The Kennedy Space Centre is so named because it was president JFK, who set this particular space centre on its quest to get a space ship to the moon all those years ago. Today Nasa are no longer the new kids on the block falling in second place to Russia, nowadays they have all the best toys and share quite a few with the world.

Throughout our tour of the space centre information on the things Nasa has developed that are being used in the day to day world are on display, things such as grooves in road surfaces creating better traction was originally designed to help the landing shuttles as they have no engines when they land. Several medical cures that have been discovered in space and can only be grown in space are already in use around the world, including some cancer treatments. The list goes on but the end result is Nasa do a lot more than you probably realise and top of all that they don't take a single dollar from tax revenue. They use the funding from visitors and income from the developments they make and sell and on top of that they actually put money back into the economy by donation of a percentage of any income they get and none of the income is profit it all goes to research and development.

One of the most memorable things we experienced at the centre was the simulator that is so realistic it is used to train real Astronauts for take launch, as this is exactly what it simulates. You are strapped into your seat and watch a huge screen which shows the varying changes of on screen, instruments, and window views you would see during take off. The simulator tilts you vertical, rocks forward and back, and vibrates and turns as the rocket would and this is a lot of vibration!!! Interviews with the Astronauts verify that this is the closest thing they have experienced to a real launch and they have experienced a few different ones so should be a good judge.

A series of shuttle buses take you out to the observation areas near to the end of the crawler routes, we were lucky enough to see two shuttles loaded on the launch pads and waiting to go. The first one 'Atlantis' was due to launch the next day to do repairs on a satellite, the second 'Endeavour' was on the second launch pad as a back up in case anything went wrong with the first shuttle. On the way we saw a 'Bald Eagle' and its nest nearby which is about 8 feet wide and given the eagles wing span its not surprising, the are around the station goes for miles and miles and is a protected nature site for its wildlife. As well as the bald eagle the area has Alligators in its swamps, several types of Snake, and an abundance of other animals too, which just add to the list of things Nasa do for the world and its environment.

From the platform you can just see the rigging and the top of the red rocket and a tiny bit of the shuttle as the rigging and gantry obscure the view right up until they are pulled back prior to launch. In the middle of the viewing tower we were at is a now retired engine which is suspended between two levels of the tower! You could easily climb inside this thing and get lost its that big and the thrust it creates will send vibrations out up to 10 miles away, so when the rockets are launched you don't want to walk around anywhere near the wildlife areas as this really stirs them up!

We saw several videos at various parts of the park giving different details and stories about space shuttles and flights, but the best by far was the 3d IMAX film we saw. This was real clips of the work ongoing at the international space station which is part built and has 16 countries involved in building it. Russia and America are the main two but the parts are built in all 1 countries and assembled in space, the space station is now permanently inhabited by the rotation of Astronauts from the different countries and will always be so from now on. The construction will continue, expanding the facilities and helping to build others further out a bit like a spring board effect taking the human race deeper and deeper into space.

Now then once in space the easy things for us become very interesting events up there, for example all the water is taken up in bags! Weighing about 50kg each when loaded they are shunted around the shuttle like helium filled balloons, but the interesting bit is getting it to your mouth. The Astronauts have to release a little bit and then catch it in their mouths as it floats around like a bubble with water inside and if you don't get it all in one it splits into little bubbles going in all directions until it hit's a solid object. On top of that how would you feel about having to recycle this water for your entire stay in space? And yes that means all fluids even the bodily ones, not a drop can be wasted up there so the recycling system is the best in the world in purification terms.

The exact control room that was used for the Apollo Môn landing when man first set fot on the moon, is also part of the tour and is exactly the way it was on that day. Peoples glasses, coats, pens, photos are all in the exact same position as are the chairs and anything else that was there that day. Nothing has been moves from the moment the operators left, the clock and computers light up and countdown as part of the demonstration and have voice coverage from the tapings of the radio communication throughout the launch, which all makes for a pretty good display.

There is a shuttle replica which we got chance to look round and see into the cargo bay where the equipment is carried to space them positioned with the aid of a mechanical arm, which apparently takes quite some skill to control. We also walked the gantry that the Apollo team walked the morning of the flight that pt man on the moon.

It goes without saying that you cant be an astronaut if you are claustrophobic but something we didn't know is that patience is tested for up to three hours before any shuttle launch as the Astronauts have to be in the shuttle and ready for all this time.

So there you have it, now we all know that life in space is permanent and that means before long everyone will be able to travel there instead of jolly hols on the beach!!