Siesta Key,  and Longboat Key

Kennedy Space Center OurTown50 Tour

STS-124 May 31, 2008 - Photos OurTown50 except where noted

May 31, 2005, 5:02PM, Discovery launches on time in near perfect weather conditions.

Spectators gather to watch blast off of Discovery Saturday. In the background is a NASA rocket. Reportedly, the event was sold out with over 10,000 visitors.

The big screen at Kennedy Space Center shows the pre-launch. The picture in the picture is of two astronauts on stage giving a play by play of the pre-flight.

A universe with all the constellations can be rolled around in place. It sits in a water bath and kids and adults alike spin it around. In the background is a food court.

Part of the bus tour of KSC includes sections of a space station, including refrigerators, monitoring equipment and storage areas.

This is where the shuttle space ships are assembled at the KSC.

Want to take a drive on the moon? This is a space buggy at KSC.

On the KSC tour you pass by an eagles nest that weighs around 500lb. It used to weigh around 1200 lb before a hurricane took out half the nest. The eagles migrate here in the winter. If you are quick sited you can also catch alligators along a roadside drainage ditch.

For day launches we suggest you bring a blanket or beach chairs that fold into a holder (no regular beach chairs allowed.) They said no umbrellas are allowed but they sell umbrellas there. Also bring plenty of water, (no coolers allowed)sun screen, large hat and your camera. Food is available at a number of on site cafes. Most of the seating for the launch is in front of a large screen, on a grass lawn, that you can see the pre-launch on about an hour before launch. The viewing area is around six miles from the launch so the noise from the  rockets don't break your ear drums.  It's a great experience. We want to go back for a night launch. You can catch YouTube video's of launches on the ww.YouTubeweb.com site. Or www.kennedyspacecenter.com

We were honored to have been invited to tour the Kennedy Space Center, KSC,  for this launch. Our day started at about 6:30 AM leaving Sarasota for a 5:02 PM launch. They suggest you leave some extra time on launch days for traffic from Orlando to the KSC. We didn't encounter any traffic tie ups. However, the state scheduled a mock evacuation drill on the morning we would be traveling to Orlando on I-4. We arrived around 9 AM, the trip door to door was around 180 miles from Sarasota.

They stagger your arrival times so there is little to no tie ups getting into KSC. For this flight the arrival times were 9 AM, 11 AM and 1 PM. This launch was sold out at around 10,000 people because it fell on a Saturday.

Space Shuttle Discovery STS-124 as it takes off from Kennedy Space Center. Traveling at 1,000 mph within the first minute of lift off. OurTown50 staff was there to cover it.

We toured the KSC first. They have a 2 hour bus tour that leaves from the main Visitors Area. The bus tour is a must and is included in your ticket price. You get to see the building where they build the shuttles, a large building with a Saturn V rocket on display in sections, the moon buggy, and other displays. At this site you also get to see where the VIP's view the launch, mostly astronauts wife's and family. On launch day the bus tour is shortened so you have time to get to the launch on time.

Visitors eagerly await blast off while watching the launch pad and listening to two astronauts on stage narrating the pre-launch.

A collection of space rockets from previous flights at KSC.

The space shuttle rockets on display at KSC.

You have seen this space module before many times before when they used to bring the astronauts back to earth via a rocket as compared to a shuttle plane.

The original command control center from Cape Canaveral is on display at KSC.