Astronauts & Atlantis

I have always enjoyed learning about space, watching the stars, and seeing pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope. I used to think being an astronaut would be so cool. I find it to be magnificent, amazing, and awe-inspiring. The fact that God went to such great trouble to create the beauty of outer space and places seemingly out of reach is always such a marvel to me.

Since we moved to Florida several years ago, I have been wanting to make a trip to Kennedy Space Center. Over Labor Day weekend, we finally had time and money to go. I was motivated by the fact that Little Bear was working on a NOVA award, for Cub Scouts, that required a visit to a place that investigates or teaches about space. While we were there Little Bear had to ask several questions to people who worked there.

We arrived at Kennedy Space Center in the morning and the first place we stopped was the rocket garden. We took a short tour and learned about the different types of rockets NASA sent up with satellites and astronauts. In the rocket garden, we had the opportunity to sit inside of capsules. Sitting inside of the capsules I learned, that I would never want to be an astronaut. The capsules are VERY close quarters. You are trapped in a small space with no real way to move around. In capsules with more than one person, you are stuck in basically a bus seat with someone next to you for hours or even days. I don't like anyone enough to be in such close proximity for that long. Between watching Howard on "The Big Bang Theory" and how much he didn't like being in space and sitting in the capsules I no longer think being an astronaut is so cool or at least not cool for me to want to do it.

Our next stop was the Mars exhibit, where we learned about what NASA and Space X are doing to work towards getting people to Mars. This was one of Little Bear's favorite exhibits. He thinks working for NASA would be really cool. He does not want to be in a rocket hurtling through space for two and a half years. His proud Mama Bear thinks he could be an engineer or something. I don't think he needs to be a pilot though, or at least not yet. His lunar module landing skills and capsule docking skills leave a lot to be desired according to repeated crashing in the simulations.

One of my favorite parts of the day was our lunch with an astronaut. The food was delicious. There was a wide variety of things in a buffet with a few things I could eat and tons of things my guys scarfed down like hungry animals. The astronaut that came to lunch was Jack Lousma. I had never heard of him prior to deciding to our arrival. I did a quick google search before lunch to learn a little about him. He spent time on Skylab and piloted the space shuttle Columbia. My favorite part of the meal was listening to him talk about landing the Space Shuttle Columbia at White Sands, New Mexico.

We had seen the Space Shuttle Discovery in Washington D.C., so I was not really that excited. Little Bear did not remember seeing the shuttle in D.C. though so this was something we had to do. The display at Kennedy Space Center beats the Smithsonian. You enter the building and are ushered into a moving video then you move into another room where they start a video that makes you feel like you are watching the shuttle fly. As the video ends the wall lifts up and you are face to face with the Space Shuttle Atlantis. I will say I was disappointed at first that we had to sit through two movies to get to the Space Shuttle, but the videos were so moving that they are well worth the wait to see the Space Shuttle Atlantis revealed in such a magical moment. The space shuttle is up off the floor and at an angle that makes it seem to be flying through the air. It was nothing short of awesome.

The Kennedy Space Center is not Disney World, but it is an amazing place that everyone needs to visit. There are people from all walks of life, from countries far and wide. There is more to see and do than you could possibly get through in one day. If you or your kiddos are interested in space science, NASA, or anything remotely related this is a wonderful place to learn and get some real-life insights.