About two weeks ago my wife saw a link for a series of events at all the major NASA centers. Usually NASA Social events line up with launches, but this was for the yearly ‘State of NASA’ address. I decided to apply for the Kennedy Space Center event thinking it was a long shot, but to my surprise I was accepted! I quickly booked a flight, hotel, and rental car and was off to Florida!

Myself and about twenty other people got to spend all of Monday, February 10th touring the Kennedy Space Center and watching the State of NASA address.

First up we got to see press building and better get to know one another.

Launch pad view from the press building

Our group in front of the vehicle assembly building

Our group at launch pad 39B

Our ride for the day

The press building was a fascinating place to start, it’s hard to grasp the number of historic moments that building has seen. Overlooking the vehicle assembly building and some launch pads it’s a gorgeous part of the space center. Next up we got to see the truly massive vehicle assembly building, a life long dream.

Vehicle Assembly Building

The Vehicle Assembly Building, of VAB for short, is probably the most iconic building in the entire space program. It’s where the Saturn V was built and where the space shuttles were prepared. Intellectually I know this is a large building, but even being inside I found it hard to appreciate the scale of it all.

VAB view from the press building

VAB view from the bus

The glass windows on the left are the launch control rooms

Simply massive, and stunning

The yellow crane is the ‘low bay’ crane, as crazy as that sounds

That ceiling keeps going up

These are the walkways that would surround the Saturn V rocket when it was being built

Everyone that worked on the shuttle program was given the opportunity to sign the wall in the VAB

VAB in the background, but you can see the tracks in the gravel. Those tracks are made by the crawler that carry the rockets from the VAB to the pad.

Launch Pad 39B

After a stop for lunch and to watch Administrator Bridenstine’s address we went to see launch pad 39B. This launch pad was used to launch the Apollo-10 mission around the moon, and recently has been modified to launch the new SLS rockets.

The trench is known as the flame trench, used to redirect the flame coming out of the bottom of the rocket so it doesn’t damage the rocket or the pad. Just like at the VAB, it’s difficult to appreciate the sheer size of it all.

Launch pad 39B. Lighting protection towers, water tank for fire and noise suppression, spherical fuel tanks.

Up close and personal with the flame trench

Pretty serious pipes to carry huge amounts of water to the pad

Oxidizer tanks, remember no smoking!

Scenic Views

After finishing our visit to the launch pad we all climbed back on board the bus and took the long way to our next stop so that we could see some other interesting sights. First up was the beach house. This was a house made for the early astronauts and their families so they could relax and have some privacy. It's an odd sight tucked between launch pads, but it certainly is private!

We next saw a rocket bring prepared to launch something for the Department of Defense. That's a big rocket! Finally we saw the building that houses the astronauts while they're on base. It's also where they emerge to get into the iconic van to head to the launch pad.

Veggie Lab

Our last official stop of the day was to the Veggie Lab, a group working on growing plants in space. This stop was absolutely fascinating, and we got to speak to some of the scientists about their work.

They use specialized chambers to mimic the exact temperature and CO2 levels on the space station minute by minute to allow them to do comparison testing where gravity is the only variable. This is such incredible work, and it's not only for the ISS, they have even created simulated Martian soil using measurements from the Martian rovers! I can't wait to hear what else they come up with in the next few years.

Visitors Center & Shuttle Atlantis

A nice extra perk was that they also gave each of us a free pass to the visitors center. We wrapped up around 4:15pm, but the visitors center didn't close until 6:00pm. I had about an hour and a half to explore, so with limited time I went straight to the Atlantis shuttle. It's awe inspiring to see a real space ship only a few feet from your face. I grew up watching the shuttles launch on TV, and while I'm sad the shuttle era is over it was incredible to see one in person.

This was my first NASA Social event and I'm blown away at what a fantastic job they do. It was a truly remarkable day, and absolutely worth the late night flights and lack of sleep required to make it happen.

If you ever have the chance to apply for one, definitely do it!