Kennedy Space Center

Last weekend the wife and I made a run over to Cocoa Beach and while there we went to the Space Center. I had not been there in several years and a lot has changed.

The admission fee is $50 which is a bargain. I attempted to get the 55 and over discount of $46 but the attendant demanded to see my ID and even threatened to have me thrown in jail for impersonating an old person....OK none of that is true except the $46 discount.

The rocket garden is near the entrance and in this pic you can see a Mercury rocket on the left, a Gemini rocket in the middle and a Saturn 1B laying on it's side. The difference in the Saturn 1 and the Saturn V is stunning

The Original Seven...the Mercury astronauts. left to right..Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Shirra, Alan Shepard, Deke Slayton...  Trivia question...only one of these men landed on the moon...who is it....answer to come later..

JFK...his speech only 19 days after America put a man in space was the vision that made it all possible...

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. "

The Mercury firing room

Mercury capsule

The wife and a Gemini capsule

Space flight is a risky business but this tragedy happened on the ground...the Apollo 1 fire that killed Ed White, Roger Chaffee, and Gus Grissom

But Americans don't quit so on to the moon we went...from right here..launch pad 39A

The Vehicle Assembly Building

The Saturn V display is amazing...only three Saturn V rockets remain today and this one is displayed laying on it's side in stages..it is a remarkable thing to see

An incredible piece of machinery

Apollo 11...man on the moon

The Lunar Excursion Module

The answer to the trivia question...Alan Shepard... America's first man in space was the only one of the Original Seven that landed on the moon

Gene Cernan...the last man on the moon on Apollo 17

The Atlantis exhibit is worth the price of admission by itself

Atlantis made the final shuttle launch...it is amazing to stand this close to it

Still dirty from the trip to space

The black heat shield tiles are white from reentry

Challenger and Columbia crews

Think about it...we went from Kitty Hawk to the Moon in....66 years...we had a great day at the Space Center and it is a worthwhile visit for anyone to make...