On Thu, 2 Apr 2026 12:51:38 -0400,
bofh@spuddy.org (Stephen Harris)
wrote:
Garrett Wollman <wollman@hergotha.csail.mit.edu> wrote:
I would recommend that everyone who is able (and for whom it is safe
to go to Florida) go to Kennedy Space Center and take the "Cape
Canaveral, Then and Now" tour. I did about fifteen years ago (in
conjunction with the, ummm, antepenultimate Space Shuttle launch) and
it was extremely interesting to see the sort of equipment they used
back then.
I was there roughly the same time (March 26th 2011) which was soon after >Discovery landed for the final time (Endeavour and Atlantis were the
final two flights in May and July) and there was definitely a feeling of >sadness in the place. But it was still fun and interesting, and worth
the trip. The Apollo/Saturn center was definitely a highlight.
I was there in 1996 and in those days they were pushing HARD the
shuttle tour but for me the historical tour (which unlike the first
which ran every hour only ran 3x per day) which I remember for two
things: (1) the gift shop had a space flown (admittedly by one of the
chimps that preceded Carpenter and Glenn) where they had replaced the
hatch door with clear plexiglass to improve the view. My son was 5 and
said "Dad I think I could fit in that!" to which his sisters (who
COULD read and had read the sign) sang "Johnny is a monkey Johnny is a
monkey!" (I'm pretty sure they knew the difference between a monkey
and a chimp but knew they'd get a "better" reaction from their
brother. We went back for a second day and saw that they had moved the
shuttle from the assembly area to the launch pad - and while we were
home 3 days later, it was my eldest's birthday so she got to see the
shuttle she had seen live launch into space.
Part of the thrill for me was getting to sit in the Capcom's seat and
push the button that launched Glenn. I was especially interested since
I had previously worked for Burroughs and the launch room was full of
their gear. I hadn't known NASA had used their gear in the early days.
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