The Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL (AKA Cape Canaveral) — Part 5

continued… There was a large exhibit on Fisher Space Pens, which have been on every manned space flight since Apollo-7 in 1968. These remarkable pens are retractable, pressurized, all-metal, work in zero gravity, work underwater, write upside down, work in temperatures between -30 degrees and 250 degrees Fahrenheit (-35 to 121 degrees C), write on nearly any surface and last three times longer than an average ballpoint pen. The pens are made in Boulder City, Nevada.

Next was a holograph of former astronaut James Lovell talking to us. We don’t remember what he talked about, but, given the nature of the medium, we half-expected him to say “Your our only hope, OB-1.” He didn’t, though.

At some point, Eric had separated from Christi and Keith. As Christi and Keith were nearing the Command Module that they’d skipped earlier, they noticed a group of people coming out of the doors that Christi had noticed on our way in. She said “I knew we’d missed the first movie!” and quickly pulled Keith into the room to see the introductory movie. The set was a replica of the Control Room during the first moon landing.

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The Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL (AKA Cape Canaveral) — Part 3

continued... We followed the path to another building entrance. The first thing we saw when we opened the door was the bottom of the Saturn V rocket, which was diagonally mounted to the ceiling. A sign said the engines we were looking at were each 19 feet long, 12 feet and 3 inches wide at the widest point, weighed 18,500 lbs, and were fueled with a form of kerosene called RP-1 an liquid oxygen.

To the left of the photo was a large double-door that Christi remembered exiting from after the introductory movie on our last visit. The doors were shut, confirming in her mind that they’d changed how they’d routed guests. There were a few exhibits on the wall to the right of this photo.

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The Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL (AKA Cape Canaveral) — Part 2

continued… From there, we went out to the platform. We climbed the stairs to the top floor. The top floor was enclosed. There was an exterior walkway around three sides with nice views. This was looking northwest.

Looking southeast, towards Cape Canaveral (the strip of land along the Atlantic shore where the launches were done).

There was a SpaceX facility just to the west of the above photo. Here was a zoom in of it.

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The Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL (AKA Cape Canaveral) — Part 1

Monday, May 4, 2026 — In the early morning, Eric took a ride share to a rental car facility and rented a car. Then he went to Kosmos, picked up Christi and Keith, and we all set out for the Kennedy Space Center. It was located in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and was a 20-minute drive. We headed west on a bridge that took us over the Banana River, then north to the Space Center.

We’d been once before, four years ago. Like Colonial Williamsburg, it was only open from 9 – 5 and there was more to see/do than could physically be done in one day; it was recommended to get a 2-day pass to see/do everything. Last time, we’d only had four hours, so we didn’t get to see much. Eric and Christi wanted to see the rest of it. Keith didn’t remembered much, so it was almost like his first visit.

As we drove in, we were astounded by the size of the Blue Origin complex. We remembered being astounded last time, too. This is just a tiny bit of the complex.

The Kennedy Space Center parking lot entrance was just beyond the Blue Origin complex. We arrived at 0920. Parking was $15. The line to buy tickets was short. Tickets were $77 for 12+ for one day and $91 for 2 days. With sales tax, the grand total for three 1-day passes was $217.17. This was the entrance. You can see part of the Rocket Garden in the distance.

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