Kennedy Space Center

Dec 5th, 2024

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After experiencing the amazing Falcon 9 launch from the Kennedy Space Center, we explored the complex. The viewing point was near the Apollo/Saturn V Center, so we started our visit there.

What a feeling to stand under that rocket! You feel so small! To put things into perspective: the Saturn V rocket is 60 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty (we had to take three photos — one for each stage of the rocket — since we couldn’t capture the entire rocket in a single shot). It weighs 2.0 MILLION kilograms. And you can walk right under it! We were actually admiring something real, not a replica, not a fake, but a rocket that flew to space 13 times.

Maybe the rocket felt so impressive (like everything else at Kennedy Space Center) because we saw it right after a Falcon 9 launch. I wonder if, without experiencing that first, the complex would have felt as majestic? Still, it’s a wonderful place to visit.

On the way back to the “main campus,” we passed by the most iconic building of NASA, which is even more impressive in real life than on TV. Inside this building, they assemble the pieces and build the rockets. The two doors are still the tallest in the world, taking about 45 minutes just to open. The American flag on the outside of the building is gigantic — the blue part is the size of an NBA basketball court, each stripe is 9 feet (2.7m) wide. You could fit the entire Colosseum on the roof and still have plenty of space left for a parking lot.