Tour of the Kennedy Space Center: Tips and a Booklist
When I was 9 years old my family moved from Las Vegas, Nevada to RAF Lakenheath, England. This move was accompanied by a cross country road trip from California (where my grandparents lived) to Georgia (where we would be dropping off our car and boarding a plane).
We saw so many things I remember today, but the best day that stands out in my mind was visiting the space center in Huston, Texas. To reference Inside Out, it was a core memory.
This year in our homeschool we’v been learning about Space Science. Inspired by Ambleside Online’s nature journal rotation, we took the 12 weeks of night sky nature study and extended in into a year long science rotation. Considering our dog is named after the Apollo space missions, you can imagine that the kids loved learning everything we could about space.
Our core Science program was Real Science Odyssey, Astronomy: I actually really loved using this resource this year. It was well thought out and easy to implement in 2 lessons a week. The experiments were manageable and my daughter learned a lot. We did skip the experiments with dry ice. I would say the oldest age for this program is 4th grade and it would be a little too much for a first grader. We implimented the Charlotte Mason method more with this program by adding in narration and copywork. One area that was interesting is that my daughter is well read in space so some lessons were sped through quickly because they were a review.
At the end of the school year we realized that we’d have to opportunity to visit the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canevral, Florida on our road trip from Virginia to the Florida Keys. Obviously I couldn’t pass up the chance to close out our science unit in the coolest way possible.
Cost Breakdown: I’ll be very honest here, Kennedy Space Center was expensive. Like stop you in your tracks expensive. The best way to handle this is to pre-purchase tickets online and save 15%
Tickets: $195 for myself and two child tickets
Lunch: $55: Two hamburger meals, One make your own salad, 1 coke, 2 cookies
Souvenirs: $26: Scickers and a dog tag for our space puppy
Emergency Advil: $4: for the migraine I got after taking the kids on the space simulator
Total Cost: $280
We brought in our own snacks and water bottles to save on that and didn’t participate in any extra paid tours like the astronaut for a day program. If I had planned this better I would have remembered my own Advil and packed lunch for everyone. That being said, they had several gluten free options that made it safe for me to eat.
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Tips:
Get there when the space center opens at 9. There are relatively few lines and you’ll be able to beat the heat for the beginning of the day. We visited the Rocket Garden first before it got too hot, but it’s always hot in Florida in June.
Bring water, bug spray, and sunscreen: While it is easy to spend most of the day inside there are outside opportunities and the Florida sun is brutal. There are also an abundance of mosquitos.
Order your lunch online: If you’re planning on ordering from Orbit Cafe, order your lunch online to pick it up at the counter instead of waiting in line. If you’re gluten free the best option is the build your own salad.
Don’t miss the Atlantis. Seeing the Atlantis space shuttle was incredible. The entire center has activities for kids, interactive games, a slide, and a launch simulator. There are also areas dedicated to the Challenger and Columbia disasters. My daughter was incredibly moved by seeing the pieces of the shuttles and remarked that even if the shuttles launched successfully, it’s still dangerous.
A piece of the recovered Columbia shuttle
5. Don’t miss the bus tour. This was one of our favorite parts of the day. The bus takes you to the Apollo/Saturn V center. You drive past the launch sites for the Apollo space missions and see the building where the shuttles and rockets were housed and assembled. It was incredible.
Looking at the Saturn V rocket
We had the best day together exploring the space center. The kids learned so much and it was wonderful to see the last year of their education come to life. I’m not thinking of ways we can make it to Huston to visit the space station there!
N has read so much about the Mars rovers and shared all her fun facts.
Books We Read:
Of course we read dozens of books to prepare to visit the space center.
Picture Books:
Sew Sister: The Untold Story of Jean Wright and NASA's Seamstresses by Elsie Matich
What Miss Mitchell Saw by Hayley Barrett
Papa Put a Man on the Moon by Kristy Dempsey
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
One Giant Leap by Robert Burleigh
How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity’s Greatest Adventure by John Rocco
Curiosity: The Story of a Mars Rover by Markus Motum
Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly
Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker
Mae Among the Stars by Roda Ahmed
A Computer Called Katherine by Suzanne Slade
Novels:
A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga
Hidden Figures: Young Reader’s Edition by Margot Lee Shetterly
Mother’s Education:
The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel
The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush
Apollo Expeditions to the Moon by Edgar M. Cortright
Bringing Columbia Home: The Untold Story of a Lost Space Shuttle and Her Crew by Michael Leinbach
