HO-HO-HOLY GRINCHMAS...10 JOLLY HOLIDAY NIGHTS AT RPR..NOV/DEC 2018

[schumigirl]

I am excited to read this part of your trip! We have never been to KSC. The first part of the day looks awesome! Glad to see you get to go back next December. Will Kyle go along with you then too?

We loved this day!! Genuinely one of our best days ever........KSC is just amazing........I’m only sorry my pictures and written description just won’t do it the justice it really deserves.......I’ve had to edit and cut back already as I could write for hours on minute details........but I won’t....lol......

Yes, we got flights booked at the weekend and yep, Kyle is coming back again.......well, he put his vacation request in today......shouldn’t be an issue hopefully....can’t see there being a rush for that time of year......

Glad to still have you reading along.......

 

[AprilDreamsOfDisney]

Looks like another great family outing and I'm so glad Kyle woke up feeling better this day. What a disappointment it would have been to have had to miss it.
I've never travelled to this area, Carole, but you make it all look and sound so appealing! I am beginning to feel like I need to do a long Universal trip with a rented car so I can do more than just the Theme Park "bubble". Your trip reports really help me to see how much more Florida has to offer other than just rides and "characters"!

 

[schumigirl]

Looks like another great family outing and I'm so glad Kyle woke up feeling better this day. What a disappointment it would have been to have had to miss it.
I've never travelled to this area, Carole, but you make it all look and sound so appealing! I am beginning to feel like I need to do a long Universal trip with a rented car so I can do more than just the Theme Park "bubble". Your trip reports really help me to see how much more Florida has to offer other than just rides and "characters"!

Thanks so much!

Yes, we all would have been so upset if we had missed going here this year.......it was a long awaited visit!

There really is so much to do outside of the parks and immediate areas.......we love getting around and going to places out with the tourist area....like Mount Dora, going to places like Yellow a Dog Eats.....it’s never ending where you can go.....and so many are well within a day trip, or even a couple of hours.

We didn’t get to St Augustine this trip, but it’s a real highlight of a place to visit and plan a day there in March....so beautiful. But, many places are much closer.

We still love the Universal parks, and enjoy our resort time......but yes, I’m sure you would love having the car and get around a bit........if ever you need suggestions.......will be happy to help........

 

[KathyM2]

Maybe try and build up a little.......do you do any rides that are “slightly thrilling”?

I took the chicken exit on 7 dwarfs mine train lol. Does that answer your question lol? But I like the slow atmospheric rides and at WDW and Universal there are enough of those to keep me happy. A lot of theme parks really have nothing in between rides for preschoolers and hulk level coasters so that's why I love Orlando so much!!

But, we honestly never get bored here, and although we don't spend all day every day in the parks, we do spend a lot of time riding and reriding and just enjoying the whole atmosphere of the parks.....and if some don't get or understand that......who cares!!!! We love it...….

Why do people who aren't happy with their decision question people who are obviously there because they want to be?? Doesn't make sense at all. I guess theme parking and touristing aren't for everyone, but I think I could stay in the Orlando area for months or even years and not get bored.

Can`t help but think this gingerbread man is a little...…..well, kinda creepy......

Quite creepy!!

It is a fabulous place and amazing sight to see.

I loved KSC when I went years ago when my kids were smaller. I think it's time for a repeat visit.

 

[schumigirl]

I took the chicken exit on 7 dwarfs mine train lol. Does that answer your question lol? But I like the slow atmospheric rides and at WDW and Universal there are enough of those to keep me happy. A lot of theme parks really have nothing in between rides for preschoolers and hulk level coasters so that's why I love Orlando so much!!



Why do people who aren't happy with their decision question people who are obviously there because they want to be?? Doesn't make sense at all. I guess theme parking and touristing aren't for everyone, but I think I could stay in the Orlando area for months or even years and not get bored.



Quite creepy!!



I loved KSC when I went years ago when my kids were smaller. I think it's time for a repeat visit.

Lol........ah ok.......gotcha!!! So no Hulk ride for you then........

Yes,there is still loads to do in the parks......definitely something for everyone........us too, we never get bored there and love every second we’re there.......and the heat helps too of course.......

You would love KSC now!!! One of the employees there told us of the additions and changes over the last few years.......so you would have so much more to see.......we can’t wait to go back........although won’t go back until December when Kyle is with us...don’t think he’d forgive us if we went without him lol........

