Kennedy Space Center

Outside the entrance.

The entrance.

The entrance to the building where the Space Shuttle Atlantis is on display (we'll return to this)

Vehicle Assembly Building. The 4 bays can prepare for 4 launches at a time.

Mission Control (beside the Vehicle Assembly Building). I think that they said that each launch was only controlled from here for about 1 1/2 minutes. Houston took over at that point

One of the huge tractors that the rockets are assembled on inside the Vehicle Assembly Building. The tractors then creep out to the launch sites (a minimum of 3 miles away).

An alligator. They mentioned that, before each launch, they try to shoo away all animal life within a 3 mile radius (so they won't be killed by the shock wave). Gators don't shoo. They must duck under the water until it's all over.

Another gator.

One of the highlights at the Space Center is the Apollo/Saturn V Center where you can walk beside a complete moonshot configuration laid out on its side.

Starting from the bottom:

This is a bit hard to see but it shows how the rover was stored on the lander and how it had to be unfolded and assembled.

This suit was a big deal because it still has moon dust on the boots and legs.

Back at the Visitors Center, we visited the Space Shuttle Atlantis. We had previously visited the Endeavor in Los Angeles and thought that this was a much nicer display.