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CALYPS3O
2008 Journal Day
3, Thursday, June 5, 2008 We began the day early, really early! We met in the lounge at 6:45 am for breakfast and a quick meeting. At 7:15, we left the hotel and headed to the Patrick Air Force Base. We met John Hilliard, our tour guide for the morning and boarded a plush, air conditioned bus for our trip into the classified area beyond the fences. By the way, the high for today was 103 (with heat index) and the low was 90. The air conditioned bus was much appreciated. We set off on our tour into the historic areas of Cape Canaveral and discovered a world of wide, unused space scattered with launch pads and a few buildings. Our first stop found us at the bay where the Trident submarines dock. When the submarines docked, they used to take the missiles out of the ship and store them in hangars in case of an explosion. Now-a-days, the missiles stay in the ship, and the engineers who build the missiles climb into the ship and put the smaller devices and any remaining equipment that is needed onto the missiles. After seeing the hangars, we drove to the two main launch pads for that side of the Wildlife Reserve. We were lucky enough that the actual rocket NASA is planning to send into space on June 11th was sitting on the pad. It was amazing! It was unbelievably tall and had 9 boosters attached to its base. After seeing the rocket, we drove to the museum and launch pads where many of the unmanned rockets and monkeynauts were sent into orbit. We saw the actual command room where the generals sat and watched the launch. This part was especially interesting to me because of my family history. My grandfather was an engineer out at White Sands, a NASA base out in New Mexico, from 1964-1968. Our guide was nice enough to explain to me, personally, that White Sands was involved in the Redstone and early Apollo rockets. I actually have a ring and a cross that my father made for me out of silver my grandfather harvested from used parts from testing the Redstone and Apollo rockets. After visiting the museum, we toured the rest of the area and saw several launch pads, including the one where the tragedy of Apollo 1 occurred. We ate lunch at the air force base cafeteria and headed to the hangar where the shuttle's booster rockets are located. We spent an hour listening and talking to the divers who retrieve the boosters that fall off of the space shuttles and rockets. Their job is sooo cool! We got to see boosters that the team retrieved from the shuttle launch a few days ago. We then headed back to the Kennedy Space Center. We returned to the IMAX theater and saw a 3-D movie named Magnificent Desolation. It explained the entire process of how we made it to the moon. Most of the movie focused on the possibilities of future missions to the moon. I loved the movie. The shots of the moon with the earth in the background, as small as a speck, were spectacular. The movie was also helped by an outstanding score (music played during the movie) which instilled a sense of wonder in its audience. After the movie, we went to dinner at a Japanese Steak House. The food was amazing! After that we came back to the hotel and went to Ron Jon's Surf Shop. Everybody bought something and we headed back to the hotel where we swam and ran around on the beach for an hour.
Stephanie did a wonderful job explaining to you about what we did today! We spent most of our day at Cape Canaveral Patrick Air Force Base, where many of the older rockets had been launched. Our tour guide, John, gave us the most amazing tour of my life! He knows a lot about the missions of almost all the missiles, rockets, and space shuttles. I learned a lot of new things, many of which I had not even learned at Space Camp! He gave us so much information, my brain may not be able to remember it all! I learned so many interesting things! John showed us the Launch Pad that is used for the Titan V rockets, a program that is changing to the Falcon X program. I think that was very interesting to learn about new missile and rocket programs. We saw underground missile silos where pieces of the Challenger are kept. We also saw an old lighthouse that was built in the 1860's and was recently restored. We visited the block houses where German rocket scientist Wehrner Von Braun first watched rockets launched at the Cape. We saw the launch pads where Alan Shepard and John Glenn were launched into space. We climbed up to the top of the block house which overlooks the site of the Apollo I Fire where astronauts Grissom, White, and Chaffee died. After lunch we went to a different hangar and met two of NASA's divers, Larry Collins and Manuel DeLeon, who recover the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters after launch. Larry is the Senor Dive Supervisor and Manuel is an SRB Engineer and Diver. Manuel majored in Aeronautical Engineering, which is what my goal is ... becoming an aeronautical engineer. After the long day in Cape Canaveral, we went back to the Kennedy Space Center. We watched an IMAX movie about the experiences of astronauts on the moon. After that, we went to the Tokoyo Japanese Steak House. The food was delicious, and I had a nice chat with the chef while he was cooking. I had steak, chicken, fried rice, grilled vegetables, and noodles. We left the restaurant and I was so full that I might not need any weights attached to my belt for scuba diving! Some of us went to the Ron Jon Surf Shop and Dairy Queen after the dinner. We came to the hotel and spent some time at the beach. I know my blog sounds simple, but Stephaine gave you a complete description what we did today.
Interpreter Carrie Westhoelter and Volunteer Tour Guide, John Hilliard, USAF Retired
Our Air Force Tour Bus, Delta II Launch Pad and Rocket waiting to take the GLAST telescope into space
Bay where the Trident Submarines come in to dock
Learning about monkeys the US used in early space flights and the German V-2 rockets
Students
with Volunteer Tour Guide John Hilliard, USAF Retired,
Students look around the site of the Apollo I fire
Looking at restored missiles in Hangar R
Solid Rocket Boosters from Discovery's launch on Saturday, May 31st
Messages
from home: Sounds
like the students are having fun. I am so glad Beth Ann had the opportunity
to go with the group. It is a wonderful opportunity for all the young
people involved. I know she missed being here for her the birth of
her niece June 3rd – (surprise she was early) – If there
is any was to get a message to her she can view the pictures of Molly
on her my space if she can get to a computer. ---- Diana Culkin
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This
web page was last updated on June 5, 2008.
