Florida Part Dos

Our brother-in-law Bill is one of those scary smart people. He is employed with a company contracted with NASA and works on the space shuttle. While we were in Florida, there was an employee open house. They have not had one for a long time and this is the last one as the shuttle program is ending with the introduction of the next generation vehicle. It was an opportunity of a lifetime. We got to go where the public is not allowed and to tour with someone that knew exactly what they were doing was mind opening.

We've been to Kennedy Space Center before, but this was behind-the-scenes. That huge building you see on television is called the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). It is larger than eight empire state buildings. I hurt my neck trying to look up at the ceiling. A semi can do a U-Turn inside.

We had the rare opportunity to see two shuttles on the pad at the same time, Atlantis and Endeavour. It hardly ever happens and we actually got to be really close. We couldn't get out of the car for obvious reasons, but seeing both of those shuttles there as symbols of science and progress and worlds beyond ours was incredible. It made me feel very patriotic. Spiritual too, when you consider space and everything we don't know.

We had a great time and it was very educational. Thanks again for taking us!