Kennedy Space Center

Sunday, April 20. Port Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Another day and two nights at sea, but in FAR calmer seas than previously. I enjoy days at sea almost as much as I like being in port. It is relaxing with plenty of time to read or watch in-room movies, and someone else makes the beds and prepares the meals. Speaking of which, once again, we had little trouble following our vegan diet, but as always, real vegan food isn’t often in evidence so we usually have to settle for roasted vegetables in various forms. This cruise was different, however! After the first couple of days, our dining steward told us there was a famous vegan chef on board who was creating vegan options that will be available on ALL Regent ships in the near future. Meanwhile, he would be happy to prepare special meals for us if we were willing to play guinea pigs for him. You bet! So to our delight, we had excellent real vegan meals every night, with plenty of protein and flavor. I do hope I live long enough that eating out in mainstream venues as a vegan isn’t as challenging as it is now. Yes, we can avoid animal products, but usually, that is at the expense of protein and flavor because we are typically settling for a vegetarian meal without the cheese. Not a problem on an occasional restaurant visit, but not so great on a long trip were it is rare to see even a bean, much less tofu or quinoa! This cruise was a delightful surprise, and made us even more interested in cruising with Regent in the future.

Port Canaveral isn’t much to look at, but the Kennedy Space Center really wowed us! Even though we have always known about its existence, we have never visited and truly had no idea how fascinating it is. This place is a must see no matter what your age or degree of interest in the space program.

We began our tour in the museum dedicated to the earliest space flights where, oddly, we were greeted by a replica of the Soviet capsule, Sputnik, that beat the US into space. An unexpressed theme throughout the center is the sense of international cooperation coupled with peaceful rivalry that has made space exploration a happy island away from the hostilities of earth, so really, it is fitting that Sputnik should greet us. 

My favorite part of the museum exhibits was a sign outside a replica of Mission Control from the early US space flights. It reads in part, “With rudimentary technology—in fact, there is more computing power in your smartphone than what existed in this entire room—each of the six missions that were commanded here were successful from lift-off to splash-down.” I was blown away to think of all the power in my pocket that didn’t exist ANYWHERE at that time, and yet, what they accomplished! 

That sense of accomplishment was the other principal thought I carried away from our visit. The KSC took us back to a time when we were all justifiably proud to be Americans, to a time when our country was not obsessed with poking around in other countries’ business or trying to remake the “less developed” world over in our image, to a time when we were able to bury our political differences and agree to step into space as one world and not as winners over losers. Very nostalgic, that stroll down memory lane.

While still in the museum building, we were treated to an i-Max movie of the cosmos, based on photographs taken by the Hubble telescope. WOW! Intellectually we all know we are a very tiny part of the universe, but seeing those photos you get a much more dramatic sense of just how tiny and insignificant we really are. And the photos are breathtakingly beautiful. This alone made the trip well worthwhile. Our admission was included in our cruise fare, but a single adult admission is $50, which sounds a bit steep but is truly worth every penny.

Other impressions from our visit included the huge size of the booster rockets and the very tiny size of the capsules where the astronauts were seated. Claustrophobia would definitely prevent you from joining their number. 

This is a BIG capsule--made for three, not just one person

Fortunately, the International Space Station is large enough to allow the crew to move about more comfortably, and even the Atlantis vehicle that is used to reach it seems huge compared to the early manned space capsules. 

 The final building in the complex houses a number of interactive displays where the kid in all of us can pretend to take the controls, feel for herself the power of the thrusters that hurtle us into space, steer the imaginary craft, and experience the silence of outer space after the rockets drop away. I asked one of the many docents there about how kids reacted to all this. I knew I was impressed, but wondered if children actually are even though you would expect them to be much more excited. She replied that it depends on the kid. Some, mostly little boys with big dreams, are nearly beside themselves with excitement. Others tromp through, interested but not actively thrilled. And of course, there are always some who are way too cool for school, bored, and boring, utterly passed over by anything that resembles interest, much less awe. I’m glad I’m not one of THEM!  By the end, we were impressed and starving—and then even more impressed when we were able to buy a veggie burger in the cafeteria.

We truly were overwhelmed with our visit, glad to have been able to see it and amazed that after all these years, even a dozen living right across the state, we have had no idea how worthwhile a trip to the Kennedy Space Center would be. If you haven’t been, go. You won’t regret it. It is the one port from this cruise we find ourselves urging others to visit on their own. Here is why. A country becomes great not because of the wars it wages, not even those it wins, but because of the big dreams it inspires and enables its citizens to achieve. In the current era of fruitless war that we have wallowed in for so long, I had almost forgotten the days when our space program swelled our hearts, expanded our minds, and underwrote the best of our humanity. Today's visit to the Kennedy Space Center brought all of that button-busting pride back to me. There are people now who say we can't afford to continue our exploration of space. We can't afford not to. They forget the enormous strides our scientists and engineers made and continue to make directly as a result of the space program and their impact on our everyday lives. They ignore the vast peaceful achievements of the international space program. They deny the inspiration this dream has been to generations of young people from every corner of our country and even the world. How much better to dedicate our national treasure to this goal and not to war. If we truly want to win hearts and minds around the world, perhaps we should demand that our nations leaders join the rest of her citizens in a visit to this monument to the dreams we fulfilled so recently in a time that seems far too long ago. Go. Have fun. Dream big.