NASA

Today we got stuck in a tourist trap.  I'm sure you've been to the cable way when a big tourist bus has arrived carrying 50 or so tourists with their backpacks and happy snappy cameras?  That was us today.

The bus stopped at about 4 other hotels to pick up other tourists before finally setting off, so it took us 2 hours to get there.  I'm really interested in the whole space race, the technology behind sending a rocket up into space and the courage of those astronauts to sit in a little capsule on top of a massive rocket.  Luke and Ali were definitely not as interested in the whole day as I was.  I guess it's a really foreign thing to them.  I don't think that Ali understood the concept of the ISS - that there is a bunch of people up there right now orbiting the earth.  Also, I think that the line between actual artefacts and mock ups was difficult to understand because the replicas of the rockets were life size and looked so real. 

We've been really spoilt by Disney World's attractions bringing everything to life in such creative ways.  So walking through a museum hall was a bit boring for the kids I think.  And there was a lot of waiting in long queues.

Sorry - I'm sounding a bit negative.  I guess I was a bit disappointed, but all in all, we did have a good day and I'm sure the kids learnt loads.  It was quite ra ra America and I don't think that they gave the Russians quite enough credit for the success of their space program.

There also wasn't much mention of the Mir space station which I have read about and it's really fascinating. 

Anyway, we started off in the rocket garden.

I was interested in the big explosive bolts that they attach the rocket to on the launch pad that only release when there is enough pressure built up to adequately propel the rocket.  The Americans only realised that this was necessary after crashing quite a few rockets but retrospectively, it seems quite obvious.  In the rocket garden, they also had the original bridge that Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins walked across to board their rocket. 

After the rocket garden, we saw an amazing 3D Imax movie of the ISS which was the highlight of the day for me.  It was wonderfully real.  I love the footage of the astronauts moving between the modules and doing simple things like brushing their teeth.  Also, it's interesting to see what is up there in the ISS and all the little compartments and cupboards - everything that is up there has been transported up in a very expensive rocket.  I thought about Mark a lot today - about him being intrigued by space travel as a kid and then making a dream come true.  In some of the exhibits they said, "Maybe one day you too will go to space".  I guess that most people laugh this off as far-fetched.  I feel very privileged to know somebody who has actually been up there and my interest in visiting the Kennedy Space Centre was definitely thanks to Mark and his trip to space.  So thanks Mark!

The KSC has just opened a new Angry Birds experience at the centre.  It is a kids play centre where they have set up an interactive angry birds game.  Luke and Ali came alive here.

I guess it was good to have something there that they enjoyed doing.  But I felt that it was a bit out of place and took up some valuable time.  I would have liked to go to the astronauts Hall of Fame (which would have bored the kids speechless!) but we didn't have time to go.

Then we went on the Shuttle Launch Experience which was pretty cool and Luke's favourite part of the day.  We sat on a chair and strapped ourselves in and then they simulated a shuttle launch.  The whole room tilted up 80 degrees or so and then they shook the room about as if the rockets were boosting behind us.  I think it was quite realistic - but without the fear that those astronauts must feel.

After that, we got on a bus to go and have a look around the launch areas.  The first stop was a bit of a waste of time.  The kids had a hot dog while I went up to the viewing platform.

One thing that was really intriguing was the 'crawler' which carts the rocket from the assembly building (ENORMOUS) to the rocket launch site.  In this picture below, you can see a dual carriage way on the far right (not a great pic).

 

There is a massive tractor type thing called a "crawler" and one set of "wheels" is on one side of the dual carriage way and the  other set of wheels is on the other side.  Have a look at the crawler under the launch platform in this picture compared to the size of the people and the bus.

 

And this picture below shows 2 life size crawler cleats: 

That was fascinating to me.  The other thing that I didn't know was that there were over 160 shuttle missions between 1981 to 2011 - 2 of which ended up in fatal explosions.  I had no idea that there were so many of them.

I think we were all happy to relax in the bus on the way home.  When we got off the bus, we nearly crashed into a guy on a bicycle carrying a whole lot of parrots.  This was Ali's favourite part of the day.

The hotel has a very tacky and overpriced eat-as-much-as-you-like buffet and we had dinner there.  Luke was delighted.  The best meal that we've had in Florida in his opinion.  I've been trying to find some healthy gourmet food and all the kids want is spaghetti, canned peaches and soft serve.  Ali came to the table with a whole plate of canned peaches and was very disappointed when Luke and I pointed out that they were full of sugar and therefor no good for a main meal.  So she went back to the buffet and served herself a massive plat of rice and, the best thing that she could find to put on top of the rice, was the minestrone!  She wolfed that down, chased by the peaches.  Luke was delighted to be able to make his own cookie and icecream sandwich for desert and we all shared an American waffle (shaped like Mickey) with maple syrup and soft serve.

We're taking the day off tomorrow.  We all need a break.  So we'll schloomph around the pool, read books and maybe watch a movie.   It will be good to recharge.