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Published: November 6th 2015
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some of the numerous cotton fields we encounteredHe says, Left "music land" and headed east; was interesting to see the change of country side again as the land was an assortment of farming and rolling hills of grain or cotton.
Coming down the highway I was startled to see in the distance a massive structure looming skyward and towering over everything surrounding it. This was the Apollo rocket that sent the astronauts to the moon and its size is mind boggling. Its hard to believe you could control something this size and propel it into space. We pulled into the space centre; managed to find a parking space and then were promptly told to follow a security vehicle to the "proper" place to park. The shot of our unit next to the rocket in the background will give you an idea of the size and scope of these space vehicles.
A plane called the Black bird sat in the entrance way ( this plane or should I call it a rocket) is the fastest plane in history and could fly faster than any surface to air missle sent to take it out of the sky. Examining the body I was puzzled by the many flush rivets
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what on earth is that....actually its not meant for earth..... which held the "titanium skin" of this impressive vehicle. Its surface seemed rough and I had instead expected it to be a smooth single welded mass ..... the technology for this "missle" was developed by the famous Skunk works in Area 51...need I say more.
Admission was $18.00; very inexpensive for what you get to see and walk through. The various exhibits included hands on experiments of mind and body with bio feed back, some interaction flight simulators and even a gravity centrafuge (think that's what its called) spins around and gives the sensation of intense gravity..... and no we didn't go on this upchuck machine!!!! Sue did try the transporter on the star ship Enterprise of Star Treck and disappeared.....thought I might be finishing the rest of the trip alone while she spun around the universe as little molecules!!!! The various displays were really interesting with the complex science aspects easy to understand with the information provided. Very eye opening to follow the progress of rocket developemnet from its origins in the V2 rockets of Hitler to eventually putting a man on the moon.
The single most overwelming thing about all that we saw was the incredilble
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the caption and introduction on the sign says it all..science fiction is now real in the nearby displays size of the various vehicles that went into space; truly astounding to stand under a rocket engine port 10 to 12 feet in diameter. One display allowed you to stand under a rocket, listen to the countdown, watch it fire up and through lights, special effects and pounding blast sounds you seemed to be literally surrounded in the shudderng blast and fiery display as the rocket supposedly lifted off.
The space shuttle perched on its gigantic fuel carrier was displayed nearby and the pictures of Sue standing near or under this monster suggess its size; the technology that was needed to control all of these vehicles is a testament to man's genius. The rocket that put the man on the moon was the most complex machine ever built by man and had over a million parts, all of which fuctioned perfectly..... such incredible genius in what humanity can accomplish and yet we still wind up throwing rocks and bottles or shooting at each other when we don't like what each other is doing.....
We were able to stroll amongst the different displays such as a lunar lander to the burnt scuffed exterior of the space capsule after re-entry,
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some comparison of size peering in at part of the interior of the space station made me wonder how you didn't get claustophobia in the confines of this enclosed area; I sat in a space module and hit the multitude of buttons and switches of its control panel that stare back at you ( I would need years to just learn and remember what each little switch and light did in this extremely uncomforable and tight enclosure; I could envision "Houston we have a problem; I thought I was flushing the toilet and now all the oxygen is gone.....help!!!" The picture of me sitting in the module was typical of the first types used to put man in space and as previously said extremely uncomfortable and oh so small. I have read that the first capsule sent up was not suppose to have a window and only after the astronauts complained did the scientist relent and put in a small porthole size window.....would be like sitting in a metal coffin without a window!!!
Suspended overhead in the Davidson Space building was the 300' long disassembled Apollo moon rocket. You walked under each of the different stage until you finally come to the very
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Davidson building were apollo rocket and other displays were shown small container that housed the astronauts..... like having a chair and sitting on top of a million pounds of TNT.... this massive structure and machinery was used to push out of the atmosphere and away from gravity a small capsule built to place a 200 lb. man into orbit......when you think in those terms it does seem a little strange the lenght we have gone with man's drive for the unknown of space and its very hostile lifeless vaccum....
There was so much to see and much more I could tell but I will leave this exhibition and have offered only the barest of description of all that was here..truly remarkable display and well worth the time and admission....
We headed off to Jelly Stone RV park and spent three days just relaxing....the park is very much for kids and there were alligators and turtles along with two very noisy parrots....you could hear them all over the park. Interesting sidenote about the alligators; owner told us they go into a dormant state thru winter with reduced heart rate of 2 beats per minute and lie on the bottom of the small pond with only their nose out of
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The famous Black bird; fastest plane on the planet the water. It freezes here and ice would eventually cover the pond with only the nose of the gator sticking out...he said at first he was concerned and pulled them from the pond to put them in a nearby garage to warm them up but they slowly awoke with no side affects, so they were put back in the pond..very tough creature
"She says" I wanted Gerry to type the story on this one as rockets really aren't my thing, but I have to agree it was amazing and I enjoyed it very much. The size of these things were ingredible. I can remember as a kid watching the moon walk on TV. Ric, you would have loved it.......It was a huge area and after awhile it was time to stop. You could have easily took two days to go through this place. I am glad we stopped. Jellystone is a great place for kids as Gerry told you about with decorations for Halloween and the noisy parrots, really noisy....next stop is Cumming, GA to see our grandkids and our son, Jason and his partner, Jenny.
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