Orlando: space adventures at the Kennedy Space Center

The following blog post was written with the assistance of ChatGPT

I can totally see why people call Orlando the “theme park capital of the world”. It definitely has an unparalleled collection of world-class amusement parks likeDisney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World. Additionally, the city is home to Kennedy Space Center, the launch site for the Apollo missions that landed humans on the moon.

We drove out to Cape Canaveral to visit the Kennedy Space Center, the primary launch site for human spaceflight missions in the United States. It’s one of the major attractions that doesn’t center around amusement parks. Visitors are welcomed by the Rocket Garden that showcases a diverse range of rockets used for past achievements that serve at a tribute to the achievements of space exploration.

One of the key attractions there is a the tour that takes visitors around the space center, and one of the key attractions along the tour is the Vehicle Assembly Building, a colossal structure where NASA assembles and prepares its largest rockets for space missions, including the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. It stands as an iconic symbol of human space exploration and engineering prowess and is one of the largest buildings in the world. It played a pivotal role in assembling rockets and preparing space shuttles for their missions.

Another cool attraction was the mission control room. It’s no longer in use, and has since been repurposed as a simulation of a rocket launch. As the launch clock continues counting down, different systems of the rocket come online and their statuses are reflected on the screens and dashboards around the room. Until finally, when the countdown goes to zero, rocket launch noises fill the room and the screens show the rocket launching. The windows behind also glow bright orange to show the burn of the thrust.

The tour concludes with an exhibit of the Saturn V rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever built – the one that carried astronauts to the moon. It was difficult to grasp the scale of the rocket until I saw it in person. Each section is separated, showing each of the stages of the rocket launch. The Saturn V rocket launches by igniting its powerful engines, generating millions of pounds of thrust, and lifting off from the launch pad. As each section of the rocket runs of fuel, it separates from the rest, and propels the spacecraft and astronauts into space (most of the fuel is spend leaving Earth’s gravity). Attached to the end are the modules for the lunar lander and the craft for returning back to Earth.

It was also cool to see the lunar lander up close. It was a spacecraft designed to land astronauts on the moon during NASA’s Apollo missions. It consisted of two parts: the descent stage, which landed on the moon’s surface, and the ascent stage, which launched the astronauts back into lunar orbit.

In 1981, the space shuttle program was launched with the aim of creating a reusable spacecraft capable of launching payloads into space, deploying satellites, conducting scientific research, and safely returning to Earth. The exhibit also featured a simulator that simulates the experience of a rocket launch aboard a space shuttle – essentially a motion simulator that mimicked the G-forces and movements of a shuttle launch. Supposedly it’s a high fidelity simulation of a rocket launch, but surprisingly the G-forces only went up to what I vaguely recall to be 3.5Gs and felt actually quite mild (even children went on the ride and were completely okay).

A visit to the Kennedy Space Center adds a unique and educational dimension to the Orlando experience. From the awe-inspiring Rocket Garden to the monumental Vehicle Assembly Building, the center embodies the triumphs of human space exploration. It was cool to experience the simulated rocket and shuttle launch and getting up close to the lunar lander and Saturn V rocket.

More photos here