Anyone ever been to NASA?

Hornswoggle · 15-01-2010 12:30pm #1

Heading over to Florida this July and i'm definitely going to visit Kennedy Space Centre while i'm there. Looking at the KSC website it looks like you could spend a week wandering around the space museum alone before looking at all of the other attractions! Has anybody on this forum been, and if so, what are the main things you would reccomend. Would love to do something like the Astronaut Training Experience, but it ain't exactly cheap! Also, would it be too late to book to view a shuttle launch?

lord lucan · 15-01-2010 3:15pm

If you have 2 days to spare it would be worth using 2 days at KSC. There's lots to see and do,you could cram it all into one day but you'd want to be arriving at opening time and leaving at closing time. Never done the astronaut training experience,Beeker may have done it,i'm not sure.

As for a shuttle launch,STS-134 is targeted for launch on july 29th. That could easily change and if you really wanted to see it you'd be best arriving in Florida a day or 2 before launch to give yourself as big a window as possible as they rarely go first time. Tickets go on sale roughly a month before a launch. There's 2 you can buy,one is to view it from the visitor centre at KSC. You can't see the shuttle on the pad from the visitor centre,you'll see it about 6/7 seconds after launch after it clears the tree line. The other ticket is to view the launch from the NASA causeway,way better than the visitor centre cause you can see it on the pad and have a clear view of the launch. You've a better chance of winning the lotto than getting a causeway ticket through NASA,best bet is to do what i done,by a tour from Gator tours like this:http://www.gatortours.com/shuttle/index.htm

That's what i done for STS-129 in November,they pick you up in Orlando and bring you out,all you have to do is turn up. I think it was $115 and worth every penny imo.

thecornflake · 15-01-2010 6:19pm

Went there years ago when i was young , and was lucky enough to see the mission with John Glenn lift off. We just watched from our motel balcony , we got an amazing view , very spectacular. As for Kennedy centre itself , some parts are extremely "touristy" if you get what i mean. However it is well worth it , i still remember standing beside all the old titan rockets , and definately the saturn V , you really can't uunderstant just how big it is until you stand beside it. We only did a moderate tour of the centre compared to what some of the people on this forum did im sure.

ynotdu · 15-01-2010 7:12pm

thecornflake wrote: »

Went there years ago when i was young , and was lucky enough to see the mission with John Glenn lift off. We just watched from our motel balcony , we got an amazing view , very spectacular. As for Kennedy centre itself , some parts are extremely "touristy" if you get what i mean. However it is well worth it , i still remember standing beside all the old titan rockets , and definately the saturn V , you really can't uunderstant just how big it is until you stand beside it. We only did a moderate tour of the centre compared to what some of the people on this forum did im sure.

Hey thecornflake,Tell us More!! You were there for Glenn.If You have followed NASA since then PLEASE tell us Your memories<even if it means starting a new thread.I would love to hear Your and others memories of NASA,s history...........were they were for Apollo 11 for instance........but just any memories of what it was like through Mercury,Gemini&Apollo!:)

lord lucan · 16-01-2010 12:00am

thecornflake wrote: »

and definately the saturn V , you really can't uunderstant just how big it is until you stand beside it.

Here's some pics of the Saturn V i took in 2005,gives a decent idea of the size of it,it's a beast!

ynotdu · 16-01-2010 12:16am

LL it was superb was'nt it? were You at KSC more than just for 129?????

think i mentioned it before but Saturn V was about the height of Liberty hall in Dublin:eek:.{think about two feet diffrience}now imagine putting motors on LH and sending it into orbit!:eek::D

lord lucan · 16-01-2010 12:22am

ynotdu wrote: »

LL it was superb was'nt it? were You at KSC more than just for 129?????

think i mentioned it before but Saturn V was about the height of Liberty hall in Dublin:eek:.{think about two feet diffrience}now imagine putting motors on LH and sending it into orbit!:eek::D

Yeah i was there in 2005,was with Mrs. Lucan though who found it as boring as ****!!:D

I wanted to do the extensive bus tour(mercury/gemini launch sites etc.) but she was having none of it! Couldn't do that tour last year because most of KSC grounds are off limits on launch day(and often the day before too.)

