My Trip To KSC

[Astrosag]

Man, simply amazing. Though a bus tour (it was the more detaield one where we get to see the VAB up close and the pads a bit more up close). It was one of the most amazing tours I have taken...being an astronomy and space exploration fanatic!<br /><br />We met Astronaut Charlie Walker who did a talk...we saw the SRB stacks being rolled out...segment by segment and we saw what looked like tests on one of the crawlers..they were moving it back and forth just outside of the VAB. Of course we saw KSC's residents guest..the gators....saw 4 of them. Coming from California, we don't seem them at all. Anyways, just thought i'd let some know...KSC is SPECTACULAR...I wouldn't mind living there...hahaha. Really pumped me up for the upcoming flight, my studies, and dreams...sounds pathetic but it was simply amazing!

 

[CalliArcale]

Oh sure, gloat about it! <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /><br /><br />Seriously, please do! I'm not likely to get to KSC in the forseeable future, so I've gotta live vicariously through those who do! That doesn't sound pathetic at all -- in fact, it sounds like a blast (no pun intended). What a fun trip! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[mattblack]

It's in NO way pathetic. Bless you! Tell us, the envious. I'm envious, but I'm hoping to return to KSC in 2007 after a too-long gap of 11 years. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p>One Percent of Federal Funding For Space: America <strong><em><u>CAN</u></em></strong> Afford it!!  LEO is a <strong><em>Prison</em></strong> -- It's time for a <em><strong>JAILBREAK</strong></em>!!</p> </div>

 

[mikejz]

I remember the tour abou 8 or 9 years ago. I was not impressed at all to be honest, I remember the Saturn V display were the rebuild the firning room, but the fake blastoff rattle was really corny.<br /><br />Air & Space by Dullas was so much better. Jerry Linenger was standing next to me at a display and I did not notice him until he took at a piece of Mir hardware and said to his son 'I remember using that' That caught my attention.

 

[tomnackid]

If seeing the VAB up close doesn't make your jaw drop then you must be dead! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> (And I have lived in NYC so I'm no stranger to big buildings!)

 

[CalliArcale]

You met Linneger? COOL!!!!<br /><br />I'm very jealous!<br /><br />I did get to meet Eileen Collins once. That was very neat. Only astronaut I've ever met. But my grandpa was college roommates with Deke Slayton. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> (Alas, I never met him.)<br /><br />I desperately want to see the new NASM building out at Dulles. I haven't been to DC since, oh, I think it was '96. The Smithsonian is without a doubt the single best reason to visit Washington, DC, and the National Air & Space Museum is the best part of it. Okay, the monuments are cool, but the Smithsonian is truly a magnificent set of museums.<br /><br />I love aerospace museums of all kinds. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[mikkelrj]

It makes perfectly sense, i hope i get to see the KSC someday too. Just watching a launch on TV makes my knee soft and reminds me of why the hell i spend all my time in the physics books. I have no doubt, in the end, its all worth it..

 

[mikejz]

Actually, I did not 'meet' him. We simply next to each other as we were both going though the displays. He was there with his son, so I did not feel it right to actually introduce myself or anything of the sort. Also no one seemed to recongnize him, and he seemed to want it that way.

 

[rocketwatcher2001]

I understand completely. I loved the KSC experiance so much I moved down here. I live near the corner of COLUMBIA and GRISSOM. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> There is something neat about driving to the store to get a gallon of milk in the morning and looking across the Indian River at the VAB and launch pads. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[dragon04]

I'd love to go back to KSC. I got to see a ton of space history, the VAB (you just can't grasp the scale of this thing without seeing it in person), and an armadillo. That was 1980. I am SOOO due. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[SpaceKiwi]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>... I'm hoping to return to KSC in 2007 after a too-long gap of 11 years.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />I'm available to carry bags, I'm sure. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[ascan1984]

Do you have any photographs?

 

[jamie_young]

Was just going to ask the same thing! Photos would be great and did you go into an OPF?

 

[seaborn]

Yes it is a very interesting place. Did you notice the wall painting of the ISS in the VAB. It has a US space vehicle docked to it that is of the same design as the Crichton's test vehicle in Farscape. I asked the tour guide and she said that it was a Nasa program that was cut by the Bush administration. It was supposed to be a means of returning to earth in an emergency.<br /><br />http://thesfzone.free.fr/Thesfzone/Farscape/Photo/presentation1.jpg

 

[bpcooper]

You can no longer tour the VAB like the old days (and I don't believe the OPFs were ever on the tour). <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>-Ben</p> </div>

 

[nacnud]

<font color="yellow">...same design as the Crichton's test vehicle in Farscape...<br /><br /><font color="white">Sounds like the X-38<br /></font></font>

 

[mariecurie]

I hope you won't think it too "fluffy" if I just add that this vehicle resembles a cross between a wooden shoe and a Dutch maids cap....<br /><br />Well, it does!<br /><br />If ya'll ever make it up my way, the tour of Fermi Lab is pretty amazin'! <br />Not the same thing, though, obviously.<br /><br />Carry on.<br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[bpcooper]

Shuttle Guy, thanks. Was that the annual KSC open house, or another day special to employees? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>-Ben</p> </div>

 

[lampblack]

<font color="yellow">I did get to meet Eileen Collins once. </font><br /><br />She is NASA's Capt. Kathryn Janeway. If I were 20 years younger and single, I'd volunteer to become her love slave. How *fantastic* that you got to meet her!<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>