The Kennedy Space Center has a good number of vintage launch vehicles on display outdoors. I figure they must really take a pounding when hurricanes roll through.
That big ol' building in the distance is the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). That's where they originally put together the launch stack for the Saturn rockets in the Apollo days. For the last several decades it has been used for working with the Shuttle-External Tank-Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) combo. It's one of the largest buildings, by volume, in the world. I've read that clouds can form in its upper reaches when the right atmospheric conditions are present.
That stuff in the distant background is the launch pad that is being adapted to support the Constellation program's Ares rockets in the future. Yeah, that will be my future office or at least where I start my commute to work.
And, finally, that's yours truly with a Shuttle on the launch pad (obscured by the gantry) in the background. It definitely was thrilling to see the place so many folks have set off to do that which would make me so contented in life. Hopefully it will manage to get safely on its way this Sunday. I can't believe it took me this long, in life, to make it down here.
I am going to stay for the Sunday launch, provided the review scheduled for Saturday goes well. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do until then, but I may head out to the national seashore tomorrow. I spent a lot of time doing job hunting work online today. Call it a "working vacation".
"In my own view, the important achievement of Apollo was a demonstration that humanity is not forever chained to this planet, and our visions go rather further than that, and our opportunities are unlimited."
~Neil Armstrong, press conference, 1999
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