I have a funny image in my head now of liberty hall being blasted into orbit!:D

Best place for it in fairness.:p

ynotdu · 16-01-2010 12:27am

lord lucan wrote: »

Yeah i was there in 2005,was with Mrs. Lucan though who found it as boring as ****!!:D

I wanted to do the extensive bus tour(mercury/gemini launch sites etc.) but she was having none of it! Couldn't do that tour last year because most of KSC grounds are off limits on launch day(and often the day before too.)

I have a funny image in my head now of liberty hall being blasted into orbit!:D

Best place for it in fairness.:p

Lol yeah Liberty hall and Leinster house blasted into Space is kind of appealing,so long as the full crew are aboard both!:D

lord lucan · 16-01-2010 12:31am

ynotdu wrote: »

Lol yeah Liberty hall and Leinster house blasted into Space is kind of appealing,so long as the full crew are aboard both!:D

Now you're talking!;)

ynotdu · 16-01-2010 12:32am

lord lucan wrote: »

Now you're talking!;)

:D:D

Beeker · 16-01-2010 9:31am

Hornswoggle wrote: »

Heading over to Florida this July and i'm definitely going to visit Kennedy Space Centre while i'm there. Looking at the KSC website it looks like you could spend a week wandering around the space museum alone before looking at all of the other attractions! Has anybody on this forum been, and if so, what are the main things you would reccomend. Would love to do something like the Astronaut Training Experience, but it ain't exactly cheap! Also, would it be too late to book to view a shuttle launch?

As LL said you would need to allow 2 days to visit. {If your sad like me take 10:D}
There are 3 tours available inside the center. The first is included in the entrance fee and takes you out to the Shuttle launch pad viewing area then over to the Saturn V center which like LL said is well worth a visit, what a place:) and then onto the Space station processing facility.
There are two tours you can pay for so it depends on time and what you would are interested as both take a few hours. The first in "Then and Now". This take you out to Cape Canaveral to visit the historic launch facilities for the early US manned spaceflights in the 1960's Mercury and Gemini programmes, you get to visit Pad 34 the site of the Apollo 1 fire in 1967 and past active launch pads. You end up at the shuttle launch pads. and the Saturn V center

The second pay tour is called "Today and Tomorrow" this tour is shorter and take you around the KSC industrial area when they prepare payloads for the Shuttle and then out past the Vehicle Assembly Building and to the Shuttle launch pads. From here you visit the Runway when the Shuttle lands at the end of its flight and finally on to the Saturn V center.

At the KSC itself you have to go on the Shuttle Launch Experience and visit the Imax theatre for fantastic 3D films on the Shuttle and the Apollo Moon landings.
Like LL said there is a Shulle launch due in July but this is likely to change.
I hope you get to visit the KSC and see a launch if your lucky enough, its something you will never forget:).

fuelinjection · 16-01-2010 9:41am

I never tried the tourist option, but i was over in Florida for the 1994 Ireland-Holland game and the space shuttle took off when we were walking around. What a co-incidence !
It was brighter than the sun thats all i will say, awesome.

Beeker · 16-01-2010 10:07am

fuelinjection wrote: »

I never tried the tourist option, but i was over in Florida for the 1994 Ireland-Holland game and the space shuttle took off when we were walking around. What a co-incidence !
It was brighter than the sun thats all i will say, awesome.

That was STS-65 Columbia the 63rd Shuttle flight launched on July 8th 1994 at 12:43

Beeker · 16-01-2010 11:08am

Entrance

VAB

Pad 39A

Shuttle landing facility Control Tower

Pad 34 Site of Apollo 1 fire.

Pad 5. Launch site of Alan Shepard.

thecornflake · 17-01-2010 3:26am

sorry , i was just there with the family ( im not that old) , it wasn't the mercury mission i meant , im sorry if i caused confusion , but i wish i was there for the john glenn flight. No , i meant the shuttle flight with him on it. Im sorry , i didnt realise when i posted that it could refer to the original mission. The launch itsel was still however spectacular. Also , im thankful to the people that posted the pics of the satuen V , however , no photo can ever prepare you for the sheer scale of it. It is so amazing.As beeker pointed out , the pad of apollo 1 would be great to see , but i never got the chance ( it was only me and my dad who had a major interest , so we could only spend so long there). One thing i regret was not buying a model of the saturn V with seperate stages (if anyone knows where to get a good model of this in dublin , i would be very grateful)

