Revisiting Kennedy Space Centre, 24 years later

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I was with Kuya Rendo and Ate Lorie during my first visit to the Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Twenty-four years later, I was excited to see how Donan would react when he saw the life-size versions of the rockets and spaceships that brought men to the Moon and back. Mommy, Daddy, Ninang Trining, and Anna were with us, too; this made this visit even more fun.

During this adventure, I drove our rental minivan, so I didn't take as many pictures as I would've loved. It was a 61-mi trip from Orlando. The day was sunny, allowing us to enjoy the view on the way. We went through wetlands before reaching Merritt Island. It felt like the road was going on forever until we saw the welcome signage of the KSC Visitor Centre. Donan was so excited!



The bus tour brought us close to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). When I was there in 2005, this building housed the space shuttle. 2005's STS-114 was dubbed the "return to flight" mission after the Columbia explosion. I missed it by a few weeks, but I saw the orbiter transporter on the move. In 2024, the VAB was adorned with the Artemis logo. Artemis is NASA's return to the Moon program. So far, it has launched an unmanned Orion spacecraft propelled by the Space Launch System (SLS). The next launch is supposed to be in 2026, so I would've liked to know if there's a spacecraft being assembled in the VAB as we passed by. The tour guide said the launch pads were being prepared for Space X launches... how much has the centre changed!


We saw the launch pads at a distance. However, we couldn't stop at any viewing deck because our next stop was the Apollo-Saturn Mission Centre. There, we learned about the lunar missions. Donan was upset by how dark and noisy the theatrical part of the centre was. It was good that I had a noise-cancelling headset for him handy. Otherwise, he enjoyed the rest of the centre because he saw the life-size version of the Saturn V rocket and the different modules that make up an Apollo spacecraft. We didn't stay long, though; we caught the bus back to the visitor centre to see the Atlantis exhibit.



The Atlantis exhibit was all about the Space Shuttle program. It had simulators and life-size models of the spacecraft. We tried a landing simulator and couldn't get a good landing! 

We were at the KSC until the centre closed. Seeing my family enjoy a tour of the centre at our own pace was fun. Donan enjoyed it the most because everything he saw on TV came to life. I hope he doesn't lose that sense of wonder as he grows up. We should revisit KSC when he's a bit older.

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