We spent the last week at the Mayo Clinic at Jacksonville, Florida. We have been poked, prodded, and photograged, inside and out. We are happy to report that we are both in good health; the only attention needed is new glasses for both of us.
Today we are off to visit family in Inverness, Florida.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Saturday, March 03, 2007
March 3, 2007 Kennedy Space Center
Yesterday Madeline and I visited the Kennedy Space Center. There is much to see there; we arrived at 9:30 am and left at 6:00 pm and even then did not see everything!
At Cape Kennedy there is a Visitor’s Center with a number of interesting displays and an IMAX Theater. There is also a display of many of the famous rockets, rocket engines, and space capsules. See the photo of Madeline Skywalker driving her space capsule. It is interesting to note that the early developments of rocketry essentially were part of an overall military mission, with a lot of competition between the army and the air force, and of course a lot of competition between the US and the USSR. It seems to me that the development of rockets for military use is pretty much a mature science now, and as funds become available they are pretty much truly used for the peaceful development of space. A little more on that later.
The most interesting part pf the visit to the Kennedy Space Center was a bus tour through the center which had three stops at areas of interest. At one stop we got a view of one of the launching pads, about a half mile away. There was a rocket with a space shuttle attached being readied for launch. See the accompanying picture. The orange tip is the liquid fuel tank, which is discarded after use. The two white tips are the tops of the solid fuel boosters. The space shuttle, which can’t be seen here, is attached to the large orange fuel tank. Later, we were able to go into a space shuttle. I was surprised how large it is. There are two decks – one where the pilots fly and a lower deck where the living quarters are. The area in which cargo is carried a huge. The black heat shield tiles cover the entire bottom and a large part of the side of the shuttle. I can see how tiles could be knocked off or broken fairly easily. Formerly, space capsules reentered the atmosphere from the rear, and the heat shield was pretty much protected during the ascent, when the shuttle was sent into space. The shuttle reenters the atmosphere front ways in sort of a pancake fashion. The heat tiles have not been protected during ascent. There is a picture here of the front of the shuttle.
We visited the assembly area where the components of the International Space Station (Skylab) are assembled. What was interesting here was the truly international aspect of the endeavor. For example we observed one section being assembled by the Japanese, and another by a consortium of Europeans. These sections of the station are designed and developed by the individual countries but launched either by the USA or the Russians. This seems to be an area where countries are making an effort to cooperate in what at one time was an area of potential military conflict.
At Cape Kennedy there is a Visitor’s Center with a number of interesting displays and an IMAX Theater. There is also a display of many of the famous rockets, rocket engines, and space capsules. See the photo of Madeline Skywalker driving her space capsule. It is interesting to note that the early developments of rocketry essentially were part of an overall military mission, with a lot of competition between the army and the air force, and of course a lot of competition between the US and the USSR. It seems to me that the development of rockets for military use is pretty much a mature science now, and as funds become available they are pretty much truly used for the peaceful development of space. A little more on that later.
The most interesting part pf the visit to the Kennedy Space Center was a bus tour through the center which had three stops at areas of interest. At one stop we got a view of one of the launching pads, about a half mile away. There was a rocket with a space shuttle attached being readied for launch. See the accompanying picture. The orange tip is the liquid fuel tank, which is discarded after use. The two white tips are the tops of the solid fuel boosters. The space shuttle, which can’t be seen here, is attached to the large orange fuel tank. Later, we were able to go into a space shuttle. I was surprised how large it is. There are two decks – one where the pilots fly and a lower deck where the living quarters are. The area in which cargo is carried a huge. The black heat shield tiles cover the entire bottom and a large part of the side of the shuttle. I can see how tiles could be knocked off or broken fairly easily. Formerly, space capsules reentered the atmosphere from the rear, and the heat shield was pretty much protected during the ascent, when the shuttle was sent into space. The shuttle reenters the atmosphere front ways in sort of a pancake fashion. The heat tiles have not been protected during ascent. There is a picture here of the front of the shuttle.
We visited the assembly area where the components of the International Space Station (Skylab) are assembled. What was interesting here was the truly international aspect of the endeavor. For example we observed one section being assembled by the Japanese, and another by a consortium of Europeans. These sections of the station are designed and developed by the individual countries but launched either by the USA or the Russians. This seems to be an area where countries are making an effort to cooperate in what at one time was an area of potential military conflict.
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