Dear & I left the US Astronuat Hall of Fame on our Gray Line Tour Bus & now we’re travelling to Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex, which is located in Merritt Island, Brevard County in Florida USA.

Located on the East Coast of the United States on the Atlantic Ocean, Merritt Island is part of the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area. As a peninsula, te word “Merritt” also means “Extent of the former Island”.

We’re now crossing Banana River, a Lagoon that lies between Cape Canaveral & Merritt Island - heheh what a name that’s very cute!!

“Hey Dear there’s an Alligator down there!!” screaming at Dear as I quickly take a snapshot of the never-seen-till-today popular Host of Florida :

And Dear actually goes like “Ha……….got Alligators!??! Will they come up to to the roads or not?!?! Very dangerous la!!” hahah he’s so funny funny!!

But then I think Dear does have a point & he must have meant that Florida should have “ALLIGATOR CROSSING” Signs on the roads just like the “Koala Crossing” or “Kangaroo Crossing” Road Signs in Australia??!?!?

We’re approaching Kennedy Space Centre Complex now………….

Haha that’s a real ET (External Tank) & SRBs (Solid Rocket Boosters) of the Space Transportation System (STC) here inside Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex - Dear & I are begining to feel real excited :

Here again is the Location Map of Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex - at 45mins East of Orlando at State 405, across the Indian River (where part of it is Banana River which we saw earlier) - from where the US Astronaut Hall of Fame is situated at 6 miles West of the Space Centre :

Very soon, our Gray Line Tour Bus pulls up at the huge open-space Free Parking Carpark outside Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex :

And upon alighting from our Tour Bus, the Gray Line Bus Driver passes us our Kennedy Space Centre Admission Tickets :

Read the details on the below reverse-side of our Tickets - haha we can actually come back for a 2nd day admission within a week of our first visit!! And the expiry date of these Tickets is 9 months from now on 31st Dec 2009!!! WHOA that’s unbelievably great isn’t it!!

But actually I only just read & knew about these now that I’m uploading this pic!! And then I’m sure Dear & I wouldn’t be able to spare the time to come back here for our 2nd visit since we’ll be leaving for home (Singapore) real soon……………

Anyway, our Gray Line Bus Driver gives each & every one of us a small gift as a token of appreciation which he claims are available at the Kennedy Space Centre Souvenir Shops for a couple of bucks each!!

Here they are - our gifts of STS-119 Discovery Coins :

A copy of the following Daily Schedule of Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex is also provided for us :

Now, the following is our NASA - Kennedy Space Centre Information Guide which we obtained from Quality Inn International Lobby when we first arrived in Orlando :

And these below pics are from my English Visitor Guide to the Space Centre :

Dear & I are now walking happily & anxiously towards Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex :

Established on 29 July 1958 by the National Aeronautics & Space Act as an Agency of the United States of America government, NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration) is responsible for the Nation’s public Space program, as well as the long-term Civilian & Military Aerospace Research.

Since February 2006, the Mission Statement of NASA is “To Pioneer the Future in Space Exploration, Scientific Discovery, & Aeronautics Research”. And its Motto is “For the Benefit of All”.

Built in 1967, John F. Kennedy Space Centre (or Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex) is NASA’s Space Vehicle Launch Facility & Spacesport (or Launch Control Center) - the Gateway to Space Exploration for the past 50 years - the Launch site of Space Science, Discovery & Research :

Here’s the List of Items NOT Permitted into Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex :

Dear & I very soon arrive at the Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex Ticket Booths whereby we just walk past them since we’ve already got our Admission Tickets :

Here’s the highlight that US Astronaut Hall of Fame (where we visited earlier this morning) is included in our Kennedy Space Centre Admission Tickets :

And now we’re standing in line for the Secruity Checkpoint - WOW such long queues :(((

Very luckily Dear & I are behind a much shorter queue that also happens to move pretty quickly in time for us to get out of the real hot sun in Winter Florida!??!!! Yep, it’s actually Winter now in the Sunshine State here but the weather’s getting warmer as Spring approaches…………..

Here’s me holding our 2 Admission Tickets :

Heheh it’s my turn now to enter……………

Then Dear’s turn now going through the gantry :

Here’s a quick snapshot of the Security Checkpoint :

And I’m about to take more pics after I’m done with security when the elderly Security Guard starts shoving me off with his hand - OOPS!!! OOPS!! “I’m so Sorry” as I apologise to him when he tells me that I can’t take pics here……….heheh this below pic of his hand shoving me off seems kinda fierce but actually he’s very polite & very friendly with me as he tells me so……….

Well, up till now I’ve never been told off once & I’ve felt really at ease snaping pics everywhere I go here in America - be it in the eateries or shopping malls - unlike when I was in Singapore, or in London Oxford Street where I’d been told off by the salesgirls when I started taking pics of some fascinating shops!!

