Cocoa Village Marina, Cocoa, Florida



Nancy and Eddie's new car



A space capsule, hard to believe that it actually held two or three astronauts

Space Shuttle Endeavour on the launchpad being made ready for the April 19th launch



We had to try the Space Dots ice cream, which is apparently what the astronauts eat. It is billed as the ice cream of the future, but we really thought regular ice cream can't be beat.



We saw inside a space shuttle, both where the astronauts live - galley, sleeping quarters and head, and the cockpit. Neither is very big. Sleeping quarters, galley and head might make a bathroom in an average house. The cockpit has only the controls and seats.

A moon rover

Part of the rocket park at the Kennedy Space Centre.

We had a great day today! Eddie and Nancy have already purchased a car (can't believe they did it so quickly). They came and picked us up and we went to the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral. The Space Centre is actually on Merritt Island, and surrounded by several acres of wildlife preserve. We went to two IMAX movies, one about the Hubbel Telescope and another about the Space Station. We went to see the launch pad for the next shuttle launch.The launch is scheduled for April 19th, and the shuttle is already at the launch pad. It was so exciting to see it ready to go. The shuttle was brought from the building where they get it ready along a gravel road 8 lanes wide, by a carrier that travels at 1 mile per hour; takes 8 hours to move the shuttle to the launch pad. The fuel rockets are recovered from the ocean after launch; boats go out to recover them, then bring them in to railway tracks that then are used to transport them to the Vehicle Assembly Building where they are prepared for use again. The tour was well worth while doing. Some of my surprises: had forgotten so many details of the space program from the 80s and 90s, how many inventions created for the space program have come into everyday use and make our lives better,  didn't realize how little space the astronauts had to live and move in as they travel through space. We were truely amazed by the courage of these men and women who have explored space and learned so much. As we were travelling from one point to another through the wildlife preserve, saw alligators in the water and a bald eagle, as well as a bald eagle nest.  Came back to Cocoa and went out for dinner. Then we had to say good-bye to Nancy and Eddie for a while. We will definitely see them again, we hope sooner rather than later, but they need to get settled here in Florida while we need to move on. We have so enjoyed travelling with them. They are good friends.