Whenever Kennedy Space Center has a daytime launch, I like to pack up the work laptop and make the 70–90 minute drive over to see it close up (“close up” meaning about four to six miles away, depending on which pad it’s launching from). This past Monday was the scheduled launch of Amazon’s second Kuiper satellite internet mission on board a ULA Atlas V rocket, which I’ve never seen before (SpaceX launches once or twice a week, so I’ve seen plenty Falcon 9’s).
Unfortunately, the launch was scrubbed while on the bus to the Apollo/Saturn V Center and Banana Creek Viewing Area; but rather than waste the trip I used my Insta360 X4 to record the presentations inside the Center, which include:
- A multimedia presentation about the early days of the American space program up until Apollo 8.
- A reenactment of the Apollo 8 launch inside the same firing control room, with all of the original consoles, that was used on December 21, 1968.
- A multimedia presentation providing detail about Apollo 11’s final approach and landing on the moon (hint: it wasn’t as easy as it looked on TV!).
