To Go Where No Public Tour Has Gone Before

WARNING!! This post is extremely picture heavy. So, unless you are genuinely interested in what Shawn and I toured at NASA all day Saturday, you may wish to put on your skimming eyes and peruse ahead.

Shawn received an award at NASA last week for his hard work in Main Propulsion. It has been a while since he has worked on the particular issue for which he was given the award, but the wait was well worth it! Hearing about everyone else's accomplishments and Shawn's made me realize even more just how much goes into the Space Program.

As part of the award, Shawn and one guest (me) got to be VIP tourists at NASA at KSC in Florida. This is the first time Shawn and I have left the kids. I was scared at first. But with the good friends we have here, I knew they were in good hands. So, off we went. We drove for 6 hours Thursday and Friday each to get there. NASA booked us at the Gaylord Hotel. This place is massive!! (The $30 Motel we stayed in between Thursday and Friday was like a toothpick to this place!!) My favorite part about it was the Atrium. I would have spent the entire weekend in there given the chance. But, we had a lot more to do.

Friday after we checked in we had the evening free to do what ever we wanted. That is when we went to Downtown Disney to see Cirque du Soleile, and eat at an Irish Pub. It was a new experience not having three hands to hold and three little heads to keep track of. (I am sure Shawn grew tired of me mentioning them every ten minutes!!) I left my camera at the hotel for this outing. Just Shawn, me and the evening!

The next day we were off to an early start, boarding our bus for KSC at 7am. We were off for a VIP tour where they typically don't take public tourists. (Already sounding very exciting to us Space Geeks!!) First stop, Mission Control.

On to the Space Center museum where, although we saw many familiar views from the other Space Center tours we have been on in Huntsville and Houston, there were some new sites for us to enjoy.

The Saturn V engines are always fun to see. They are HUGE!! First prize around the corner from there though was Al Shepard's Corvette. That would be fun to take for a spin!!

I loved the displays of the Apollo Mission Patches hanging from the ceiling as well.

Capturing a few of our favorites as we walked along, we caught site of Apollo 11 (First Moon Walk), Apollo 13 (The successful failure) and Apollo 17 (not viewed here, but I like that one because they sent a geologist up instead of just two Pilots).

Another fun thing about the mission patches, even today, is that the Astronauts design their own.

Anyone for a large cooked pretzel?? We enjoyed ours at about 2am Sunday morning while waiting for the launch.

The Astronaut Van is a fun thing to see. All this vintage stuff that was state of the art back in the day!

I am so glad I was on the outside looking in to the next couple items. I am claustrophobic and would not last half a day in these things!!!

A Korean News broadcast clip caught Shawn's eye as we past through the media corner there.

Because of the "successful failure" of Apollo XIII's mission outcome, they made a unique plaque and presented it to NASA.

Some conceptual Astronaut suits were also on display. (I think some people were thinking Sci-Fi when they designed them!! Look at the shiny robot suit.... do you think anyone could have moved very easily on the moon in that??)

Back on the bus, we headed out to the launch pad itself! On our way we got to see the tower they are building in preparation to launch the Ares Rocket.... that is if Congress votes in favor of the Constellation program.

The Vertical Assembly Building (VAB) is the 2nd largest building (in volume) in the world. This building is amazing!!

Okay, being the cheesy tourists we felt like that day, we had to capture a picture of ourselves on the bus. Don't we look cute??

The Crawler was an interesting piece of machinery to drive by. Used to transport the shuttle out to the launch pad, this thing is so massive!!!

In the distance we saw our destination.... where no public tour has gone before.... the Space Shuttle Endeavor, on the launchpad, ready for launch!!

The sun was well hidden most of the time. But it seemed each time we wanted to take a picture of me, it came out to say hello.... along with the wind. Doesn't my hair look lovely in these pics???

Seeing the shuttle up this close was a mind-blowing experience. It was huge! And the containers of liquid Oxygen and liquid Hydrogen were so close. (Yes, I know, really exciting to all of you. But seriously, I am intrigued by this!!)

The outstretched picture with the Shuttle includes the fuel tanks that release the liquid fuels into the tank when it is time.

After awwing and ooooing over teh Space Shuttle we went back for Group Shots at the VAB. This time we got to get out of the bus.

That tiny tower standing next to the VAB is the same Ares Tower we saw previously.

While on the bus we were satisfied to see a few Gators soaking in the sun on such a cool breezey day.

Then we moved onward to the biggest washer and dryer in the world. (No joke. These were massive. I just might consider these as an add-on some day!! Imagine!! Getting the entire household's wardrobes clean in one day!!) They were built specifically for the enormous and sensitive parachutes for the Shuttle (and now the Ares rockets). First we got to see the machine that tests the nylon material with more than 15,000lbs. of force before it snapped in half.

Then, a housewife's dream-come-true.... or not... the washer and dryer. They don't look like your typical Whirlpool. More like a damp hallway with lots of hooks hanging from the ceiling. Kind of freaky actually!

Finally we got to see the chutes. Like I keep saying. Massive!

Now THIS is a sewing machine!! That thread was thicker than embroidery floss. And the needles they had sitting out for the handsewing!! As long as pencils.

The colorful red-white-and-blue chute is for the Ares rocket.

Before boarding the buses again we passed by the case that ONE chute was packed in.... I would hate to carry one of those on my back!!

One more stop at KSC for some fun on the flight simulator ride, a tour of the Orbiter, some lunch and an interesting constellation globe that is held up by water.

Each tile on the Orbiter is individually numbered and identified. That's a lot of tiles!!