Days 7-8-9
The next days were less busy and have allowed us to spread our visits in the KSC Visitor and in the region of Merrit Island.
We took another bus tour (Nasa Close Up) to go to the gantry point of view as well as in the ISS bulding.
The gantry is a point of view for the pads 39 A and B for the public, it is situated farther than the one were we went with Frederick Gregory. Since the last floor of the tower we have a good sight on the launch pads, VAB on the other side, the Crawler nearby the tower and the Delta launch pads far off. When we arrived on the site I ask if we can cross the road to go on the Crawler way, the flat-footeed « No » of the guard followed by « You will be arrested if you do it » stops me immediatly, the Americans don’t laugh with the security!
In a room are exposed models of the launch pads which detail the functioning, there are also heat tiles samples of the shuttle and explications panels. In the middle of the tower there is an SSME engine (main engine of the space shuttle) we can reach it on two levels what allows us to see attentively its slightest details.
The bus takes us in the preparation building of the ISS modules, as usual they show us a film before letting us into the room. In the following room there are full scale models of some of the ISS modules, as well as models of MIRs, SkyLab and ISS. Then we walk on a footbridge which brings us to the superior floor of the assembly building. Behind a window we can see different modules, Leonardo (supply module of the ISS), Kibo (Japanese Laboratory) and Cupola (observation module of the ISS).
Here is some pictures of another building of the KSC dedicated to the solar system exploration:
Another day we walked in Titusville to see the various monuments set up for the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs.
Some additional pictures:
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