Miami to Orlando

 We left Miami this morning and headed for Orlando via the Kennedy Space Center.  The first observation of the morning is that there are a lot of people on the move in Florida.  Massive traffic for miles going both directions as we headed north.  

We arrived at Kennedy Space Center about 12:30 after about four hours on the road.  Observations from the space center were several.  The word that keeps coming to mind is bigness.  Is that even a word?  It apparently takes huge machines to put people and large objects into space.  Seeing a space shuttle from feet away is awe inspiring.  Walking the length of an Apollo moon rocket with it hanging horizontally above you boggles the mind.  Seeing the rocket transporter that gets 38 feet to the gallon next to the largest building by volume in the world gives large a new meaning.

Seeing the history of the Apollo program from the inside was remarkable.  The first moon landing was really scary.  It was no sure thing with communications not working, the approach speed being all wrong, the original landing spot being unusable, limited fuel to land with, and when Neil Armstrong took control on his own taking off across the landscape in a totally unexpected way leaving mission nothing they could do except tell Armstrong how many seconds of fuel he had left in a real life James Bond scenario with the clock going below 15 seconds then ten seconds it was riveting.  I don't think we knew that at the time, did we?  If we did I certainly don't remember it.  It was great to relive and see these historical reports.  How badly the space program started when I was like three years old.  The striving to get men to the moon when nobody had much hope that they could honestly pull it off.  The number of people, 400,000 involved in the process.  Simply amazing.

The final observation is, what a sales job they are trying to do.  The whole place is set up like a theme park but actually dealing with real things instead of fantasy.  The reality is fulfilling and hopeful, and they are trying to sell the younger generation on a positive vision of the future of space exploration.  They do a great job.  If you haven't been there and you find yourself in Florida, give yourself a full day to experience it.  

We are now in Orlando, ensconced in a reasonable hotel close to the parks.  Tomorrow is Universal studios. Fantasy or reality?  After today it is a tough choice.

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