Beeker · 17-01-2010 8:26am

thecornflake wrote: »

sorry , i was just there with the family ( im not that old) , it wasn't the mercury mission i meant , im sorry if i caused confusion , but i wish i was there for the john glenn flight. No , i meant the shuttle flight with him on it. Im sorry , i didnt realise when i posted that it could refer to the original mission. The launch itsel was still however spectacular. Also , im thankful to the people that posted the pics of the satuen V , however , no photo can ever prepare you for the sheer scale of it. It is so amazing.As beeker pointed out , the pad of apollo 1 would be great to see , but i never got the chance ( it was only me and my dad who had a major interest , so we could only spend so long there). One thing i regret was not buying a model of the saturn V with seperate stages (if anyone knows where to get a good model of this in dublin , i would be very grateful)

The John Glenn flight was STS 95 on October 29 1998. It's great you got to see a launch. Something you will never forget!
I used to have a Saturn V model until my little daughter found it one afternoon while I was at work:rolleyes: and well that was the end of that:(. You could try Amazon or ebay.

thecornflake · 17-01-2010 11:56pm

Beeker wrote: »

The John Glenn flight was STS 95 on October 29 1998. It's great you got to see a launch. Something you will never forget!
I used to have a Saturn V model until my little daughter found it one afternoon while I was at work:rolleyes: and well that was the end of that:(. You could try Amazon or ebay.

yh , twas good , you could barely see the SRB's separate too , very good. I'd prefer to see the model in my hands before i buy it, i saw one or two around , but they seemed a bit cheap.

ynotdu · 18-01-2010 12:09am

thecornflake wrote: »

sorry , i was just there with the family ( im not that old) , it wasn't the mercury mission i meant , im sorry if i caused confusion , but i wish i was there for the john glenn flight. No , i meant the shuttle flight with him on it. Im sorry , i didnt realise when i posted that it could refer to the original mission. The launch itsel was still however spectacular. Also , im thankful to the people that posted the pics of the satuen V , however , no photo can ever prepare you for the sheer scale of it. It is so amazing.As beeker pointed out , the pad of apollo 1 would be great to see , but i never got the chance ( it was only me and my dad who had a major interest , so we could only spend so long there). One thing i regret was not buying a model of the saturn V with seperate stages (if anyone knows where to get a good model of this in dublin , i would be very grateful)

Hey thanks for the reply!!! and Glenn was 77 when he blasted off on a shuttle,So age not a problem{I think being a Senator helped him a bit!;)
Still,What a great guy he is!
Also talking about Dad's,I have an old audio tape of the Launch of STS-1 that my father recorded with a microphone from RTE to a C-90! how quaint,He is dead now so it is a treasured possesion!
Although i have said it in other forums,the Commentator Leo Enright REALLY can be heard saying "Dublin can you hear Me"at liftoff,the noise was so loud it overwhelmed his headphones:D

I agree the Apollo pictures are truely awesome.
The whole Apollo/Saturn V to have survived the Apollo 12 Lightning strike is a real tribute to its design.

the Command and service modules had back-ups for their back-ups,the Apollo 13 explosion would have meant instant death but for that and the lifeboat Lunar Module.

Gene Krantz{Ya know the guy you see with the crew cut on nearly every Apollo documentry}When asked on retirement said in his opinion getting the Crew of Apollo 13 home was NASA,s finest hour.more so than what had been achieved on Apollo 11!:)

lord lucan · 18-01-2010 12:20am

ynotdu wrote: »

Gene Krantz{Ya know the guy you see with the crew cut on nearly every Apollo documentry}When asked on retirement said in his opinion getting the Crew of Apollo 13 home was NASA,s finest hour.more so than what had been achieved on Apollo 11!:)

Nope,finest hour was getting STS-129 away on time with no issues for me last november.:p:p

ynotdu · 18-01-2010 12:28am

lord lucan wrote: »

Nope,finest hour was getting STS-129 away on time with no issues for me last november.:p:p

You Sir are a SS{sh*t stirrer}:D and a mercenary,i seem to remember you delighted that Ares 1-X did not explode,not because you were happy for that,but because debris did not interfere with 129:pac::pac::).

