Overflow's Great Thread of NASA Knowledge

[FenwickHockey65]

Found this on imgur today.

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I took that.

[FenwickHockey65]

In your plane?

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Yes.

[FenwickHockey65]

We landed on the Moon 44 years ago today.

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A sneak peek of what's to come..

[FenwickHockey65]

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I have so much stuff to post. I'll try to have it all up this week.

[FenwickHockey65]

Can't wait to see it all!

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A picture from a member of my other forum..

[FenwickHockey65]

Nice size comparison.

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Before I start my review of the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit, I would like to bring up something that only the people that have been close to the orbiters for a long period of time know. Believe it or not, the orbiters have personalities, or a persona about them.

Enterprise is often compared as being you old high school friend. You hear so much about how she's planning to make the big league when she gets out of this town. But' lo and behold, you come back to your high school town 20 years later and she's a waitress at a restaurant. Things just didn't work out like she planned.

Columbia was known as "Big Mama". She was known as the grandma of the fleet. The only way she was going to do things would be her way. And when she was upset, the whole place knew about it. She was always known for being a little heavier in the rear end, "but I'm sure we can all relate to that".

Challenger is often known as Princess Diana. Snuffed out of her prime.

Discovery is known as the the middle aged woman. Always being the pride of the family. She was known for always being dependable.

Endeavour was known as "Gaga" and the teenager of the group. She was known for being cocky, things she knows everything, but knowing just enough to get her in trouble.

Atlantis was always the Space Shuttle in the shadows of Discovery. She often got " Discovery's returning us to flight again.. What have YOU done lately?? ". She was the shuttle always trying to one up Discovery, but always falling short. She was also known as Britney for always being more prone to problems while readying her for missions and always wanting to be the center of attention.

It was her persona that made me believe that this exhibit is perfect for her. It is truly all about Atlantis. She's the only space-worthy space shuttle that has an entire museum dedicated to her.

NOTICE: I want to say that I did leave some things out of this review simply because I didn't want to spoil everything. I am not showing any of the two pre shows right now. I will be putting little bits of it in the final film. ALSO: Keep in mind that my pictures do this exhibit no justice. Atlantis. Is. HUGE.

The day started early. A lot earlier than it's started in the past couple months. And I thought waking up at 5:30 on a Saturday for Cars & Coffee was bad. It was 4:30 AM. Yes.. It actually exists. Thankfully I packed all my stuff the day before. So all I had to do was get dressed and tidy up.

The drive over was pretty uneventful. Except the fact that we stopped at a Space Shuttle themed McDonalds in Titusville because we made great time and got there an hour earlier than expected. After McDonalds we had about 30 minutes to kill. So we went over to see Space Shuttle Inspiration at the Astronaut Hall of Fame.







Keep in mind, Inspiration is much smaller than an actual Space Shuttle.

Right after we left the Astronaut Hall of Fame. You start to see a large "pointy thing" sticking out of the trees..




After this, we headed over to the KSC badging station, which is next to the Visitor Complex, so we could get some good pictures of the Atlantis exhibit.

I present to you.. The back of the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit.






At this time, it was 9:00AM, and the Visitor Complex was officially open. We paid $10 for parking. By the way, if you get there early enough to be in the first parking lot, you'll get this view while heading to your parking spot.



After parking, we went through the uneventful ticket counter and immediately went to the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit. Along the way, I caught a very small mock-up of the Dream Chaser!





Get ready.. As soon as you clear the Space Shop.. You'll be smacked in the face with this view..



The logo of the exhibit..



Before you walk into the exhibit, you'll walk under an actual sized replica of the orange External Tank (ET) and two white Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs).







I've had a friend of mine that worked around the real SRBs during the Space Shuttle Program tell me that the detail on these SRBs are dead on accurate.



Before entering the exhibit, you'll see this plaque off to your left side. It pays true to what this exhibit is really is about.



As soon as you enter, you immediately hear the space theme music. I must say, it does put you in the space mood. But that could also be because of the many quotes and pictures from the space shuttle program too.










At this point, you'll enter a large room with old concepts of the Space Shuttle on the walls and a large screen in the middle of the room on the wall. This movie will basically just go over the point from where the idea of the Space Shuttle was told to the NASA teams in charge of making it happen, to right before the lift off of STS-1. It shows the many challenges it took just to get the Space Shuttle Program off the ground.

Once you get to STS-1, doors at the front of the room will open, and you'll walk into another room that has a total of four screens. Three of which arc from one side to the roof and to the other side. The 4th screen is a flat screen in front of you. This movie will go over the Space Shuttle Program's missions. This movie was put together extremely well. It is one of my favorite parts of this exhibit. If you're going to cry at all during this exhibit, this will be the time. They reveal Atlantis to you in such a way that it will leave you speechless. I did record this show for my final film.