Can’t be long till your February trip coming up........you’ll be so looking forward to it......have to say I admire anyone who can “run” anything or anywhere.........it’s a lot of work to put in!!!

 

[schumigirl]

We came out of the Heroes and Legends exhibition very awestruck and fully overwhelmed with pride already.....to see what those men and women achieved was incredibly moving and we had already learned some things we didn't know. It`s funny, I expected to just enjoy the day, I didn't really think about how much we would learn from every area we visited...…

The first one to really catch our eye was the Saturn 1B which is undergoing extensive renovations...…It launched Apollo 7 which was the first crewed mission of the Apollo Program. It was also used for tests of various things before the Apollo missions, before the Saturn V rocket was available. In 1973 it launched three missions to the Skylab space station.

On January 27th, 1967 on Launch pad 34, three astronauts died in a fire in a rehearsal for a planned Apollo 1 launch on February 21st of the same year. This was due to be the first manned launch in the moon landing program. The men who perished were Gus Grissom who was the 2nd American into space, Roger Chaffee and Edward White. So this rocket for us was a very emotional thing to see knowing the history of it.

The final mission using a Saturn 1B was the Apollo/Soyuz Test Project in July 1975 which docked a NASA spacecraft with a Soviet Soyuz 19 spacecraft. The experiments conducted and the docking training was all used in the future for Mir and the International Space Station. It also ended NASA`S manned space programme until the introduction of the Space Shuttle in 1981.

Although it is being restored, you can still see how impressive it is and the work is being carried out with eyes of the public being able to follow everything they are doing......the engineers on site were happy to answer any questions if you got the chance to speak to one of them.

This one spans the length of the rocket garden and is being completely renovated inside and outside. This was the smaller and less powerful predecessor to Saturn V that we were looking forward to seeing later.

There are some plexiglas windows so the public can watch some of the restorations take place while the engineers are working through 16 months of work to repair and fortify the booster among other things.

The work will include temporarily separating the rocket into its stages to access its interior structures. And of course many more interesting (to us) but very technical details...….

While much of the work will be done where the public can watch, some of the restoration will require moving parts to specialized facilities.

According to the engineers onsite, they said work should all be completed by October this year which rather ironically is almost the anniversary of 51 years since the Apollo 7 mission. So, happily by the time we go back next year we should be able to see it completely restored and resplendent once again.

The other rockets there to see are the Mercury Redstone, famous for putting the 1st and 2nd American astronauts into space, and rather weirdly, Ham the Chimpanzee into Orbit in I believe 1961....and he made it back!!!

Mercury Atlas was known for John Glenn the first American to make this orbital journey when he was launched into space on February 20th, 1962 aboard Friendship 7. He orbited the earth 3 times in just under 4 hours. I can`t even imagine that and how he must have felt...…

Juno 1 and Juno 2. Juno launched America`s first satellite into orbit and Juno 2 was sent to the moon in 1959 to capture images, but although it did actually fly too far from the moon it did manage to capture info on objects in space and radiation too.

Gemini Titan II was an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile that was supposed to impart nuclear weapons across the sea. However, this was never used in this way, but, its reliability made it the obvious choice to launch future Gemini missions.

Atlas Agena launched so many missions that captured thousands of images of the moon, including when we did land on the moon with Apollo 11.

And the Delta. This was never used for any human missions but it launched the Mylar balloon into orbit which enabled the first television signal to cross the globe which in turn led to huge advancements in communications systems.

This year KSC is taking collection of the Delta II. This next info taken from directly from their website...…

A Delta II rocket launched NASA’s Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity and the Phoenix Mars lander. It also launched many GPS missions for the United States Air Force. With more than 150 launches in its history, this is only a snapshot of the successes the rocket as enabled.

So we will look forward to seeing this one too!!! First addition to the rocket garden in years.

This capsule was so small to sit in….and not very comfortable...….but they managed it...….you just couldn't imagine going anywhere in it.....especially not thousands of feet up into orbit!!

While they still wandered around I went over into the shade.....we had no sunscreen on and it was getting very hot now.....and I wanted to send off an email and picture to my brother in law who I knew would like to see some pictures I had taken on my ipad…...so I sat in the shade for 10 minutes or so.....and sent the email and images...…..it was lovely and peaceful and Kyle and Tom were a joy to watch as they interacted with this place and it`s employees.

You can take an audio tour of the Rocket Garden and have a guide take you round and explain what they all did....and he sounded very good actually......and not boring which my writing up of this might be.....lol.....I am a bit geeky at times......but he was full of amazing information and imparted it in a very affectionate way.