Holy Mary Mother of god be with ya!:)

lord lucan · 18-01-2010 12:32am

ynotdu wrote: »

You Sir are a SS{sh*t stirrer}:D and a mercenary,i seem to remember you delighted that Ares 1-X did not explode,not because you were happy for that,but because debris did not interfere with 129:pac::pac::).

Holy Mary Mother of god be with ya!:)

Damn right,and that poxy Atlas that nearly threw a spanner in the works!:)

ynotdu · 18-01-2010 12:37am

lord lucan wrote: »

Damn right,and that poxy Atlas that nearly threw a spanner in the works!:)

Yeah but we all Know the Atlas not launching was You doing a McGuyver on it!:pac::pac::D

lord lucan · 18-01-2010 12:46am

ynotdu wrote: »

Yeah but we all Know the Atlas not launching was You doing a McGuyver on it!:pac::pac::D

Amazing what a pencil and a bit of sticky tape can do!:pac::pac:

ynotdu · 18-01-2010 12:55am

lord lucan wrote: »

Amazing what a pencil and a bit of sticky tape can do!:pac::pac:

Almost as amazing as what the Crew of Apollo 13 did to cleanse the air when they found the Command module and Lunar Modules oxygens filtering systems were incompatible.New system created on the ground and read to them to create from 'bits' that were laying around!

Bet McGuyver would have been stumpfed!:pac::pac::)

lord lucan · 18-01-2010 12:58am

ynotdu wrote: »

Almost as amazing as what the Crew of Apollo 13 did to cleanse the air when they found the Command module and Lunar Modules oxygens filtering systems were incompatible.New system created on the ground and read to them to create from 'bits' that were laying around!

Bet McGuyver would have been stumpfed!:pac::pac::)

He'd have been proud of that. The A-team could have turned the command module into an armoured truck!:pac:

ynotdu · 18-01-2010 1:03am

lord lucan wrote: »

He'd have been proud of that. The A-team could have turned the command module into an armoured truck!:pac:

Oh right LL You are really 'on the ball' tonight!!!!!!

Like a hugh guy arriaving with a choclate bar would have saved Apollo 13

:pac::pac::pac::)

lord lucan · 18-01-2010 1:07am

ynotdu wrote: »

Oh right LL You are really 'on the ball' tonight!!!!!!

Like a hugh guy arriaving with a choclate bar would have saved Apollo 13:pac::pac::pac::)

Quit your jibber jabber,i ain't getting on no spaceship,crazy fool!:pac:

ynotdu · 18-01-2010 1:10am

lord lucan wrote: »

Quit your jibber jabber,i ain't getting on no spaceship,crazy fool!:pac:

Ah sh*t i cannot be a 'begrudger'for long.THAT was really funny!:D:D:D

Beeker · 18-01-2010 3:12pm

ynotdu wrote: »

Hey Also talking about Dad's,I have an old audio tape of the Launch of STS-1 that my father recorded with a microphone from RTE to a C-90! how quaint,He is dead now so it is a treasured possesion!
Although i have said it in other forums,the Commentator Leo Enright REALLY can be heard saying "Dublin can you hear Me"at liftoff,the noise was so loud it overwhelmed his headphones:D

I done the very same thing for the first 5 Shuttle flights with an old tape recorder next to the TV:)

Hornswoggle · 18-01-2010 3:12pm

Really appreciate all of your replies guys, thanks! Didn't know there are two different viewing areas, after comparing both on youtube though i'm definitely going to try get a ticket for the causeway.

If the launch doesn't go ahead on the 29th, i'll at least leave myself two or three days before and after it to make sure i don't miss my first ever shuttle launch and Endeavour's last before she retires

Great pics there Lord Lucan and Beeker, now i really can't wait to go!

Beeker · 18-01-2010 3:23pm

Hornswoggle wrote: »

Really appreciate all of your replies guys, thanks! Didn't know there are two different viewing areas, after comparing both on youtube though i'm definitely going to try get a ticket for the causeway.

If the launch doesn't go ahead on the 29th, i'll at least leave myself two or three days before and after it to make sure i don't miss my first ever shuttle launch and Endeavour's last before she retires

Great pics there Lord Lucan and Beeker, now i really can't wait to go!

Best of luck and we will of course expect a full report with photos on your return:D

Anyone ever been to NASA?

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