Day Three

Woke up just before 7am and headed straight for the pool. Another quiet dip which was very nice. Bigger and straighter pool allowed for better swimming. Back to the room and ready to go out by 9am.

Headed across the way to an IHOP for breakfast. Ann had some granola with bananas, strawberries and blueberries and I had pancakes. A good start.

We then headed directly east towards the Kennedy Space Centre. We had to cross the Indian River on the way to Merritt Island where the centre is. On arrival we made our way to the entrance and then had a choice to make about what kind of tour we wanted. We weren't quite sure but made an educated guess about what we wanted to see. I can tell you now that we made the right decision.

We got in to the centre about 11am and our tour didn't start until 12pm, so we wandered around a bit to pass the time.  Saw the Shuttle Launch Experience building so thought we'd give it a go. We had to put all our belongings into a locker before entering, which made us wonder what kind of experience it was going to be. We went in and then watched various videos in different rooms in the lead up to the launch. They were quite loud to the point that a little girl was screaming in agony at the noise. Wondered why her parents had brought her into the experience in the first place. Decided it was because they were stupid. Finally, we had to line up next to the simulator and wait to enter. Ann then told me she didn't want to go in. Told her to shut up and get on with it. Luckily there weren't many people in our group so we had a row of seats to ourselves. Went in, sat down and put seat belt on. Man made sure we were strapped in. Then he left. The pod we were sat in then tipped up vertically so we were sat looking upwards. More videos and countdowns until the point we took off. Then the whole thing shook quite alot for quite along time as the video showed everything that was happening and where you were in the flight. According to one former astronaut it is the closest thing to a real launch that he has ever been in. Made your face and neck feel very fat. When we finished Ann thanked me for making her go on it as it was her childhood dream to be an Astronaut.

Then it was time for the tour. We still weren't sure what to expect but just went and lined up and waited for the bus. Once we were aboard off we went. First we headed out on to the NASA Causeway which goes across the Banana River towards Cape Canaveral Airforce base. We stopped halfway so we could see an overview of the places where we were going. Started to get annoyed with other people on the bus who kept talking whilst the guide was speaking. They were mostly foreign. Told them to shut up. The first proper port of call was the Vehicle Assembly Building. You might recognise it. It is the place where they put the various parts of the craft - boosters, rockets, ship - together. Therefore it is very big. Apparently it is something like the fourth biggest building in the world in terms of cubic volume.

Its roof is an acre in size!

We then stopped and got to go inside.

Looking up

As you can imagine it is immense in size. The guide then said he had two special guests. One was a NASA worker who was going to talk to us for a while, the other was a lady who was happy to have her picture taken. He said if you come around this corner you can can snap away. We walked around the corner.

The lady in question was Atlantis. A real live space shuttle. Been in space and everything. Knew at this point we had made the right choice of tour. It was the only one that came inside this building so we were extremely pleased.

Back on the bus and we headed out to two launch pads. Next to the normal road was the largest single track road I have ever seen. It was about 200 feet across. A machine called a crawler carries the fully built Space Shuttle plus the launch platform out to the pad along the road. It moves at under 1mph, not suprising as it is carrying nearly 5500 tonnes.

The first launch pad we stopped at was 39A which is the most famous one. All the Apollo missions were launched from it as well as a lot of the space shuttle ones.

39A

Next was 39B. It is more infamous than famous. It is the launch pad that Challenger took off from in 1986 when it exploded about 70secs after take off.

39B

We now headed back to Saturn 5 centre, where the tour ended. On our way, we spotted out first alligator of the trip. The whole island is a protected area so there is an abundance of wildlife.

You can just see the head in the middle of the picture.

Most people on the bus were more excited about seeing an alligator than anything to do with space.

When we arrived at the Saturn V centre we watched a short video before moving into the actual control room that oversaw the take off of Apollo 8. Then a video sequence gave you the experience of being in the room at the time of take off. Even the windows shook.

Was pretty cool. We then headed into a big room which had an actual Saturn V rocket in it. They are the rockets which powered the Apollo missions.  To give you the scale of size I made Ann stand next to it.

Big Unit

We then decided to get some lunch. As we went to pay for it, I decided to throw my lunch and drink on the floor. Made a bit of a mess. Felt rather silly. The cashier laughed and and said 'I'm sorry for laughing, but that is really funny.' Got some more lunch. We sat outside. There were some dinosaur looking birds mooching about trying to steal peoples' food. Big signs said 'Don't Feed the Birds'. Watched a boy feed the birds as his parents sat there. Thought are people just completely thick?

After lunch caught a bus back to the main visitor centre. Decided to go in the big shop before we left. Bought some freeze dried ice-cream space food. Am eating it now in fact. Very nice. Ann bought a hat.

We left the space centre and headed back across the Indian river to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. Went in and wandered about a bit. It generally had the same sort of stuff as the main centre. Unfortunately whilst in there a big mother of a thunderstorm rolled in. Quite spectacular. On leaving ran very fast to the car. Got wet feet. Stopped at Subway on the way back to the hotel to get some tea. Ate it watching Top Gear.

Just seen Tom Daley fail on American TV.

Could tell you so much more about all the interesting facts we learnt today, but can't be bothered as this is already far too long. Going to bed now. Tomorrow we are heading north.

States visited - One.