Kennedy Space Centre

Today we visit Kennedy Space Centre before continuing to Daytona Beach.  The drive from Kissimmee to Kennedy took less than an hour.

The Kennedy Space Centre is NASA’s primary launch station for space flight.  Some exhibits were accessible by foot from the entrance area but three by bus.  Overall, we got to see some of the hardware located in outdoor and indoor settings and an insight into the lives of astronauts onboard.

We learnt some benefits of the space programme that have supposedly made it into our everyday lives include the following:

Food safety standards today have come from the research required for the space programme.

Shuttle runway grooves first implemented to minimize skidding are now normal on some highways.

Sensors on seats were first implemented here are now used in vehicles so that parents don’t accidentally leave their babies behind; an alarm sounds when the key is removed from the steering column and baby’s weight is still in the child seat.

I can’t write much else about this because with some jetlag I lost interest after about an hour.  I think our bodies weren’t just on west coast time but possibly a little on New Zealand time.  We arrived there before 1000 and left around 1700.  It was a loooooong day because of the way I felt.

We drove north about an hour towards Daytona Beach, which is actually a long island separated from the mainland by a narrow channel of the sea.  Our accommodation, Islander Resort, was located at the south end of the island.  It was an old worn property that’s been tarted up.

Having stopped for Subway as a light dinner on our drive here, we had a late supper at Denny’s. We utilized a 20% off voucher from the hotel.