Space Cadets.

Kennedy Space Centre, FL – Really, the Space Shuttle Discovery is sitting right there. Right there.

Okay, ‘right there’ is in fact still a couple miles away from the observation platform at Launch Complex 39, and the launch pad’s metal framework cloaks the Shuttle itself, revealing only the tips of its boosters. But it’s right there.

Having grown up watching the Shuttle program’s early voyages on television, including the ill-fated 73-second Challenger flight in 1986, I have long been enamoured by the thought of space travel. Given my love of discovery (pun intended), travel and new experiences, this likely comes as little surprise.

We had considered staying to witness Monday’s third-last Shuttle launch, but likely won’t given the extra time and uncertain launch conditions. Instead, we made our way to the Kennedy Space Centre today and were shuttled (yes, again, pun intended) around the facility by retired NASA staff sporting brush cuts that hearkened back to the golden era of space travel.

Moving past the Vehicle Assembly Building, which was once the world's largest building by volume (and is now the fourth-largest) and houses the three other Shuttles, we proceeded to Launch Complex 39 to see Discovery. From there, we visited the Apoll0/Saturn V Center, where the world's largest-ever rocket hangs from the ceiling. Our tour concluded with the Space Station Processing Facility, where you can see modules of the International Space Station tested.

T-4 until the (anticipated) lift-off.