Day 198
Since we left the Kennedy Space Centre just under a week ago, we both eagerly anticipated our return to finish exploring the rest of the park. Unfortunately, due to our decision to stay home yesterday, we missed watching a SpaceX rocket launch up close. Today, no launches were scheduled, but that did not curb our enthusiasm for the day.
After an hour drive, we arrived mid morning at the centre and checked the days schedule for any presentations before wondering around. The 3D IMAX had two shows playing back to back, with the first slated to start in fifteen minutes, not wanting to miss these, we headed straight for the theatre. The first show was called “Asteroid Hunters” and a second show called “Journey to Space” was scheduled to play right after.
Lori and I settled into our seats, put our 3D glasses on and began to learn the destructive capacity of an asteroid, and what scientists are doing to defend the planet from a collision. In order for scientist to better understand where an asteroid will hit and calculate how much damage, they built a simulator that would calculate the angle of impact and the destructive radius. As the film walked through the simulator, it showed a large asteroid headed for the outskirts of a city. As the simulator is a serious dress rehearsal, the control centre was bustling with scientists, as they made plans to evacuate the city. The film would flip from the control centre, to footage of the the city the asteroid was headed for. As the cameras moved around the city, both Lori and I were trying to place the city… it look awfully familiar.
As the film progressed, it noted prior to the impact, all humans and animals would be evacuated from the impact zone. As the film panned across the city that was now to be evacuated, the Calgary tower scrolled across the screen…. Lori and I looked at each other in awe, as we watched our home town get wiped off the face of the earth.
After the shock of the first film, we took a small break for some refreshments and a moment of silence for our loved ones back home, we will miss you 😢. The second 3D film was based on the future goals of space travel, specifically the Artemis moon and mars missions. In the end, Both films were so inspirational they left you in such awe. These people are truly laying the foundation to the future of humanity.
After we left the IMAX theatre we headed over to the Gateway Deep Space Complex. This facility was a museum of all the commercial companies affiliated with NASA’s Artemis project. On the second floor there was four rides set up with a spaceport theme. You would pick your destinations and get inline at a gate for the next shuttle to arrive. We only got one of the rides in as there was a thirty minute wait for each ride.
It was now approaching 3:00 and we still needed to explore one more attractions, if it was quick, we would head back to the Atlantis Space Shuttle complex for another launch experience. This stop was the Hall of Fame complex and again did not disappoint! By the time we finished with the Hall of Fame it was approaching 4:00 and we needed to begin our return home.
As we left the park, we both agreed (in our own opinion) that the Kennedy Space Centre is far better than Disney world. If we were to ever return, we would give Disney a pass and visit the Space Centre again.
