Day 44, Tuesday, October 27, 2009 - 145 mles

NASA scheduled the test firing of the Ares I-X rocket for 8:00, so we got up at 5:00, picked up Melodye about 45 minutes later, and headed for Kennedy Space Center. We arrived at the check point about quarter till 8 only to be turned back. Tickets were sold back on the 15th for the privilege of getting a close look at the launch. We decided to find a spot on the mainland beach (Kennedy Center is on an island) to watch. Since we skipped breakfast, we bought some fruit and snacks at a convenience store then found a Brevard County Park with a few other hopeful rocket watchers and began waiting patiently. And wait we did. As the morning dragged on, the launch was delayed first by weather, followed by mechanical problems, and even a ship in the wrong place at the wrong time. As you have probably heard, it was scrubbed about 10:30 and rescheduled for tomorrow morning.

After a real breakfast, we went to the Astronauts Hall of Fame and Museum which is located off the Space Center but run by the same NASA contractor. We were concerned the Space Center would be too crowded due to the people there for the launch, but was told there were only 1700 tickets sold compared to a normal 14,000, so crowds should not be an issue. So we decided to see them today.

We started in the museum. It is well done with lots of memorabilia and history of the various space programs and people involved. There is a fair collection of equipment including a shuttle mock up.

We then headed east across the causeway to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. It has tons of exhibits and displays. We also saw a 3-D I-max film called the Dream Is Alive that promotes future space exploration.

After a tour of the visitor complex, we boarded a bus for the trip to the Apollo/Saturn V Center. An actual 3-stage Saturn rocket is the featured artifact. There were many other items as well.

The second destination is the facility that prepares parts, systems, and modules bound for the space lab. We saw people at work on a couple of the projects. It is winding down as the space station is nearing completion. Our last activity was to ride a shuttle launch simulator. It was loud and gave a cool sensation on what a real launch would be like.

Normally, the visit would include a trip to a launch site, but because the still fueled rocket was on the launch pad, we had to forgo that stop. We caught one of the last buses back to the Visitor Complex where we found our lonely truck sitting in a near empty parking lot for the ride back to Orlando. We were certainly disappointed we missed the launch, but had a good time.