Port Canaveral – 9th June
Today Doreen and Geoffrey parted company – Doreen going on a modest three hours wildlife pontoon lagoon cruise and Geoffrey on a grueling eight hour Kennedy Space Centre and NASA close up tour.
Doreen’s cruise was very relaxing and enjoyable. She saw manatees, dolphins, pelicans, egrets, herons, osprey and many others. Unfortunately Doreen was only armed with the small camera, so spot the manatees!
From the ship we could see the Kennedy Space Centre, so it was only a short coach drive to the Centre.
Geoffrey then transferred to a second coach which drove around the 2,000 acre site passing the buildings where the Shuttles were constructed (the tallest single story building in the world). We then went past the launch pad 39B which is being dismantled and on to 39A with the Atlantis Shuttle in place ready for its 8th July launch. (This will be the final Shuttle launch). We passed the Shuttle landing strip on the way back to the Control Centre, where we went to a Shuttle simulator to experience a Shuttle launch, complete with sound, vibration, and G-Forces (an exhilarating experience).
Geoffrey had no time to take breath as we were whisked off to go to the Apollo Centre, where we were taken through a series of exhibits witnessing footage of the launch of Apollo 9. After this we walked around and looked at the actual Saturn rockets, space capsules etc. and a very quick lunch. Geoffrey also watched a phenomenal 3D film about the Shuttle and repairs to the Hubble telescope. Again a fantastic experience.
Geoffrey returned to the ship exhausted, but he enjoyed sitting on our balcony with Doreen watching a fabulous sunset. The perfect end to a perfect day.
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