A Trip To Remember : Day 7.

30th October, 2011.
Orlando.

Got up really early in the morning. Changed quickly and went outside the hotel where the bus was already waiting for us. Till all the others came out, we had a quick game of football which did warm ourselves a bit in the chilly morning weather.

We all got in the bus and off to Kennedy Space Center! This was the last day that we would be doing anything related to NASA, so I intended to enjoy it to the fullest and absorb all that I could from the experience.

Long drive, quite tiring, but we didn’t mind as we had finally reached. Kennedy was beautiful and huge even from the outside. On the left there was the Kennedy Rocket Garden, which was the display of various rockets which were life size. After we entered, we took pictures in front of huge signs of NASA. Then, we were scheduled to take a bus tour of a part of Kennedy, so we went towards the bus.

After getting there and waiting in line for some time, we got on. There was a nice, old guy who would take us to the final destination of the tour. We were going past some really amazing things, and I don’t think we could get closer to them than this. We saw a launch pad that had launched historic rockets into Space. Then we saw the Assembly building where the space craft was assembled and stored till the launch had come. To transport such a heavy object such as a space shuttle from the Assembly Building to the launch pad, we required a really huge vehicle. And we also saw that, the Kennedy Crawler transporter which looked like a super huge tank with the typical tank wheels but instead of the cockpit, there was a large platform on which the Space craft was lowered on to.

We then reached the observatory, from which we could see most of the Space Center. We could see launch pads that seized to be in use really long ago. From the observatory, looking through those telescope like instrument, Kennedy looked beautiful.

From there, we went to the Saturn Mission Control Center, where we first saw a video explaining the back ground of the story. It told us about the Space race which the USA and Russia had. It told us about the various failures that took place in those times at NASA, during the Space Race. They then eventually showed us parts of John F. Kennedy’s revolutionary speech which resulted in NASA, being what it is today. The Space Center at Orlando was thus named after him.

We then went inside and saw a video of the Saturn and Apollo missions, about their failures and eventual success in the Space Race. This gave us a lot of information of the roots of NASA, why exactly it was formed and how. These were the initial projects of NASA, which made it as successful and powerful as it is today. Then we went inside a small theatre like area from which we could see the Mission Control of the Apollo mission. It was virtual with really great effects, it really felt as if we aere sitting in Mission Control and there was a rocket being launched not far away. The effects were amazing.

As soon as we went out, we got to see something breathtaking. This was one of the most memorable moments of the US Trip. The Saturn V, lying there in the middle of a large chamber. It was HUGE! ( And yes I have to use the capital letters!!! ). It lay there in the middle of the room with loads of people under it’s belly and proper restaurants and shops there by it’s side. We clicked pictures, and went straight to the restaurants because we were hungry after the activities of the day.

We then went back to the NASA Visitor’s Complex, where we experienced a virtual Shuttle Launch experience. the effects were really good and we were sitting there in seat belt fastened seats, and shuddering and moving along with the aircraft. The experience was cool.

We then had free time at a shopping complex, and that is where we bought most of our NASA stuff.  We then went to an iMax 3D movie theater where we saw a movie on the Hubble Telescope. How it was made, sent up in Space and the changes and upgrading that were made to it over a few years. It also showed us actual footage that Hubble had bought for us and it was spell bindingly beautiful. It showed how small you are in the large Universe. It shows how everything is so small, so miniscule, so much more smaller than an ant in this endless abyss. This was worth thinking about. I loved that film.

That was it, NASA over, it was time to get back home. I’m just kidding! This is where the actual fun starts!!! We were in Orlando, the capital of the theme parks! Disney, Universal, SeaWorld! We are coming for you!

We then left for Cocoa Beach which took quite a while to reach. Once we are there, we quickly washed up and jumped into the Sea. Since the tide was high, we had to get out of there fast, but we had our share of fun.

Really tired, half asleep, I barely managed to keep myself awake. We went to Passage to India, and Indian restaurant where we got to eat india food after such a long time! We really enjoyed tucking into a part of home.

Went to the hotel, hit the bed, frankly speaking, I don’t remember even changing my clothes before sleeping that day.

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