pm and headed for the gift shop. We went straight upstairs to find there was no line to see Jon McBride. Unsurprisingly, he didn't remember me or assistant Di, but I did have a copy of my 2004 ATX Graduation photo with me (see left), which he kindly signed for me. I also got a photograph.

   

By then it was 4.20pm and the Astronaut Hall of Fame closed at 5pm so off we dashed.

We got there at 4.30pm, with half an hour till closing. Mind you, it's not that big. They have a museum, with an array of National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) artifacts from the Space Age.

   

I was able to sit at a console first used in Houston, Texas during the Gemini 4 mission in the 1965. Very cool.

   

They have spacesuits from Gemini and the Space Shuttle missions and various modules.

   

The Hall of Fame is, as the name suggests, dedicated to the astronauts who participated in the Space Program over the years. In fact three more astronauts were added just last week. Each accepted member has a billboard thing to commemorate their spaceflights.

 

They have a collection of space food on display. Below centre are rehydratable foods to which warm water is added. Better than nothing, I guess, but I'm not really convinced. The machine below right is more like it though - it is a mock-up of a prototype Coca-Cola dispensing machine that was flown on Space Shuttle flight STS-177 in 1996. Who knew?

   

In the Space Shuttle display, they have a chair, below left, which flew on both Challenger and Columbia before it was changed out for a lighter version. They have some footage playing of the landing of STS-1, the first Space Shuttle flight, flown by astronauts Crippen and Young. They also show off the different space suits worn on the Space Shuttle.

   

The Hall of Fame has a display commemorating the astronauts lost in the disasters involving those two Space Shuttles.



Then we saw Alan Shepard's Training Spacesuit. He had three, two of which were to go to the moon, communicating with the Command Module and life support, while this one was used for training purposes. As for the guys below right, well the one standing up is still just a trainee...and his friend seems to have taken a tea break!

 

They had some kind of simulator ride but the short line was closed with closing time fast approaching. They also have a more interactive area that a youth group was monopolising but I wasn't really bothered, not really my thing!

At 5pm, we were done. It's not a big place and probably takes 45 minutes to an hour to see everything properly. The KSC annual pass includes free entry but the regular entry ticket allows access twice within seven days of entering KSC (correct at time of writing). I don't think it's worth the trip for the Hall of Fame alone, but if you have an hour to spare after a day at KSC it is worth a look, especially with free entrance. Can't go wrong really.

   

I did drop a Ted as it's a little small and doesn't open until noon - I suppose most of their business is after a KSC visit, but it was a little annoying. No gift shop either! There's ALWAYS a gift shop!

Another great day at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The new Atlantis exhibit opens in June, so I might just be forced to go back again!

TourGuideTed