They found me after having an extensive conversation with some of the working engineers.....and Kyle was glowing already...….and we still had the main features to see yet.

We were heading to see the Space Shuttle and of course on the way there are plenty of things to draw and delight you......and the fact it was a beautiful day helped immensely...….the heat was surely building by now and we were so glad to feel the warmth of the sun on us....so different from yesterday...….

This was the most amount of people we saw all day...….

We didn't opt to do the Astronaut training experience, it might be something Kyle would want to do next time.....we heard only good things about it.....actually we didn't and have never heard a single bad thing about anything to do with KSC.

We all had already decided one day wasn't enough and were already planning to come back another day. Not this trip unfortunately, but next time Kyle was with us.

This space capsule was on show to educate the evolution of space capsules and how far we have come.

This Imax experience we missed out today, but again Tom and Kyle will do it next time. I don't think I`ll do any of them again as it just affected my equilibrium too much and made me feel a little off while it was running....but they would enjoy them...….

Kyle`s eye was caught by so many things including this...which I have to admit, I have no clue what it is.....he is at work or I`m sure he would tell me...….but it sat outside the gift store which was large and had a huge amount of merchandise.

Next up was The Space Shuttle Atlantis...….we were so darn excited for this!!!!

​

 

[bobbie68]

Hi glad that Kyle felt better for KSC. It is such a bummer to get sick on vacation. We have not been to KSC yet but plan on it soon. Many years ago I won a sweepstakes that included KSC tour and lunch with an astronaut. The tickets are set to expire in 2020 so I think we will do this. I love the rocket garden, it is amazing.

Glad that it turned out everything you hoped it would be. It's so nice to see your child smiling and enjoying themselves no matter how old they are.

It is interesting you mentioned Mt.Dora that was one of my places to look at for moving but it was a little to far out for us for commuting. I will still check it out one time. I have made a list about 10 places down there we area going to look at this summer for living. I am excited to see them.

I love your food pics. Everything just looks so good and my restaurant list is growning LOL!!

Look forward to the rest of the report!

 

[schumigirl]

Hi glad that Kyle felt better for KSC. It is such a bummer to get sick on vacation. We have not been to KSC yet but plan on it soon. Many years ago I won a sweepstakes that included KSC tour and lunch with an astronaut. The tickets are set to expire in 2020 so I think we will do this. I love the rocket garden, it is amazing.

Glad that it turned out everything you hoped it would be. It's so nice to see your child smiling and enjoying themselves no matter how old they are.

It is interesting you mentioned Mt.Dora that was one of my places to look at for moving but it was a little to far out for us for commuting. I will still check it out one time. I have made a list about 10 places down there we area going to look at this summer for living. I am excited to see them.

I love your food pics. Everything just looks so good and my restaurant list is growning LOL!!

Look forward to the rest of the report!

Thanks bobbie……

Oh you should take advantage of those...I`m sure you would love it....what a lovely thing to win!!!

Yes, we did have a fabulous day and we were so happy he did make this over anything else as we were all looking forward to it so much.

Mount Dora is gorgeous.....we`ve visited it three or four times in past trips now....we could happily live there because it`s slightly further out.....only around 30 minutes back to Universal area. But, I can see it could be a commute for a lot of people.

Yep, we do love our food.….we missed a few places this past trip but come our March trip I`m sure they`ll be back in rotation...……

 

[JaxDad]

This capsule was so small to sit in….and not very comfortable...….but they managed it...….you just couldn't imagine going anywhere in it.....especially not thousands of feet up into orbit!!

Plus you would have to imagine a lot more control panels and stuff in the capsule taking up even more room AND having to wear a very bulky space suit! Crazy!

We're planning a KSC trip soon. I have not been in a while. I was fortunate to view a shuttle take-off there in the late 90's. It was pretty awesome!

Great, great report @schumigirl!

 

[JaxDad]

Kyle`s eye was caught by so many things including this...which I have to admit, I have no clue what it is.....he is at work or I`m sure he would tell me...….but it sat outside the gift store which was large and had a huge amount of merchandise.

I'm pretty sure that is a replica of a Martian Rover--Opportunity I think.

 

[schumigirl]

Plus you would have to imagine a lot more control panels and stuff in the capsule taking up even more room AND having to wear a very bulky space suit! Crazy!

