Re: Trip Report Sep. 2 through Sep. 12 2007 Day 5
- From: Mark Adams <mark9117@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:00:39 -0600
Me, 40
Daughter Chris, 17
Son Alex, 11
Stepson Derek, 23 (first-timer)
Day 5 -- Thursday, Sep. 6, 2007
This morning we assessed the degree to which sport-type sunscreen washes off in seawater. It wasn't too bad. Chris seemed to have the worst of it. Her back was a wee bit sensitive.
At any rate, we loaded up and headed for NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC). I wasn't sure what to expect, but it was actually quite nice. We got in the front door of the Visitor Complex where we discovered that, probably owing to the fact that there is much less traffic, security at NASA's Visitor Complex is actually tighter than at international airports.
We looked around the Rocket Garden and some of the other exhibits until the tour started. We had a terrific tour guide whose name I can not remember, but she was good and had been a NASA fan since her father was a NASA employee during the Apollo era. The tour involved a lot of traveling out to the launch pads like 39 A and B and hearing about what launches take place where. You also get to drive by a lot of buildings like the Admin. bldg. the Vehicle Assembly Building, the building where pressure testing and astronauts are housed, tested and made ready. We also got to take a look into the Space Station Center where, among other things, modules for the ISS are built.
It was great fun for someone who has followed the space program pretty much their whole life. Derek was pretty interested and knew a little about some of the stuff there, but Christian could really care less. I was born in 1962. I remember at least hearing about the Mercury and Gemini programs. I watched the Apollo 11 moon landing. I watched the drama of Apollo 13 unfold. I recognize the names of Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, Wally Schirra, and Gordon Cooper. Ask my daughter who was the first man to set foot on the moon -- she has no clue.
We ate overpriced chili dogs and marveled at a restored Saturn V rocket. We purchased some really cool souvenirs and a lot of freeze-dried ice-cream.
Notable things I noted at NASA: There is a LOT of talk about "Back to the Moon and on to Mars!" It looks as if the future of the agency is hinging on those projects. There are also constant references to "Failure is not an option" (I bought the T-shirt!). That phrase is ubiquitous at KSC, yet nowhere is it associated with the name Gene Kranz. The phrase seems to have become NASA property.
To me this is kind of alarming. It seems NASA is back to flaunting its laurels ("We put a man on the moon." "Failure is not an option.") without holding onto the elemental truth that it wasn't a government bureaucracy that pulled this stuff off -- it was people. It was government bureaucracy that gave us the Challenger accident, but we heard more about Apollo 1 than the Challenger or Columbia.
--
Mark E. Adams, 2004 -- drop the "dot" to email me.
http://adamslan.shyper.com -*- Mandriva User# 263042
CONSIDER: ===========---------,,,,,,,,,............. . . . . .
An American is a man with two arms and four wheels.
-- A Chinese child
.
- References:
- Trip Report Sep. 2 through Sep. 12 2007
- From: Mark Adams
- Trip Report Sep. 2 through Sep. 12 2007
- Prev by Date: Re: Trip Report Sep. 2 through Sep. 12 2007 Day 4
- Next by Date: Re: Trip Report Sep. 2 through Sep. 12 2007 Day 6
- Previous by thread: Re: Trip Report Sep. 2 through Sep. 12 2007 Day 4
- Next by thread: Re: Trip Report Sep. 2 through Sep. 12 2007 Day 6
- Index(es):
Relevant Pages
|
