A Launch to Remember (Part 7)

Sunday Morning: We headed to the Press Center at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) this morning to see what’s what. No press briefing has been scheduled, but we’re expecting one after the launch team makes a determination. The buzz around KSC is that the launch will be no earlier than May 8 or maybe May 10. The simple thermostat swap-out, for which we were hoping, isn’t the planned fix; it’s a much bigger problem.

In the meantime, we’ve kept ourselves busy, and Lofty Ambitions isn’t just about the space shuttle. KSC, in addition to being an active launch facility for both NASA and the Air Force, is a wildlife refuge. Alligators are protected here, and the area hosts 350 species of birds. As native Midwesterners, we’re used to seeing squirrels and bunnies, not reptiles and long-legged birds. Here are some photos of the creatures we’ve seen during our visit to the east coast of Florida.

Wild Boars at KSC

Bird in nest outside the KSC Press Center

Alligator at KSC, just swimming around with the tourists

Bird at KSC Visitor Complex

Turtle!

Another turtle!

Bird at the Saturn V rocket center

Yes, we were that close to an alligator!

Overview of a gator at KSC

Bird in flight over KSC

We’ll have another update later today. We’ll likely be heading home well before Endeavour launches. While that’s disappointing, this trip has been utterly worthwhile, and we have more to share than we’ve been able to keep up with. Stay tuned.

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