Day 8:

Day 8 was possibly the most informative day of them all. We visited the Astronaut Walk of Fame Museum and received a tour from a man who had previously been part of the process of loading cargo onto shuttles before their mission. He provided us with a wealth of information about space missions past and present. He also gave us plenty of information on his field of expertise, the payload system, and told us over what timescale tasks were completed. It’s great to spend all day talking about rockets and shuttles; but it’s nice to hear of the complexity and skill required in some of the lesser appreciated (but still very important) tasks. Another awesome thing was that Gus, another of the men working there, actually built the additional piece from the Saturn V that we saw at Kennedy. It just showed how local many of these people stayed to where the used to work.

 

After saying our goodbyes there, we were taken on a walk around the monuments, which paid tribute to the men and women that help make the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle Missions possible. The number of names on that board really put it into perspective just how large and operation of this nature is and, most importantly, how many companies and nations have come together with the aim to make history.

 

After stopping for a cold subway sandwich and drink, we drove along to our final destination, the Astronaut Walk of Fame. Much like Space Centre Houston, this place housed a wealth of artefacts detailing the beginning of space travel to the potential it holds today.

 

Our final meal was at a Mexican which, up until a few years ago was the go-to restaurant for astronauts in the area; so much so that our seating area was a mass a mission patches and memorabilia. Here we exchanged gifts and had the opportunity to thank the staff for the fantastic and once in a lifetime experience they had provided us with.

 

After this, we went to bed and prepared for the long day of travel we had ahead of us.