ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 16, 1997 TAG: 9702140011
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: 8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.
SOURCE: NAEDINE JOY HAZELL THE HARTFORD COURANT
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.
Partly because of 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.
By rights, the rocket should be mentioned first.
When you walk out into the main exhibit hall, you get your first look at the Saturn V.
The sight is impressive.
The rocket, which dominates the cavernous exhibit hall, is longer than a football field and weighed 6.2 million pounds when fully loaded - as heavy as seven Boeing 747 Jumbo jets.
Along the walls of the main hall are displays explaining some of the scientific principles at work in space missions - lift, drag, velocity, weightlessness and the like.
There also is a brief history of each Apollo mission along the right-hand wall of the great hall.
If you're looking for a Kodak moment, consider the New Frontiers Gallery, which is a large darkened room with interactive exhibits and a spot for family photo ops.
Except for two theaters and the New Frontiers Gallery, the one-floor main hall contains all there is to see in the new center.
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 Visitors Center.
After leaving the Apollo/Saturn V Center you must take a bus back to the main visitors 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:
nThere have been about 80 shuttle flights launched from the Kennedy Space Center.
nOrbiting astronauts see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day.
nThe Vehicle Assembly Building is so large you could slide the Statue of Liberty through the front doors without scratching a thing.
nIt takes five hours to move a shuttle from the assembly building to the launch pad a few miles away.
nThe shuttle launch is monitored at the Kennedy Space Center for the first seven seconds and then control shifts to Houston.
The bus tours can't take you up close to any of the launch sites or restricted areas (for security reasons), but you can get one of the best views you'll ever have by watching the movie ``The Dream Is Alive'' in one of the center's two five-story IMAX theaters. Another sensation is a special 3-D IMAX movie, ``L-5, First City in Space.'' Besides the films, the main Visitors Center includes several other buildings with indoor exhibits and some outdoor exhibits. The campus is small enough that it can easily be walked by anyone.
Things to see outside include a replica of the shuttle parked at the center's entrance, a towering granite-wall memorial to test pilots and astronauts who died in the line of duty and a Rocket Garden.
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.
LENGTH: Long : 135 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: NADINE JOY HAZELL/Hartford Courant. When you walk outby CNBinto the main exhibit hall, you get your first look at the Saturn V,
seen here through a fisheye camera lens. The rocket is longer than a
football field and weighed 6.2 million pounds when fully loaded - as
heavy as seven Boeing 747s. color.