ecl@hocsj.UUCP (09/25/84)
(This is going to net.travel for obvious reasons, net.space for fairly
obvious reasons, and net.sf-lovers because I think the subscribers to
that group would be interested.)
Kennedy Space Center
A review by Evelyn C. Leeper
Seven years ago, we went to the Kennedy Space Center. At the time the
Apollo program was over and the STS (a.k.a. space shuttle) program had not
yet caught the public's imagination. So, although there were some tourists
there, it was fairly low-key and empty.
No more. Where before there was one building for tourists (and believe
that was shared with tourism administrative offices), there are now 6: an
information center, the Gallery of Spaceflight, the Gift Gantry, an IMAX
theater, and a cafeteria AND a restaurant. In addition, the tourism
administrative offices are in a separate building and there is a separate
kiosk for buying tickets for the bus tours and the IMAX presentation (HAIL,
COLUMBIA!). If you want one of the two bus tours offered, sign up early--
later in the day, there can be as much as a two-hour wait for a two-hour
tour. The place, far from being empty, was mobbed. Space, it seems, has
caught on.
The main atractions here (in my opinion) are the bus tours. There are
two--a Blue Tour and a Red Tour. Each costs $4 ($1.75 for children, I
think). The Blue Tour consists of the Kennedy Space Center itself,
including some of the astronaut training facilities, the Vehicle Assembly
Building (VAB), and launch pads 39A and 39B, from which the shuttle is
launched. Seven years ago, we got to go inside the VAB--it wasn't being
used. Now you can see only the outside because of safety restrictions--
rocket fuel is tricky stuff. As the bus drives around, you also get to see
the crawlers they use to carry the spaceships (well, they are, aren't they?)
from the VAB to the launch pads. We were particularly lucky in that
Challenger was on the launch pad being prepared for its October 5 launch.
While the bus was not allowed to stop by the pad (safety reasons again), the
driver did make a very slow U-turn to give everyone a chance to see it and
take pictures. Most of the orbiter was obscured by the gantry, but we did
get a good view of the solid rocket boosters (SRB's) and the fuel tank. (By
the way, the fuel tank used to be painted white to match the rest of the
shuttle. Then they discovered by not painting it they saved 600 pounds
which could be used for payload instead. Now it's left the original orange
color.) The "shuttle," by the way, consists of the orbiter (that's the part
that everyone thinks of as the shuttle--it looks like a fat airplane), the
external fuel tank (the fat orange rocket-shaped thing "under" the orbiter
which is used as a second-stage booster), and the SRB's (two smaller tubes
on either side of the external fuel tank which provide the initial thrust).
The SRB's parachute into the Atlantic shortly after take-off and are
recovered and re-used. The external fuel tank is jettisoned somewhere over
the Indian Ocean and is the only part of the shuttle not reused.
Anyway, back to the tours themselves. The Red Tour covers the further
reaches of the Kennedy Space Center, in particular, the Cape Canaveral Air
Station, site of the earlier Mercury and Gemini missions. (We didn't have
time for this tour, so I can't provide any more details.)
Back at the visitor's area, there's still a lot to do and see. The
Information Center, in addition to providing information, contains a display
area dealing with the shuttle and how it works. There are free 30-minute
guided tours of this area. This building also houses two theaters, one
showing NASA films and videotapes (of the sort the Astronomy and Space Club
in Holmdel shows regularly), the other having 45-minute live demonstrations
of aerospace concepts. For example, in order to demonstrate how liquid
oxygen takes up so much less room than gaseous oxygen, the demonstrator
placed an inflated balloon into liquid nitrogen to liquefy the air inside.
The balloon promptly shrinks down practically to its uninflated size, only
to return to its inflated state when removed. She also demonstrated how the
tiles on the orbiter shed heat very quickly.
The Gallery of Spaceflight is a museum containing objects covering the
history of the space program (from the Mercury flights on). There are
capsules (sorry, spacecraft), suits, a moon rock, a mock-up of the Mars
Lander, etc. Short videotapes augment the exhibits. For example, next to
the exhibit of "space food" there is a tape running showing astronauts
eating in space.
There is also a "Rocket Garden," an outside exhibit area showing
various rockets used throughout the space program. All are well-labeled (as
is almost everything at the Center--the only lack was that they didn't
identify *which* Mercury spacecraft was on display). In addition to the
rockets, there were antennae, a LEM mock-up, and an access arm. (A much
smaller version of this existed seven years ago.)
The IMAX presentation was HAIL, COLUMBIA!, a documentary on the first
shuttle flight. Again, lack of time kept us from seeing this. (I forget
the exact cost--I think it was about $3.)
Service buildings include a cafeteria (reasonably priced) and a
restaurant (which we didn't try). The restaurant also had an outside
beverage and ice cream stand. You won't starve at the Center. (And, no, I
didn't see any Tang offered.)
The Gift Gantry is perhaps the best example of how the public's
attitude toward the space program has changed over the last seven years.
Seven years ago, the gift shop was a room about 10' by 20' which sold
primarily medallions and patches for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo
flights. Oh, there were a few coffee mugs and souvenir spoons, and of
course some postcards, but that was about it. Now the Gift Gantry (how cute
can you get!) is a building unto itself, with the store part occupying an
area approximately 40' by 80'. (That's sixteen times as large, for non-
mathematicians out there.) You can get clothes (dozens of different t-
shirts, shorts, hats, jackets, dresses), jewelry, household goods (cups,
glasses, spoons, towels, placemats, napkins), toys (models to put together,
models already put together, puzzles), office supplies (pens, pencils,
stationary, postcards, rulers, pencil sharpeners)--well, you get the idea.
This gift shop (and the charges for the bus tours and the IMAX theater)
cover all costs of the Visitor's Center--nothing comes out of tax money.
The Kennedy Space Center is well worth the time it takes. We had only
about five and a half hours there; it wasn't enough. The Center opens early
(8:15?) and tours run until 5PM (so the center must be open until 7PM).
Count on spending the whole day. It's about a 90-minute drive from
Disneyworld and beats heck out of spending yet another day on roller
coasters. (When my ex-officemate told me he was taking his kids to
Florida/Disneyworld for a week, I told him he really should take a day to
see the Kennedy Space Center. He didn't sound too keen on the idea, but he
did it anyway, and came back saying it was the best day they had in
Florida.)
By the way, if you're not going to Florida, but are going to the
Baltimore/Washington D.C. area, you might stop by the Godard Space Center in
Maryland (just north of D.C., if I recall correctly). It's not Canaveral,
but it's not bad.
Evelyn C. Leeper
...ihnp4!hocsj!ecl