NASA tour

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I'm typing this entry at 9:15am, the morning after the launch, as I sit in the condo overlooking Cocoa Beach on another perfect day. So much has happened in the last 48 hours it's going to be difficult to recall it all, but here goes...

We joined the tour bus at 8:15am just up the road. We were booked on one of the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) tours, but part of the Administrator's Guest group, which meant we had access to some pretty cool stuff.

First stop was the International Space Station (ISS) Processing Building. This building is large enough to hold the entire ISS - the size of a football field including end zones - and is where they've basically laid out the ISS in pieces before putting it into orbit piece by piece. We split up into small groups and were given a guided tour walking around the facility looking at the few pieces that still remain on the ground. We were literally centimetres from workers working on modules that will be attached to the station in the coming months. Despite the fact that most of the ISS was already in orbit, there was still no spare floor space. They had almost as much junk in there as we do in our VL office.

Back onto the bus for a tour of the KSC itself. We saw the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) where they turn the shuttle on end, place it on the launch pad, and literally build the rocket boosters onto the shuttle. That's probably the most iconic building of the KSC. We then drove up next to another spare launch pad (they have 4 IIRC) where we could see underneath and truly appreciate the scale. Next we went past a crawler, which is the vehicle that drives up under the launch pad, then takes the shuttle from the VAB to the actual launch position. Of course we saw the track from the VAB to the launch site, whuich currently has the Atlantis ready for launch tomorrow.

Next stop, the runway where they land the shuttle whenever it lands at KSC. They had a fleet of shuttle flight training planes, including one they use for landing training that is kitted out like a shuttle cockpit that they basically fly up to 35,000 feet then turn off the engines. Then a bunch of support buildings, vehicles, equipment, the odd bald eagle nest and alligator, etc.

Around about this time Pat Forrester, an astronaut on 3 shuttle missions, joined the bus. After his talk he came down the back to speak to Jacki & the girls. He signed a few things for us, including my NASA tour folder.

Next stop was the Orbiter Processing Building, which is were they prepare the shuttle for each launch. We were ushered in and Penny, Karina & I had 2 guides to ourselves. The girls, especially Mikaley, were quite upset that they weren't allowed inside. We walked under a low roof and the guides started talking about the shuttle. I looked up to the 'roof' only a few feet above us, and noticed what I imagined the shuttle's tiles would look like. Then it slowly dawned on me - I was standing a few feet below a shuttle!!!!! We spent about an hour in there, walking from end to end and around the shuttle, saw they were gluing a few tiles on, looking up into the landing gear bays and talking about the tiles the nose cone, and anything else we cared to ask about. As you can imagine the shuttle was completely covered in scaffolding, so it was difficult to make much else out other than the bottom, which was completely exposed.

Then to our surprise, the girls came running in, accompanied by the NASA Safety Officer. I was glad Mikaley, especially, was allowed in to see the shuttle close up. She was ecstatic!

The final stop on the tour was the KSC Visitor Centre. The main attraction is The "Shuttle Experience" ride, where they strap you in, turn you on your back, and "launch" you into space. Trouble was, we had to be back on the bus in 1:15, and the line looked about 2hrs long! Well, it would've been a problem for everyone else... we knew someone - Charlie had just joined us. Charlie was actually narrating the ride on all the video screens, and it was quite funny to see peoples' faces when they realised that he was standing right there amongst them! The ride was pretty cool. Then we headed into the souvenir shop, which was pretty crowded the day before a launch! Technically, we had to be back on the bus in about 10 minutes, but Penny went and collected our stuff from the bus as Charlie was going to drive us back in his SUV. So we had as long as we wanted to spend money - which we did!

After a quick bite we drove back to the condo for an hour or two's rest before getting ready to attend a few pre-launch receptions thrown by related companies for NASA. We were picked up in a couple of vans by Charlie's NASA Protocol Officers, who ended up driving us around for the next day as well. We arrived at one of the beachside resorts and wandered into a huge room full of people dressed in suits - the odd astronaut suit - and we looked very out of place I suspect. Karina & Kyra had bought an Astronaut Bear each at the gift shop that morning, and it wasn't long before they both started stalking astronauts to sign them. Amongst the signatures was Tom Stafford, an Apollo astronaut IIRC. They ended up with close to a dozen, most with accompanying photos.

After we had sampled the free food, the showbags - and the chocolate space shuttles - Charlie gave a speech (and most almost overshadowed by Kyra on the podium) and we headed out to another reception outside under a marquee. By now we were pretty exhausted from a huge day, and clutching our freebies we sat at a table waiting for Charlie to finish up. But the day wasn't over - the night viewing of the shuttle was our last stop.

Again, we were chauffeured to the night viewing rather than having to catch the bus and stay only for the allotted time. We had unrestricted access to the official NASA photographer, and made the most of it. Karina also got another astronaut signature on her bear. The viewing itself was spectacular, and was the closest we got to the shuttle on the launch pad. I got some pretty amazing photos - which Penny promptly stole for her desktop and claimed as her own - not even using full zoom. Unforgettable!

Finally it was time to call it a night after a very long, and very exciting, day. We all drove back to the condos and went straight to bed. Hard to think that tomorrow was going to be even better if everything went to plan.

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