NOSVC - no service

Triangle Restaurant Week Kickoff

Doesn’t it seem like we’ve been here before…

Twinkle, twinkle little bat, come and sport a silly hat! Complimentary food, drinks, and madcap mayhem yadda yadda yadda…

Yes – we have been here before only this time we are wearing a hat. Just like the Jingle Ball before it we came, we saw, we climbed on the Pirate Ship at Marbles. Great times – awesome pictures. What more could you ask for to end a Sunday of awesome weather. So there you go.

Pictures after the jump and all apologies in advance to whatever we were collecting food for – I think we ate and drank more than we brought but a good time was had by all.  More pictures from other cameras on the way – at least the are supposed to be.

When they get here I’ll let you know.

Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB)

One of the reasons for our trip to Kennedy Space Center was the opportunity to tour the Vehicle Assembly Building which hasn’t been open for the public to tour in over thirty years. Since it was open and the window (much like many launch windows) may not be long we thought it was a good idea to come down and see the building where space history was built.

The Vehicle (originally Vertical) Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) was used to assemble and house American manned launch vehicles from 1968-2011. At 3,664,883 cubic meters, it is one of the largest buildings in the world by volume.

The VAB is the largest single-story building in the world, was the tallest building in Florida until 1974, and is still the tallest building in the United States outside an urban area.

The VAB, which was completed in 1966, was originally built to allow for the vertical assembly of the Saturn V rocket for the Apollo program. It was then used for housing Space Shuttle external fuel tanks and flight hardware, and was where Space Shuttle orbiters were mated with their solid rocket boosters and external fuel tanks. Once assembled, the complete Space Shuttle was moved on the Mobile Launcher Platform and Crawler-Transporter to LC-39 Pad A or B.

The description and pictures linked above give an idea of the size but it is kind of hard to gain a lot of perspective looking at the pictures.  The flag on the left of the building (added in 1976) helps get an idea of the real size of the building. Each star on the flag is six feet tall, the field of blue is as large as a regulation basketball court and each stripe is as wide as a highway lane.

The building that housed over 500 employees prior to the Space Shuttle retirement last year was all but empty. What’s next for this building? Public tours are touted as temporary and if these two signs (2) inside are any indication – maybe something is likely to be built here soon.

P.S. – I didn’t use Instagram on these images. What you are seeing is a result of the bus window and not fancy electronics.

Snoopy the Astronaut

Snoopy the Astronaut? We caught him in several places and wondered about the significance.

The Silver Snoopy award is a special honor awarded to NASA employees and contractors for outstanding achievements related to human flight safety or mission success. The award certificate states that it is “In Appreciation” “For professionalism, dedication and outstanding support that greatly enhanced space flight safety and mission success.” The award depicts Snoopy, a character from the Peanuts comic strip created by Charles M. Schulz.

The origin may have been from the Apollo 10 Mission:

Due to the use of their names as call signs, the Peanuts characters Charlie Brown and Snoopy became semi-official mascots for the mission. Peanuts creator Charles Schulz also drew some special mission-related artwork for NASA.

A couple more after the jump. Very cool how pop culture embraced NASA during the golden age of space exploration.

SpaceX’s Dragon Launch 3:44AM EDT

Yes – we got up at 2:30AM to watch SpaceX’s Dragon launch across the early morning sky. There really isn’t much I could say about it – I am as speechless now as I was when I saw Atlantis launch two years ago. If there was a way to share this experience with more people there would be a huge priority shift from dropping bombs on sand castles to exploring what lies beyond Earth’s atmosphere. The sights, sounds and feelings that come with watching a launch are hard to explain.

So posting at 4:30AM? The explanation isn’t going to make a lot of sense anyway. I am very happy to say I saw the beginning of the next era of space exploration live.

The images aren’t bad considering I didn’t do anything more than point the camera in the general direction of the launch and hit the trigger repeatedly. I have a feeling I’ll need a bigger lens before the Orion launch in 2014.

Kennedy Space Center

Almost two years ago a few friends in Raleigh rented an RV and headed South on a trip to see one of the last shuttle launches (STS-132). I know – I probably talk about it all the time. If the first trip was “To Infinity and Beyond” this one is Infinity behind the scenes.

At the close of the shuttle program the Vehicle Assembly Building is open for tours for the first time in almost three decades. Currently the building is open because there is no vehicle to assemble. It it not only one of the largest buildings in the world but as of right now possibly one of the emptiest. It had to be amazing when over 500 people were working around the clock to assemble, test and prepare to send into orbit the rich history that is the United States space program.

After the jump are most of the pictures today from all over Kennedy Space Center. They include the both the exhibits and a few really cool images from behind the scenes. The tour creates a wide range of emotions about the program and the world we now live in that doesn’t celebrate astronauts as brave heroes like they did in the golden age of the space race. It makes you wonder if we’ve given up or if we’ve conquered all can as humans. I’ll blog more about this later but it was sad to walk through the rich history of a contest we won only to have the sad reality sink in that we now have to catch a ride with the country we worked so hard to surpass. Enjoy the pics – hopefully I’ll be able to post pictures of the first commercial rocket (Dragon/Space X) to go to the International Space Station before the week is done.

If you see a picture you like – or have a question about – let me know and I’ll post about it.

1234►

Dixie Crossroads – Titusville, FL

Space City, USA – Titusville, FL.

So far I’ve lost count of the number of space shuttles I’ve seen around town. We wanted seafood and got a tip on this restaurant in town – Dixie Crossroads. Very good – very cool place with a wide variety of local seafood and dinosaur (alligator is considered a dinosaur – right?). After taking pictures of alligators for two days we figured eating some ribs was the right thing to do. They were surprisingly good. The local red shrimp was excellent as well. Instead of hush puppies the meal started with powder sugar covered corn fritters. Can’t complain about that either.

Anyway – more pictures after the jump. I have to rest up for tomorrow.

From Charleston, SC to Titusville, FL

Here is a picture on the road between Charleston, SC and Titusville, FL. We had a great time this weekend at the wedding festivities of David and Shelley and decided to go further South and keep the party going with a tour of Kennedy Space Center. What? Go back to work? You have to be kidding.

Like the song says – the road goes on forever…

Just in case you forgot – this was the last time we were in Titusville.

Alligator at Middleton Place

We’ve run across wildlife in South Carolina before – this time I was a little more cautious about shooting the alligator we saw at Middleton Place. I am guessing these were used to defend the plantation back in the day. I know I would have serious reservations about entering or exiting if these guys were hanging out. Always wondered how plantation owners kept their “guests” back in the day.

We’ll likely head back over the plantation today to check things out – hopefully we will see the alligators before they see us. More pictures on the way – this time we’ll be taking the big camera. If the gators are out we’ll have even better close-ups.

I’m on a boat in Charleston, SC

We’ve been to Charleston, SC and covered much of what you can see on land. We got a new perspective by taking a rehearsal dinner cruise of the harbor. That’s right – I’m on a boat. (Cue the music please.) Now that you’ve heard the theme song you may as well jump to the pictures and see what we saw along the way.

Very cool to see the bridge up close and get a different look at The Battery in Charleston.

More to come from this weekend including pictures from the Plantation where we are staying.

You’re always a weiner…

at South of the Border. Yes – I know – we stop here on every trip we make south and why not? It is the most depressing happy place on the planet. (Probably not a future billboard theme.) But when everything is said and done – we love it.  There is no place better to refuel the tank and snap a few pictures.

This time our focus was the giant spark plug at the Exxon station. (After the jump.)

Feel free to suggest a new focal point for our trip home.