space

It was a dream of Ben's to go to the Kennedy Space Center. It was like icing on the cake when we found out that the Space Shuttle Endeavor was on the launch pad and we would get to see it--getting as close as possible, only 1 mile away.

The crawler. The machine we have all read about. It moves the space shuttle to the launch pad from the assembly center at a rockin' one mile an hour, taking seven hours to get from the assembly center to the pad.

The road the crawler travels on. It is 7 feet deep of sand and rock. A typical asphalt road would crush under the weight of the shuttle.

One mile away from Launch Complex 39B and the Space Shuttle Endeavor. We were surprised to learn that at this distance, the vibrations generated from the rocket thrust during a shuttle launch would kill a human being.

The backside of the vehicle assembly on the launchpad. You can't see the orbiter on the other side because it is covered by a service platform to protect the shuttle from the elements until a few days before the launch.

The assembly center. Just to give you a sense of how large that building is--the stars on the flag are six feet wide. It is a one story building made to assemble vehicles prior to launch and is 220 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. The doors on each end are the largest operating doors on the planet.

The 1st stage of a Saturn V and its five F-1 engines, used to get men to the moon. The F-1's were impressive--each nozzle was over 12 feet in diameter. Each F-1 engine produces more thrust than the combined thrust of the engines on a space shuttle.

Looking down the Saturn V from the capsule end. From nose cone to nozzles it is 363 feet tall.