Since I will not show you the way Atlantis is revealed to you right now, I will start from the point after the show.

I present to you.. Space Shuttle Atlantis.















The only thing left in Atlantis' Payload Bay is a mock air lock through which Atlantis would dock with the International Space Station.



I remember a guy I know who worked on Atlantis telling me that when working on her before a mission, he had a little accident with a wrench.. Atlantis still wears the Band-Aid to this day.



After being amazed by the huge size of Atlantis, you'll get another shock when you go around to her business end. Behold, Atlantis' three RSME's.







After you're finished looking at the replicas, you'll turn around and see an actual flown Space Shuttle Main Engine.





On the other side of the wall guarding the SSME, is a replica of Atlantis' flight deck. I had a little too much fun in this thing.





What controls the Canadarm..



The pilot's view.





You are now on the top level of the Atlantis exhibit. Here, you will get a better view of Atlantis' payload bay, and get to use interactive exhibits and view Space Shuttle artifacts.















At the end of the top level, you will reach an actual sized Hubble Space Telescope Replica. This is the closest you'll get to the real thing since Hubble will eventually burn up in Earth's atmosphere due to the Shuttle retiring before it could be retrieved.





After this, I walked back around to Atlantis' engines to go down to the bottom floor. There is an International Space Station playground for kids here.

This is when you get to view the thousands of tiles on Atlantis' belly that helped her and her crew return to Earth 33 times. Notice the scorch marks.







After this, you'll enter a hallway that shows the mission patch and launch date for every one of Atlantis' missions.



Then you'll turn a corner and enter a very cool hallway that signifies the deorbit burn. As you walk through, you'll hear mission control commanding Atlantis' crew to begin the deorbit burn.



You'll now be able to walk under Atlantis.









There is also a large amount of exhibits down here as well.

Here is where the astronauts would sleep..



Where they'd do their other business..



A memorial to the shuttles and astronauts that lost their lives during the program.



The beanie cap from launch pad 39B. A little bit of history.. This beanie cap covered Space Shuttle Challenger before it lifted off on it's fatal and final mission..



Notice the banners.. " We Made History! Welcome Home Atlantis " was held by the people who worked on Atlantis while they walked behind her when she became the final Space Shuttle to leave Kennedy Space Center when she headed to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.



The "We're Behind you, Atlantis! " banner was held by the people who worked on Atlantis as they walked behind her as she was moved to the VAB for stacking for the final Space Shuttle mission, STS-135. When you go to this exhibit, take a moment to reflect on the significant value these banners are.










Next you'll walk up to another very cool part of this exhibit. It is the actual tires that were on Atlantis when she landed for mission STS-135. And yes. You can touch, and even spin them!







And yes, I rode the Shuttle Launch Experience.

Near the exit/gift shop of the exhibit, you'll walk up on something you'll think looks familiar.





Yes.. The Space Shuttle Atlantis includes the actual Astrovan that carried every single Space Shuttle astronaut since 1984 to the launch pads. Very cool.

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And before exiting the exhibit and heading into the gift shop, you'll get a look at this strange thing.. And well.. You'll just have to watch the pre-shows to know the significance of this.

The gift shop has an abundance of stuff.





A friend of mine who also made the films " Path to Discovery " and " The Next Endeavour " is actually the one who designed this patch.



Like mission patches, pins and coins? The gift shop has you covered.



A special, limited edition Space Shuttle Atlantis model signed by STS-135 commander Chris Ferguson. Only 135 of these are made.





Before I conclude my review, I'd like to ask everyone who visits Atlantis a favor.. notice the details.

















And to conclude my review, I just want to say a few things. And many of you realized, I helped a lot with the covering of this construction of this building on another forum, then moved everything I posted here for all of you to see as well. I honestly thought I knew what to expect with this exhibit. I thought I knew exactly what I'd see. I had my expectations and honestly didn't think they would be passed. I was dead wrong. No pictures do this exhibit any justice. My expectations were beyond exceeded with this exhibit. It almost disappoints me that my pictures didn't capture it as well as I hoped, but then I realized that no one's pictures can. Point blank, do not let the admission price of Kennedy Space Center scare you off. You get more than your money's worth. This is only one exhibit here. I didn't post the pictures of the Gemini, Mercury or Apollo exhibits. Nor did I post pictures of the tour included with admission. I may post these later. I think this exhibit is one of Florida's must see attractions. Plus, I think Atlantis would really appreciate it if you all came out to see her.

Lastly, I have already decided where I will be going to see my next orbiter.

Next summer, I will be traveling to Los Angeles, California, to see Endeavour and review her temporary exhibit.

PS - It's also already been decided that I will be paying Atlantis another visit in summer of 2015 with FenwickHockey65.

[FenwickHockey65]

Great post! Can't wait to go see her.