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Archive for the ‘Kennedy Space Center’ Category

Consider it, one small step for NASA and one giant leap for guests at the Kennedy Space Center.

The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has announced a special new close-up tour offering guests a unique glimpse inside NASA’s Vehicle Assembly Building.

Other than NASA personnel and astronauts, few people have been inside the Vehicle Assembly Building where space shuttles were assembled and readied for launch.

However, the VAB will be part of a new Kennedy Space Center Up-Close tour to be offered eight times daily for a limited time beginning Nov. 1.  Also, for a very limited time, tour guests may actually see a space shuttle inside the VAB. Shuttles are being prepared for future display in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Florida.

Space shuttle Atlantis will be permanently displayed at Kennedy Space Center beginning in 2013.

Other stops on the two-hour Up-Close tour will include glimpse of the following:

• NASA’s KSC Headquarters.
• Operations & Checkout building - the astronaut crew quarters before each launch and where they boarded the Astrovan to ride to the launch pad.
• NASA Causeway and its panoramic view of the area and the coast.
• Crawlerway - the wide route that led shuttles to the launch platform
• Orbiter Processing Facilities - where orbiters were processed and maintained between flights.
• Solid Rocket Booster Storage Areas.
• Famed countdown clock.

Admission to the KSC visitor center is $43 for adults and $33 for ages 3-11. Admission for the Up-Close tour will be an additional $25 adults and $19 ages 3-11. Please note that the VAB stop is not part of the regular KSC bus tour that’s included with the regular admission.

For tour details or reservations, visit http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/. For details on discount attraction tickets and discount Orlando vacation packages, go to http://www.westgatereservations.com/.

The iconic space shuttle Atlantis has landed. Only this time it has landed a new permanent home.

NASA’s 30-year-old space shuttle program is scheduled to come to an end this summer. But one of the retired shuttles will be staying at Kennedy Space Center where it will be put on display for all to see and enjoy.

NASA announced that four museums will be receiving a space shuttle when the long-running shuttle program finally ends in June. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center was one of more than 20 museums that had been hoping to receive one of the retired shuttles.

As the shuttle program’s launch site, Kennedy Space Center in central Florida will be the permanent home to space shuttle Atlantis. The Visitor Center complex is planning to build a special exhibit center to commemorate the legacy of the durable spaceship. 

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum will receive space shuttle Discovery, replacing Enterprise, which is currently on display at the museum. Enterprise, a test model that was not built to fly, will be moved from the Smithsonian to to New York City’s Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.

Meanwhile, the fleet’s other shuttle, Endeavour will be sent to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

NASA expects that the spaceships could arrive at their new homes within six to nine months after their last flights.

Two space shuttle missions remain on the launch schedule. Endeavour is tentatively slated to launch from Kennedy Space Center at 3:47 pm on April 29, 2011. And the final shuttle launch of Atlantis, STS-135, is tentatively scheduled for 3:40 pm on June 28, 2011.

For additional information on discount tickets to Kennedy Space Center and other Orlando area theme parks, visit www.westgatereservations.com today.

Space Shuttle Discovery is almost ready for its final launch!

After a four-month delay, the NASA countdown clock is moving ahead for a scheduled Thursday afternoon launch of Discovery, STS-133 from Kennedy Space Center in Central Florida. The launch marks the farewell journey into orbit for Discovery, a mission to the International Space Station carrying supplies and a humanoid robot.

Weather conditions remain favorable for NASA’s scheduled launch time of 4:50 pm on Feb. 24.

The Discovery mission was originally slated to launch in early November, 2010 before incurring major delays due to a hydrogen gas leak and even more serious cracks in the external fuel tank.

Discovery first launched way back on August 30, 1984 and has journeyed more than 143 million miles in space over the course of 38 prior missions. The oldest of the remaining shuttles, Discover will likely head for the Smithsonian Institute following its upcoming 11-day mission.

