Unfortunately we have had quite a string of clouded out RACOBS. In general, we have had rather poor weather for astronomy since mid-spring of this year.
For August’s clouded out RACOBS, we had an informal meeting at the Museum where a fellow member gave a presentation of his recent visit to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Some the highlights were walking through the Rocket Garden and seeing life size versions of the Mercury Redstone, Mercury Atlas and Gemini Titan rockets all in a vertical possition. Then comparing those to the massive Saturn V rocket replica in a horizontal position, Also, lifesize versions of each of the program’s space capsules are on display; visitors can sit inside each one to get a sense of what limit room the astronauts had to live with.
Since NASA is inbetween space programs, tours of the huge Vehicle Assembly Building are availalble for a limited time. It was quite impressive to see how large the building actually is. It is a single story building, the hieght of an average 57 story building.
Also part of the visit was an upclose tour of Lauch Complex 39A, the site of the final shuttle mission launch (STS-135).
Not to be missed a ride on the Shuttle Launch Experience, a Disney style ride that claims to be a pretty realistic approximation of what it is like to to be launched into space aboard the space shuttle.
After the presentation, the grouped discussed the various weather models used to predict observing considitions. Afterwards most of the attendees gathered for a late dinner and dessert at a local restaurant.