We're planning a KSC trip soon. I have not been in a while. I was fortunate to view a shuttle take-off there in the late 90's. It was pretty awesome!

Great, great report @schumigirl!

I'm pretty sure that is a replica of a Martian Rover--Opportunity I think.

I had it in my head it was a Martian something or other.....lol......

Yes, we marvelled the whole day how you couldn’t even be the tiniest bit claustrophobic to begin with but add in the suits, helmets and everything else......wow!

You definitely need to go back soon....it is beyond fabulous! I am very jealous.......Would have loved to have seen a space shuttle take off........

And thank you......I’m so glad you’re enjoying reading along........

 

[angryduck71]

I really need to take Davy to KSC! I'm so glad the illness that I know is coming held off some for this day!

 

[KathyM2]

Looks like you guys really got your money's worth at KSC!! It looks like there is so much more to it than I remember, maybe some of it is what's new in recent years like you said. Looked like a lovely day too, and so glad Kyle was feeling better.

 

[schumigirl]

I really need to take Davy to KSC! I'm so glad the illness that I know is coming held off some for this day!

I thought about you and Davy a lot while we were there.....I know you would both love it!!! You need to add it in next time you go back.....Although you’ll struggle to get Davy to leave the place.......lol.....there is more to see than what we did so of course......any excuse to go back!! Not that we need one.....truly amazing and awe inspiring place.

Yes, glad it held off and he got to enjoy today before the dreaded lergy hit!!!

 

[schumigirl]

Looks like you guys really got your money's worth at KSC!! It looks like there is so much more to it than I remember, maybe some of it is what's new in recent years like you said. Looked like a lovely day too, and so glad Kyle was feeling better.

Oh we really did.

We all said, really they could charge five times the cost and it would still be worth it to spend a day there......it really was one of the best days we had and yep, the weather was so beautiful......it would have been miserable if we had gone the day before with how cold and windy it was.

Thank you, yes, we were so pleased he was ok today

 

[acndis]

So glad you had a wonderful time at KSC. We went a couple of years ago and were amazed! It was wonderful and we did not have nearly enough time. We loved everything we saw. We did the lunch with an astronaut and thought it was just terrific. Kyle and Tom might enjoy it. The lunch was not bad, either and of course, we were blown away by Atlantis. Can't wait to read your review.

 

[schumigirl]

So glad you had a wonderful time at KSC. We went a couple of years ago and were amazed! It was wonderful and we did not have nearly enough time. We loved everything we saw. We did the lunch with an astronaut and thought it was just terrific. Kyle and Tom might enjoy it. The lunch was not bad, either and of course, we were blown away by Atlantis. Can't wait to read your review.

Thanks so much.....

We did think of doing the lunch next time......we’d all love that....all three of us are (were)engineers by trade (all different types of engineering) so anything like that is beyond fascinating to us.......yes, the food wouldn’t be too important it would absolutely be for the experience, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it.....and yes, there just doesn’t seem to be enough time to do it all......

Atlantis absolutely blew us away!!! Review coming up soon..........

 

[Spike101]

Phew! Just spent all morning reading this TR Carole, very entertaining and its given me hope that I may be able to summon up the courage somehow to go on The Hulk, maybe not RRR though!

 

[schumigirl]

We headed up to what was the most anticipated part of the day...…

The Space Shuttle Atlantis.

Before you enter the complex and see the real space shuttle, you are overwhelmingly welcomed by a full-size, upright, replica shuttle and two rocket boosters.

The 184-foot-tall exhibit does give you a sense of the enormous size and power used to thrust the shuttle into space before we see the genuine Atlantis Shuttle.

This shuttle was the final shuttle to be used in the space program and landed at KSC for the final time on July 21 2011. After this it would go on permanent display at KSC and helps tell the amazing story of the Space Shuttle`s 30 year program.

For this final display planned in the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, they shrink wrapped, lifted and then in Nov 2012, they slowly and I would imagine incredibly carefully tilted the 152,700-pound spacecraft at such an angle that had only been previously seen like this when it was in space. This was finally opened to the public in June 2013.

Enterprise was the first test space shuttle. It never made it to space and wasn't even capable of spaceflight. It was built without engines or a heat shield. However, it gave massive contributions to the shuttle program as a test vehicle and helped make everyone sit up and take notice of this very new project. You can of course see it now on Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum on the Hudson River.

The Space Shuttle Program began after many years of research and dedication in 1981 and the first Shuttle launched was Columbia. John Young and Robert Crippen were the two brave astronauts who made the inaugural flight into space and were gone for two days before returning and landing safely.

