The Kennedy Space Center is a complex for launching spacecraft and a spaceport. The complex is owned by NASA and is located halfway between Miami and Jacksonville, on Merritt Island in Florida. The Space Center covers an area of 567 km2, 55 km long and 10 km wide.
The center itself employs at least 13,500 people. Now only 9% of the area of the cosmodrome is used for its intended purpose – the rest of the area is occupied by a wildlife reserve. An interesting fact is that this territory accounts for the largest number of lightning strikes than any other place in the United States. Nasa is forced to spend millions of dollars to prevent lightning strikes during launches. For visitors, there are museums, two IMAX cinemas, and various bus tours.
Ticket and tour
The ticket price also includes a variety of bus tours, which give visitors to the complex a unique opportunity to look into closed places that are inaccessible under normal conditions. For example, you can freely view the ground-based launch sites where spaceships are launched from, while enjoying realistic sound effects. But what else can you do at the Kennedy Space Center? The answer comes quickly: visit the exhibition museums, explore the rocket park, dive into the educational center and look at the unusual monument “Space Mirror“. This monument was erected in memory of the astronauts who died during the research.
The monument is made in the form of a huge black granite mirror, on which the names of these brave people are engraved and illuminated along the length. Another nice feature is that in museums and parks, most of the objects presented are real, not mock-ups. They can be approached, examined and studied in detail.
A trip to the Kennedy Space Center will not only be an interesting pastime for you, but will also allow you to get closer to the achievements in the field of astronautics!
If you’re planning to visit multiple sites around the Kennedy Space Center, we highly recommend purchasing an annual pass or planning a two-day trip, as one day won’t be enough to cover all the attractions and exhibition complexes of this amazing place.