Florida’s Kennedy Space Center is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Florida. It is one of NASA’s ten field space centers which served as its iconic rocket launch site. This space center can be a perfect choice for your kids because it gives them the best knowledge about our planet and the universe. Kennedy Space Center is a wonderful place that can provide education and inspiration for your life. It was founded on 1 June 1962 and originally known as NASA’s launch operations center. It is a place you must visit in your life because here you have so many things to explore. Some of the best things like iconic rockets, real space shuttles, the massive Saturn V rocket and many more.
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is NASA’s primary launch and research center, where scientists research new technology to explore space. If you are a first time visitor, our complete guide will give you brief details about KSC that definitely make your trip comfortable and stress-free.
What is Kennedy Space Center?
As we discussed above, Kennedy Space Center is Nasa’s primary launch and spaceflight center which is located in Merritt Island, Florida. It is an honor to Mr. John F. Kennedy, who is Ex president of the United States. In this space center, you’ll explore its 525-foot tall vehicle assembly building (VAB) machine which is used for stacking NASA’s largest rockets. This space center has various space mission programs like Apollo, Skylab, Artemis, and Space Shuttle, making it widely popular in the world. Every year, millions of visitors come here to explore its past, present and future space mission programs. So, make sure you add this lovely place in your Florida exploration list.
Top attractions at Kennedy Space Center
When you visit this space center make sure you don’t miss its top attraction like its Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibits. These attractions definitely make you feel like you are in space. If you love space movies, don’t worry there are also IMAX films available that are for all ages with space history and future exploration. Then let’s discover some of the top attractions of Kennedy Space Center.
Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibition
It is our first and most famous exhibition which offers actual space shuttles that look so amazing. In this exhibition you can explore the retired Space Shuttle orbiter vehicle and the Shuttle Launch Experience simulation. That gives you real-life experience of racket launch. It also offers other small flown space shuttle objects such as shuttle tires, NASCAR starter flags, monolith and many more. This exhibition is excellent, allowing visitors to learn about space exploration and the shuttle’s role in building the International Space Station.
Explore Rocket Garden
Rocket Garden is an outdoor classic rocket exhibition that allows visitors to enjoy its iconic early rockets like Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo-era rockets. This rocket garden is giving you beautiful memories and inspires you to be the best rocket scientist or astronaut. It allows you to walk around real space artifacts like the Redstone, Atlas, and Saturn IB rockets, plus capsules and many more. That makes you feel like an astronaut or space scientist. This park honors those scientists and engineers who created early iconic rockets.
KSC Bus Tour
The Kennedy Space Center bus tour will be the best part of your tour where you explore behind the scene to restricted areas. They will take you to the restricted area like the massive Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and historic launch pads. This bus tour takes you beyond your imagination because of its exclusive restricted areas. These areas make you remember the history of Apollo missions at the Saturn V Center. Basically this bus tour gives you a little spicy flavor in your Kennedy Space Center tour.
Nearby attractions of Kennedy Space Center
Whenever you visit Florida, make sure you don’t miss its Kennedy Space Center and its nearby attractions. KSC (Kennedy Space Center) offers you various popular nearby attractions that we discuss below.
United States Astronaut Hall of Fame
It is our first and well-known nearby attraction of Kennedy Space Center which is located on Merritt Island, Florida. This exhibit, based on the legendary astronaut, gives you a brief knowledge about pioneering astronauts and showcases artifacts like space capsules. There is one unique thing about this exhibit, when you visit the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. It makes you feel like every artifact of this exhibit is telling you stories of early space flights.
Sands Space History Center
It is our second best nearby attraction of Kennedy Space Center which is free of cost and open for everyone. This Sands Space History Center is a museum that offers the history of space missions, legendary astronauts, a family-friendly environment, historic artifacts, uniforms, etc. There is no need for passes to explore this place because it is free to attend. During your exploration you can also visit its different gift shops and delicious dining options.
Manatee Sanctuary Park
It is another best nearby attraction of Kennedy Space Center that is in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This Manatee Sanctuary Park is a beautiful waterfront park that offers different glorious views right next to the Banana River. If you are looking for an ideal location for walking, jogging, picnicking and relaxing, then it will be the best place for you. It will be the best destination for your whole day’s busy schedule and provide you a comfortable touch. There you can also see wildlife like dolphins and birds in the winter months.
Tips for visiting Kennedy Space Center
When you explore any destination, it is common to be stuck in a problem which is generally a common thing. But sometimes these problems become a big issue. Considering this issue, we give you some major tips about this Space Center that may be helpful for your trip. You need to always keep them in your mind.
- Always try to arrive early because there are so many things to explore like its nearby attractions, dining options, bus tour and many more.
- Book your tickets in advance which helps you to save your time. It will help you to explore more things at the Kennedy Space Center.
- Make sure to enjoy the bus tour which will take you to some of the iconic and restricted areas of this space center.
- Avoid trendy and uncomfortable shoes which means you need to wear flexible & comfortable shoes that give you all-day comfort.
Best Time to Visit Kennedy Space Center
Looking for the best time to visit Kennedy Space Center? So let me clear you, there is always the best time to explore this Florida gem. But if you only want to explore this at a time of fewer crowds, we can help you with this. So, considering your problem, we suggest you explore this space center during weekends and off-season months like May and October. Arrive here in the early morning (9 AM) which gives you a full day’s exploration with various enjoyable activities. Rocket launch time can be the best time to visit KSC. If you want to enjoy rocket launches, remember to check the official launch calendar of Kennedy Space Center. At this time, you’re definitely facing a rush and high priced facilities because of the visitor rush.
Conclusion
Whether you’re a solo or group traveler you will definitely add Kennedy Space Center in your favorite places list. It is a place where you get deep knowledge about the space, universe, historic rackets, legendary astronauts and other artifacts. After all of that, there you also have its different nearby attractions which will give your trip a little spicy vibe. Then, in the end we hope you’ll enjoy our travel guide which will surely make your trip comfortable and easier. So get to visit this exciting Kennedy Space Center place and fulfill your last bucket like wish.