“Pic of the Week”, October 5, 2018 : Space Shuttle, “Discovery”

04 Discovery

When the Space Shuttle program was discontinued in the early years of the Obama administration, museums around the world scrambled for the right to receive and exhibit one of the four remaining shuttles.   It seems highly appropriate that one of these unique spacecraft should find its final home at the prestigious Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (located in Virginia, close to Washington Dulles Airport, about a half hour’s drive from downtown DC).  

Situated in a separate wing of the Udvar-Hazy Center with other relics of space travel (including an especially an impressive collection of satellites), the Shuttle is one of the Center’s prized exhibits.  The shuttle Discovery is parked so that you can walk around it …

Read More

Karl on | Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, October 5, 2018 : Space Shuttle, “Discovery”
.All Trips / Florida / North America / Southeastern USA

A visit to the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida

kennedy-space-center-florida-2013-004

The Kennedy Space Center is one of my favorite attractions in the United States. It highlights some of the greatest technological achievements of our species and is testament to one of the most significant advances of human civilization — mankind leaving its earthly home to travel to the moon. It was President John Kennedy’s challenge to the nation to get a man to the moon and return him safely to the Earth before the close of the 1960s, a goal accomplished by the landing of Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the moon in July 1969.  I was very young during those halcyon days of space travel but remember vividly the great successes (and some heart-breaking failures) of the …

Read More

Tagged , , , , ,

“Pic of the Week”, January 10, 2014. Space Shuttle Atlantis, Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Kennedy Space Center Florida 2013 111 Atlantis Shuttle Display

Like many older folks, the Space Shuttle Atlantis moved to Florida after being forcibly retired after 30 years of loyal service.  Having completed 33 NASA space missions in its career, Atlantis has a new home and will have l-o-t-s of visitors.

The Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit opened June 2013 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida.  At the robust cost of $100 million (not counting the value of the shuttle orbiter itself), the attraction and five story building housing it is fascinating, captivating and well worth seeing.  The 90,000 square-foot building is a highlight of any visit to the Kennedy Space Center.  Unlike the theme parks in nearby Orlando, Fla., this attraction is real and part of …

Read More

Karl on | Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, January 10, 2014. Space Shuttle Atlantis, Kennedy Space Center, Florida