Down Under

From  Down Under- Looking up to a replica of the Shuttle fuel tank and rockets

3/11 Photograph From Down Under

Looking Up / Toward the Sky / Australian?

Today we played tourists and went over to visit the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral. It was neat to revisit history and then to see it though my son's eyes who didn't live through it.  This is a picture looking up to a replica of the rockets and fuel tank that was used for the the shuttles. Seeing the shuttle Atlantis up close was awesome and worth the visit.  As my son said, "It's cool to think that we are looking at something that has been in space." I used my 50mm lens which is a fixed length lens (no zooming in) and is good for low light situations. It worked out well in the display areas. No flash used today. 

The first part of the NASA tour seems like it's has an amusement park atmosphere, but we went directly to the buses to take the tour of the complex. The buses leave every 10 minutes and you are taken by the building where the rockets are set up and then by the launching pads. There is a video on the bus which the driver turns off and then gives information about the Space Center. It was well done. There is a drop off at the Saturn Rocket display where you go through 2 rooms with films about the history of the rocket program. Then you end up in a large area where there is a Saturn Rocket. And of course, anything you do, you leave through the souvenior shop.

After the Saturn Rocket, we got back on the bus to go back to the Kennedy Space Center and went
to the Atlantis exhibit. Once again, it started with two rooms of movies, the first was the history of the shuttle program and the second was about the shuttle flights. I thought that all of the movies were done well with a lot of information. The shuttle itself was exhibited well enough side exhibits to spread out the people. We did not do any of the IMAX movies and I know we didn't see everything, but it was enough for an afternoon. 

It was a beautiful day to play tourist and we ended with dinner at the Canaveral Port where we sat outside. We did stop by the Cocoa Beach Pier where once again, we did not go out to the end of the pier. The last time we were there, you didn't have to pay after 6 PM and tonight the attendant tells us that he is there till 8 PM now so you have to pay because it's high season. Not sure why you have to pay to go on a fishing pier or to go to a bar. The evening ended with a walk to my Aunt and Uncle's for a cocktail and visit. Another good day in Florida. 

(Frames from  The CoffeeShop blog)