What a blast!

The reason for our staying in Titusville last night was that it is the closest town to the John F Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral. No self-respecting rocket scientist could pass up this opportunity!

The Visitors Centre was about 12 miles from our motel and we were there around 10 am. As we rode out across the causeway we passed a couple of sleeping alligators floating in the watrer, but they weren't snappy enough to get a picture of them. (To be fair, we were going past them as 60 mph, and Chris wasn't keen to stop)

The entry fee of $41 per person (plus tax) seemed steep, but basically included everything except for fhe two special escorted tours on offer. It was good value. The infrastructure there is incredible.

The first thing we did was take the bus tour out to tthe the viewing area that overlooks the two shuttle launch pads. We use the term "overlooks" advisedly: the launch pads were both sevral miles distant. The bus is a hop on, hop of, look at your leisure arrangement and pick up the next bus. They ran every 15mins.

However the shuttle engine they had on display there was almost close enough to touch.

On the way to the second stop on the bustrip we had a really good view of the Vehicle Assemblt Building where the rockets are assembled ready for launch. The shuttle for the penultimate mission was being assembled behind the door on the right.

Next stop on the bus trip was the Saturn V display in a building adjacent to the VIP launch viewing area. Along the way we saw some of the abundant bird life that coexists with the space centre - more than 230 species we were told.

As you enter they show a film of the Apollo VIII mission in the old control room which is now a theatrette.

Inside the building there is a complete Saturn V missile laid out horizontally on display stands, along with all sorts of other interesting displays: the Apollo XIV command module, space suits, moon rocks (including one you can touch) and a theatre with a documentary about the launch of Apollo VIII which orbited the moon in December 1968. Chris remembers well sitting up with friends listening to the launch on the Voice of America short wave radio broadcast.

We spent quite a lot of time here, and not just because we stopped for lunch. Rather, it is simply an awesome museum. For anyone who doesn't remeber or is too young to know, the moon rocket is 363 feet long - more tham 100 metres - and 33 feet in diameter.

The next stop on the bus trip was the payload integration building for the International Space Station. Here we could watch modules being assembled and tested prior to launch. Despite the enormous scientific vaiue being derived from the space station, it is hard to get excited about it like we did with the Apollo moon program.

Back at the Visitors Centre, we had a walk through a "boilerplate" space shuttle before taking the Shuttle Launch Experience ride. This was a simulation of a shuttle launch which was fun. It was more like a theme park ride really. When they can build in the sensation of 4g acceleration it could be almost as exciting as riding a BMW R1200RT.

We took in an IMAX 3D film about the Hubble Space Telescope that was simply brilliant, before wandering through the "Rocket Garden" where (we presume) they grow rockets.

We had thought we would spend just a few hours at the centre, but by this stage it was 5:30 pm. Any plans we had to ride some scenic roads to Okeechobee tonight were shelved. Instead, we rode straight down US 1 towards Miami. At about 7:15 pm we pulled into the Sanddrift Moyel, Sebastiana, Florida, changed into something more comfortable and walked into the diner next door for dinner. Their food was quite good. It was still 93 F at 7:30 pm.