It's a creative and dramatic display, preceded by a chest-swelling film that tells the story of the shuttle program from its inception in the 1960s to Atlantis’ final mission in 2011. Suspended in a specially designed, $100-million space, it hangs just a few feet out of reach, nose down, payload doors open, as if it's still orbiting the earth. Look for the coach buses and long lines to the right when you enter the Visitor Complex.Įditor's note: due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour has been suspended.īlasted by rocket fuel and streaked with space dust, space shuttle Atlantis, the final orbiter among NASA’s fleet, is the most impressive exhibit in the complex. Tours depart every 15 minutes from 10am to 3:30pm. This 6.5 million pound marvel of engineering boosted into space on November 9, 1967. Video footage on three screens depicts America's first lunar mission, the 1968 launch of Apollo VIII, before you're ushered through to an enormous hangar displaying the real Apollo 14 Command Module and the 363ft Saturn V moon rocket. The bus winds through the launch facilities to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where you don't want to miss the multimedia show in the Firing Room. This 90-minute bus tour is the only way to see beyond the Visitor Complex without paying for an add-on tour. Several stone panels display the photos and names of those who died in shuttle disasters.

The stunningly beautiful Space Mirror Memorial, a shiny granite wall standing four stories high, reflects both literally and figuratively on the personal and tragic stories behind the theme-park energy that permeates the center.

A NASA Now exhibit includes Journey to Mars, a collection of related shows and interactive exhibits, and two delightful IMAX films: A Beautiful Planet offers footage of Earth from space and an optimistic look at the future of the planet (narrated by Jennifer Lawrence), and Journey to Space 3-D features interviews with astronauts and an overview of NASA's past, present and future endeavors. Astronaut Hall of Fame, with films and multimedia exhibits honoring astronauts and the hour-long Astronaut Encounter, where a real, live astronaut fields questions from the audience. Here you'll find the Rocket Garden, featuring replicas of classic rockets towering over the complex Heroes & Legends and the U.S. The Visitor Complex, with several exhibits showcasing the history and future of US space travel and research, is the heart of the Kennedy Space Center. To get a good overview, start at the Early Space Exploration exhibit, progress to the 90-minute bus tour to the Apollo/Saturn V Center (where you'll find the best on-site cafe) and finish at the awesome Atlantis exhibit, where you can walk beneath the heat-scorched fuselage of a shuttle that traveled more than 126,000,000 miles through space on 33 missions. Whether you're mildly interested in space or a die-hard sci-fi fan, a visit to the Kennedy Space Center is awe inspiring. Learn about the rigors of space exploration training and, of course, try the astronaut ice cream. But the sense of potential that always informed Kennedy Space Center – indeed, that still pushes NASA to reach out for Mars and beyond – remains palpable in this location, one of the most visited spots in Florida. Within this 140,000-acre campus, the dreams of some of the greatest scientific minds of the 20th century took flight all the way to the moon and back.and then were defunded and grounded on earth.

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