#79 Mar 2015 Kennedy Space Center

We planned a break from Disney with a trip to Kennedy Space Center hoping to see a rocket launch.

The Delta IV rocket launch went off beautifully. What a thrill!

We watched from bleachers near the Apollo/Saturn V Rocket Center about seven miles from the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

The rocket was carrying the ninth of twelve GPS satellites for the US Air Force. This series of GPS IIF satellites is essential to US national security. It improves military signal and navigation, assists with search and rescue operations and commercial aviation.

NASA has re-invented itself since the end of the space shuttle program. The launch pads are leased to various private agencies and are being redesigned for numerous space related projects.

Included with admission, the Apollo/Saturn V Center contains a Saturn V rocket with detailed information about its construction and utilization. There is so much to learn and marvel about man's creativity and ingenuity.

So many people surrounded the Saturn V rocket after the launch that I couldn't get a clear shot with the camera. These photos of the Saturn V are from the Houston Space Center which we visited in February.

A thrilling highlight is an actual piece of the moon that we can touch. It seems impossible that here on earth we can touch a piece of that beautiful beacon in the night sky.

A new exhibit shows a movie about the challenges of creating a re-usable spacecraft. It is very well presented then a curtain opens and there is the actual space shuttle Atlantis.

There was a collective gasp of awe!

You can see that she has been well used in her 33 missions covering more than 125 million miles in space.

The robotic Canadarm is deployed and makes Canadians proud to be part of such an inspiring machine.

In retirement she is now honored in her own display building.

At the front of the building is a full-scale, upright, replica space shuttle stack, including external tank and two solid rocket boosters. The 184-foot-tall assembly gives a true sense of the awesome power used to thrust the shuttle into orbit.

Ralph and I grew up in the space age and have a special connection to Atlantis.

1/ in the 1990's, one frigid minus 30*C morning in Calgary, we heard on the radio that Atlantis was about to reenter the atmosphere over the city. We jumped out of bed, put on boots and winter coats over pajamas and went outside. We watched in awe as a fiery trail sped from horizon to horizon in a few seconds. Minutes later Atlantis landed in Florida.

2/ 2007 was our first visit to Kennedy Space Center. During the course of the day we saw Atlantis moving very slowly towards the launch pad.

3/ In 2013 an opening party for a conference in Orlando took place at Kennedy Space Center. The coup de grace was a peek at Atlantis during the construction of its building. Atlantis was completely covered in protective bubble wrap!

4/ Now in 2015 we were able to see Atlantis up close and marvel at this vehicle that launched like a rocket, flew in orbit like a spacecraft and landed on a runway like a glider.

The International Space Station is the next step in space exploration and cooperation among nations. To date, is appears that international cooperation can be achieved when astronauts rely on one another for survival in a very hostile environment with no immediate outside resources.