Challenger was the next one which unfortunately ended in a huge disaster when she exploded 73 seconds after lift off and killed everyone on board. This is the one I think I vividly recall the most. According to NASA later it wasn't officially classed as an explosion although that's what we all saw.

A seal in the shuttle’s rocket booster designed to prevent leaks from the fuel tank during liftoff weakened in the frigid temperatures and failed, and hot gas seeped through the leak. The fuel tank itself collapsed and was ripped apart, and the resulting flood of liquid oxygen and hydrogen created the huge fireball believed by many to be an explosion. I guess to me and many others it was still an explosion.

That tragedy then suspended the space shuttle program, and no shuttles were launched for nearly three years. This was an unusual launch as one of the astronauts was Christa McAuliffe, a teacher from New Hampshire. She was selected form over 10,000 applicants to take part in the NASA Teacher in Space Program and she won. She was supposed to be the first teacher in space. A true tragedy.

Discovery was the successor to Challenger in 1990 and is most famous probably for placing the Hubble Space Telescope into Orbit and this has given us amazing knowledge and understanding of the cosmos and will lead to so many leaps forward into the future research into Space and Beyond.

In 1995 Atlantis successfully docked at the Russian space station Mir, I remember that too as it was the start of a great collaboration between the two nations.

Columbia in 2003 was another immense tragedy for NASA and their astronauts. Columbia broke up as it returned to Earth, killing all seven astronauts on board. NASA immediately suspended space shuttle flights for more than two years as it investigated another huge disaster.

The long investigation team determined that a large piece of foam fell from the shuttle's external tank and breached the spacecraft wing. This was a known problem and NASA came under intense scrutiny politically and in the media for not doing enough to prevent this, and it probably was preventable.

So soon after Challenger which saw another catastrophic failure. The Columbia disaster directly led to the retirement of the space shuttle fleet in 2011.

Although this was a devastating time, the space shuttle was flying regularly again by 2006.

In 2008 Atlantis delivered the ESA`s Columbus laboratory to the International Space Station (ISS). And in 2010 it delivered the Cupola, a robotic control station with seven windows that provides the ISS crew with a 360-degree view. And today we certainly reap the benefits of all the efforts. The images we get from the ISS are truly spectacular. It is something we do try and catch as it flies over us in the UK...….you can track its path and where and when it will be visible anywhere in the world.

Atlantis was almost the hardest working of the fleet..... it flew so many missions bringing crews to space stations and equipment into orbit. It has flown to the Mir space station seven times, and will have flown to the ISS 11 times, and went 33 times into space.

It was the first shuttle to launch an interplanetary probe and the Magellan showed us images of Venus we would never have seen before. And in 1989 it launched Galileo to study Jupiter and managed to catch a comet impact with Jupiter too. It was also the last shuttle to visit and conduct repairs on Hubble.

So, seeing this exhibit was a massive experience for us who have followed all the advancements made into space flight and will continue to do so for many years. ​

Walking up the path towards we were so excited and Kyle said he felt a bit nervous...…we passed a couple of employees on the way up and they were so keen for us to enjoy the exhibit....they chatted briefly and asked if we had been before, and we said no this was our first time......and one of them said something I often to say to people who are experiencing Potter for the first time.....he said he wished he could see it again for the first time too.....you could see how much love and affection he had for the whole place and it was infectious. But, I understood exactly what he meant by this comment.

And of course every ride ends in the gift shop...…..lol.....

You go into a pre show of two shows where a giant screen shows a film on the origin and history of the Space Shuttle.....and it was incredibly interesting......in the first screening you can sit down....we missed the start and it is pitch black when you enter the huge room.....we managed to take little steps all the way over to the back wall to sit and we saw a few minutes of the first show.

You then go through and can see a giant screen and of course the very intense man was again desperate to be at the front......when I say there were around 10 people in the whole room, I`m not kidding

We stood slightly further back so we could see the whole scene from a slight distance...….It was loud and I have to say I had to grab onto Tom`s arm as it was incredibly realistic and I did feel as if I was falling over at times.

Kyle and Tom suspected there would be a huge reveal after this ended.....I had no idea......so when the screen very dramatically retreated to it`s full height......I was blown away by the sight that was before us...….

In all it`s resplendence and glory was this amazing and spectacular piece of American history.....this was why we were here and it was as wonderful as we expected it to be.

