When I was in high school (Good God, that was a long time ago!), I thought it would be neat to work in the SPACE INDUSTRY. After seeing the first man WALK ON THE MOON when I was in elementary school, I then always felt a sense of wonder and excitement about "SPACE" and the possibilities of new discoveries. So it's kinda like FOREVER since I've wanted to see a "SHUTTLE LIFTOFF" in person.
NASA stopped sending up SHUTTLES in 2011. At the moment it's only "ROCKETS" that are sent out into space, so I adjusted my BUCKET LIST to see a "ROCKET LIFTOFF".
A few years ago, my friend Merry and I traveled to NASA's SPACE CENTER in WALLOPS, MD to see one, but it was cancelled and not rescheduled for that weekend. DARN IT! (We had fun anyway of course......)
I'm physically more MOBILE this year, and have BIG PLANS to check off some items on my BUCKET LIST.
I made plans in early February to travel to Florida later in the month so I MADE IT HAPPEN to coordinate my trip with the date of a ROCKET LIFTOFF from CAPE CANAVERAL during my stay. YIPPPEEE!!!
Naturally we decided to spend the morning touring THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER and then head over to the viewing area at 3:00 for the LIFTOFF scheduled for 5:02.
They have a tribute to ATLANTIS (1985) - our second-to-last SPACE SHUTTLE built. It's 33rd and FINAL MISSION was NASA'S LAST SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION (2011).
We took a "BEHIND THE SCENES TOUR", which I highly recommend. It takes you into NASA-SECURED areas on CAPE CANAVERAL.
These 2 buildings are where ROCKETS are assembled.
ELON MUSK is very interested in the SPACE INDUSTRY and is building a company, SPACEX, whose building is on CAPE CANAVERAL. He plans to send a ROCKET TO MARS within the next 2 years. Did you hear about the one he sent up in early February with a RED TESLA at the helm? It will be in orbit for hundreds of millions of years. AMAZING!!
In the background you can see the actual LANDING PAD that houses the ROCKET/SHUTTLE that sent our men to the MOON. ELON MUSK is now leasing this LAUNCH PAD for his own ROCKETS.
The launch pad framework that surrounds a ROCKET is being constructed. Compare it's size to the dumpsters below the construction.
It's hard to get a feel for how big this building is, which houses ROCKETS being built. They provide some stats in the 2nd photo to give you some perspective.
A road leading up to a LAUNCH PAD. The 2 gravel paths to the left are used to move the ROCKET on a TRANSPORTER to the LAUNCH PAD. The left wheel of the TRANSPORTER is on the left gravel path and the right wheel is on the right gravel path. The TRANSPORTERS are THAT wide.
WALT DISNEY was passionate about the SPACE INDUSTRY. When he was alive, he donated to NASA the bushes in this picture, which they have sculpted into spelling NASA.
Our next stop was the SATURN V building with a duplicate SATURN V ROCKET (1967-1973) hanging from the ceiling. It's ENORMOUS!!
These CONTROL PANELS, set up near the building entrance, are the actual CONTROL PANELS men worked at when we sent our men to the MOON.
Time to board the bus that will take us to the PRIVATE VIEWING AREA for the 5:02 LAUNCH!! We were sitting just under 2.5 miles from the LAUNCH PAD.
There it is. Right in the middle of the photo. With 2 tall lightning rods on either side of the ROCKET.
And for your VIEWING PLEASURE, 2 videos that I took, so that you can imagine being there in person yourself. Note that there was a 30-40 second delay in the audio for security reasons.
What may sound like WIND, was actually the sound of the LIFTOFF breaking the sound barrier.
THIS experience was a real THRILL for me!
One more item on my list of "60 THINGS TO DO AND SEE IN MY 60's" - CHECK!!
JOAN
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