Exhibit Captures Excitement Of Space Program

The new Apollo/Saturn V exhibit is a blast.

To get you in the mood, there’s a brief presentation in a darkened room - old footage of Buck Rogers movies, Sputnik headlines and President Kennedy looking inspiring.

Then you go to the Firing Room Theater. That’s where the drama begins.

The lights dim and you are transported to Dec. 21, 1968.

You see engineers in the control room. They are biting their nails, glancing from their consoles to the countdown clock.

An astronaut, dressing for the mission, gives a quick thumbs up to a cameraman.

Outside the launch building, rows and rows of visitors train their binoculars on the world’s most powerful rocket, the Saturn V.

“When fully fueled, it has the power of an atomic bomb,” a narrator says.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out how much is riding on Apollo 8, the first mission that put astronauts in lunar orbit.

As the countdown reaches the two-minute mark, the room seems to tremble. Some people hold their breath.

The wall panel shows ignition. The slight rattle of the windows in the theater builds to a clatter like a hailstorm.

On screen, a glowing rocket climbs into the darkened sky.

Cheers erupt from the engineers and spectators on the screens and from the center’s visitors in the theater.

Once is not enough.

When everyone else files out of the Firing Room Theater, stay for one more show. It starts almost immediately and it only takes 10 minutes to watch.

The new Apollo/Saturn V Center, which had its formal opening in early January, is more than just good theater. The $37 million exhibit - which is deep into the 70-acre property near the launch pads - includes many Apollo mission artifacts.

It is the newest tourist attraction at the Kennedy Space Center.

Due in part to our fascination with space exploration and the center’s nearness to Orlando - it’s only an hour away - the Kennedy Space Center has millions of visitors a year. Last year, the center hosted its 55 millionth guest since beginning tours in 1966.

The new Apollo/Saturn V Center is expected to draw even more tourists to Kennedy Space Center. It is miles and miles away from the main entrance to the Kennedy Space Center, which is where the other tourist attractions are clustered.

It can only be reached by bus from the main entrance of the complex.

It is well worth the trip.

Besides the two theater shows, the center has lots of interesting Apollo memorabilia.

There’s the spacesuit worn by Astronaut Jim Lovell on the Apollo 13 mission, a cone-shaped command module that anyone over 30 might recall watching bob on the ocean after splashdown, a real moon rock, a Lunar Module and one of only three Saturn V rockets in existence.

Don’t leave before visiting the Lunar Surface Theater where the drama of the first lunar landing unfolds. Similar to the first show, this one is brief - 12 minutes - and blends video presentations with theatrical effects and some staging.

The 400-member audience experiences the exciting Apollo 11 mission, including the frightening loss of radio contact with the astronauts, the problem with the onboard computer that threatened to scrub the first moon landing and finally the static-filled historic words: “The Eagle has landed.”

If all this excitement has made you hungry, the new center has a cafeteria serving pizza, hot dogs, salads and sandwiches. You can dine beneath the second and third stages of the Saturn V rocket or outside on the terrace overlooking Banana Creek and a distant launch pad. There are also several dining options at the main Visitor’s Center.

After leaving the Apollo/Saturn V Center you must take a bus back to the main visitor’s area of the Kennedy Space Center.

You have two options - take an express bus, which comes several times a day, or reboard a tour bus. The tour buses stop at the center as part of their tour of the Kennedy Space Center. You can reboard whenever you’d like.

The bus tours are narrated by the drivers. Sometimes you also hear taped conversations between astronauts and key NASA employees.

If you choose the bus tour, the best views are from the seats on the right-hand side (facing the front of the bus) or from the top level of the double-decker buses.

On the tour, you learn fun facts to know and tell:

There have been about 80 shuttle flights launched from the Kennedy Space Center.

Orbiting astronauts see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day.

The Vehicle Assembly Building is so large you could slide the Statue of Liberty through the front doors without scratching a thing.

It takes five hours to move a shuttle from the assembly building to the launch pad a few miles away.

In the Launch Status Center, which is near the space shuttle replica and looks like a small biodome, visitors can attend briefings every hour on a variety of topics.

Across the main plaza is “Satellites and You” in another building. This 45-minute journey through a simulated future space station defines how satellites are meant to improve life on Earth.

Nearby is the Children’s Play Dome, an area for children 4-feet tall and under that features slides and various toy spaceships so they can boldly go where they have never gone before.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: If you go When you go: The Kennedy Space Center is about an hour by car east of Orlando, Fla. It is open every day except Christmas, at 9 a.m. It is best to buy bus tour and IMAX theater tickets upon arrival. If you plan to be at the center around the time of a shuttle launch there could be more visitors than usual. Costs: The bus tours cost $8 for adults and $5 for children (ages 3-11) and leave every 15 minutes starting at 9:30 a.m. The IMAX movies cost $4 for adults and $2 for children (ages 3-11). There is no charge for parking at the center. Information: For information call (407) 452-2121 or visit the Web site at http://www.kscvisitor.com