I`m not ashamed to admit I burst into tears, something I never expected to do in a million years......Kyle was speechless and just looked incredibly awestruck as he gazed at this magnificent machine that has and will shape our future history in so many ways.

The lady employee came over to me as Tom was snapping away and said not to worry, people get emotional all the time and gave me the biggest hug.…..I didn't feel such an idiot at that point. But seeing this and knowing what it had taken to get it into space in the first place, all the tragedy and hard work just overcame me a little. I think Kyle was feeling the same way, but of course not as emotional as his mum!!! He just looked totally wowed and then he came over to give me a hug too...….

That sense of pride never left us the whole day. Although we aren't Americans we still felt that tremendous pride in everything that had been achieved here......and even afterwards in getting it into this cavernous building for display was overpowering. I did like how it was displayed as if it was conducting a mission and not just in a regular stationary position......it is suspended 36 feet in the air but you feel as if you can just reach out and touch it, almost as if you are a part of it as it feels so close.

When I say we have hundreds of pictures today alone.....I`m not exaggerating. I have loads on my ipad too which are beautiful and one with Kyle in is now my home page. This must be the day we took the most pictures ever!!!

Seeing it at an almost 360 degree angle is unique as it would only be seen like that in space...…

We hadn't moved very far forward at this point...….we were still struck with the impact of being in the presence of such a phenomenal piece of history.

And of course the giant thrusters below are unbelievably huge up close...…..I`ve been advised the technical data for these should be left out..….lol......ok. But, impressive...….

Kyle filled me in here with all sorts of specifications and details from his vast knowledge on the subject.....and really he should write this up, I`m sure he`d do a better job than I as I was kind of rendered a little vague as I tried to take all of it in..…..his knowledge is impressive...…..and I did glance at him and think...….

​

Even as we wandered around other exhibits housed in the building you are always drawn back to the shuttle itself...….there are so many interactive displays to enjoy and I don't think we utilised even half of them.....touch screens to fill you with more detail than you could ever remember to visual displays to convey size and shape of things in space and beyond.

And of course you can pretend to be flying a shuttle yourself...….

Yes, I`m a geek too...…..

Further around the displays is a life sized replica of the Hubble Space Telescope. The education and knowledge we have received from this rather amazing piece of technology is never ending...….

The launch of this telescope which was a joint effort between the United States space program and the European Space Agency, Hubble orbits 340 miles above the earths surface.

It`s unique vantage point allows Hubble to collect information astronomical objects and phenomena more detailed than any ground based observatory.

There are too many things it has discovered to cover here in this little trip report but in 1994, Hubble stared at what was thought to be a vast deserted area of space for ten days. It found there were actually many galaxies there, but very faint and very far away. No other telescope could have seen such a place.

In 2004 it looked back billions of years to the earliest age and discovered the universe is 13.7 billion years old. Before Hubble we could only decipher it be anywhere between 10 and 20 billion years old.

It took the first picture of an extra solar planet outside our own solar system.

Hubble today is still relevant and still productive, but it`s replacement is even more impressive. It is the James Webb Space Telescope which is six times larger in area than Hubble and will be placed even further away from earth. James Webb was a NASA director and I believe he created the Apollo program, or at least one of them that put man on the moon. This is a truly amazing piece of technology to teach us even more of our creation, past and by logical conclusion our future too. The possibilities are endless and incredibly exciting going forward.

One of the school tours that were there followed us a little as we toured around this area of the facility. I have to say they were the most polite and well mannered children on a school visit I had ever seen....but, one little lad asked his teacher how long that man had to stay up there as he had been there since they came in...….lol...…his teacher winked at me and said he`d come down when he needed the bathroom...….the kid was happy with that answer......although the little lad and his group did keep peering surreptitiously up at the exhibit in case he moved suddenly.

Of course we had to go back around again and see it all again up close...…..this was where we stood back to wait for a group of children to finish what they were writing up about the Shuttle and when one young man aged around seven saw we were waiting to take a picture, he insisted they move to the side while we took pictures.....we said no it was fine, but they had moved to the side at that point. I was genuinely surprised to see a school group so well behaved and made sure I spoke to their teacher to let them know how lovely the children were.

Before we went to the lower level we took a close image of the underside of the shuttle and another from the rear of the exhibit...…..

Next up is the lower level of the display and lunch!!!!

 

[jacksdadcan]

Wow! I think we might have to a trip to KSC on the next itinerary... getting chills from your pics alone