Commander Steven Lindsey heads a six-person crew on the space flight which will be followed by only two more shuttle flights. Endeavour is scheduled to launch in April and Atlantis in June before the shuttle program is grounded permanently.

For more on the launch, visit www.NASA.gov. Or go to www.westgatereservations.com for information on central Florida vacation packages including Kennedy Space Center.

The Space Shuttle program is quickly coming to a close, but the Kennedy Space Center is working hard to ensure that the shuttle remains an active and viable part of the center’s Visitor Complex.

Currently, the future is up in the air as to where the three shuttles - Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour - will end up when the shuttle program is retired in the coming months. As a result, Kennedy Space Center has developed plans for how a shuttle could be incorporated into the Visitor Complex should KSC be awarded one of the space orbiters.

According to Kennedy Space Center, its 10 year plan includes a $100 million exhibit displaying one of the shuttles. The exhibit would be dynamic and interactive while displaying the orbiter in flight and how it was utilized. KSC is, of course, home to the space shuttle as all 132 shuttle missions to date have launched from the central Florida complex.

The concept for the Visitor’s Center display includes a 64,000 square foot area and would also highlight two of the shuttle era’s biggest accomplishments, the Hubble Space Telescope and the International Space Station. Other plans for the concept include 10 themed areas and improved visitor amenities.

For more information on Kennedy Space Center and other central Florida theme parks and attractions, go to www.westgatereservations.com or www.orlandothemeparkvacations.com.

The countdown is on.

Visitors to central Florida will be flocking to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on May 14 for the scheduled launch of space shuttle Atlantis on its STS-132 mission.

The shuttle is on Launch Pad 39A as crews continue with preparations for the scheduled liftoff at 2:20 p.m. EDT.

Atlantis will be heading to the International Space Station, where the shuttle’s six astronauts will spend a 12-day mission to deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built mini research module.

Favorable launch conditions are predicted as a high-pressure system continues to dominate Florida’s weather pattern, bringing plenty of sunshine to the sunshine state.

At 6:21 am on April 5, Space Shuttle Discovery thundered off the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, lighting up the early morning sky and sailing effortlessly toward the International Space Station.

This spectacular sight has become something of a central Florida tradition for nearly 30 years since the first space shuttle launch in 1981. Yet it’s also a tradition that is quickly drawing to a close. With the launch of STS-131 Discovery, only three additional shuttle flights remain scheduled before the amazing shuttle fleet is retired by NASA. Those final shuttle flights will truly mark the end of an era.

Discovery is carrying seven astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) as well as a multi-purpose logistics module that is designed to be used as a large storage unit filled with racks for the ISS laboratories. This 13-day mission also has three planned space walks, with work to include replacing an ammonia tank, retrieving a Japanese experiment from the station’s exterior, and switching out a gyro.

The launch also marks the second to last mission for Space Shuttle Discovery which is slated to fly the final shuttle mission tentatively scheduled for a Sept. 16, 2010 launch.

Five. Only five space shuttle missions remain on NASA’s schedule, with Endeavour getting prepared now for a planned February 7, 2010 flight from Central Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.

Commander George Zamka will lead the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station - a scheduled 13-day mission designed to increase the interior space for the ISS. The Endeavour crew will deliver the Italian-built Tranquility node, to provide space for crew members and the space station’s life support and environmental control systems.

They will also deliver a 7-windowed cupola, which will be used as a control room for robotics. The cupola offers a panoramic view of Earth, celestial objects and visiting spacecraft. The mission will also incorporate three spacewalks.

While there is plenty of work to be done in space over the final five space shuttle missions, much of the excitement for Central Florida visitors is geared around the remaining launches.

The Endeavour launch on Feb. 7 is targeted for 4:39 am EST, meaning the night skies will be lit up with a brilliant glow seen from as far away as Orlando and beyond.

For more information on the STS-130 mission, visit www.NASA.gov. Or for details on the Kennedy Space Center and discount Orlando vacation packages and discount Orlando accommodations, please visit www.OrlandoThemeParkVacations.com.

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