Heheh but I forgot that this’s a Security Checkpoint here at the Space Centre!! Security of course PLEASE!!! Please!!!

Hahah could you see what’s Dear doing right below?!?

Haha yea yea he’s putting on his Belt cos the Security Guard actually asked him to remove it for checking heheh………btw I like these below American kids (visiting with their teachers) - there’re so many of them & I can’t stop looking their way………….

Okie, Dear & I are now officially inside NASA - Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex - Hooray Hooray!!

Let me first take a pic of Dear - haha his face looks kinda suffering cos the Florida sun’s really glaring this late morning :

And it’s my turn now - Alamak where’s my sunglasses I could barely open my eyes here………..Oh btw, I’m wearing my pretty Hot Pink Dress which I bought yesterday at The Florida Mall in Orlando :

And just as Dear & I are snaping pics of each of us separately, a guy came up to us for help on taking pics for him with his girl, & of course after that, we also got him to snap 2 pics for us - here they’re shown below -

Dear & Me standing together below the huge NASA Logo of course!! Haha it’s a dream come true to be finally here with Dear heheh :

Close-up view - Aiyoh where’re our sunglasses now?!?!

Here’s our 2nd shot :

And its close-up view :

“NASA Explores New Worlds To Improve Our Own” - that’s truely cool - I like that!! - That’s the Statement written on the back of the Huge NASA Logo. Hey did you notice the birdie standing right on top of the Logo?!!? Heheh that’s really adorable!! Bet it must have flown there specially for me to take this pic heheh!!

The time now is close to 11.30am as I continue taking pics of our near surrounding while Dear studies the Space Centre Guidemap to find out where & what attraction we should begin with, cos afterall, we’ve only till 5.30pm - yea that’s but only 6 hours for us in this entire 219 square miles covered Space Center!!

Here’s an interesting Space Capsule right in the middle of Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex - & hey there’re also many African Americans visiting today!!

Well, there’re actually Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Bus Tours provided here at the Space Centre & details from its Daily Schedule are as shown below :

Dear & I decide that we should first start with the KSC Bus Tours to avoid the later afternoon crowds since it’s afterall still morning now, so we’re walking towards the NASA Space Center Tours which is located to the right side once we enter the Space Center here :

Map of Space Center Tours at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex :

“Hey Dear it’s 60 mins WAIT leh……..ha SO LONG la!!!!”

Haha what a joke!! But that’s actually nothing new to us as we’ve noticed since visiting Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom………….”NO Choice la, we’ve still got to wait!!” we tell each other as we quickly stand in the line………………

And while waiting, we see the following large Maps displayed at the walls by the side of our queue line :

Dear pretty much likes Maps & Atlases as he says to me “Dear quick take pics of these Maps!!” - “Okie Okie I know I know!!” as I reply him………

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station!?! What’s that?! Well, find out more here at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Canaveral_Air_Force_Station :

As many more & more people join us in queuing for the KSC Bus Tours, Kennedy Space Centre is smart to entertain us with what else but my all-time favourite PHOTO Shoot of the day (by the local staff-cameraman), with this below Space Transportation System (STS) & Crawler-Transporter on Launch Pad Picture Background - heheh Dear & I are so happy happy as I remind Dear “Later Must smile okie!!” :

Once our photo shoot is done, we’re given a Photo No Collection Slip for us to pick up our photo after our KSC Bus Tours.

The shoot is done really quick & fast as one KSC staff gets us to stand infront of the above Picture Background & the Cameraman says quickly “Okie ready CHEESE!!” & clicks!! That’s it - very very fast & no time to think of how we wana pose or how we wana best smile hahah!!!

Anyway, here’s a snapshot of the Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour - but nope it’s not our turn yet………..

And well, many of such following inspiring “History Happens at Kennedy Space Centre” Messages by “The History Channel” (hanging from the ceiling above our queue line) keep Dear & I busy & a little less tired in waiting…………..while in-between we start chatting about how happy & proud that we can make it all the way here to the world-famous Space Centre today - Read on………….

Here’s a snapshot of handsome Dear with the above Message :

Haha it’s almost our turn now as we stand at the near end of our queue line waiting for the arrival of our Bus Tour :

And of course it’s more snapshots of Dear & Me again irregarding of who in our neighbouring queue line might be staring at us!!

But HEY this is America okie a FREE & non-shy country as it is!! YES YES!! as Dear happily starts clicking away at us - hahah with Me not looking at the camera yet!!!

I very much like my beautiful golden curls - I think they’re pretty gorgeous, don you agree!?!? Hahah actually I’ve had at least a handful Americans praising my pretty hair style & color since arriving here in America heheh.

Btw, Dear’s wearing the Paradise Orlando Florida T-shirt that I bought 4 days ago at International Drive - Orlando.

Well, here’re more snapshots of Dear & Me - heheh we’re actually feeling kinda light-hearted together now as Dear clicks non-stop…………….

Okie okie here comes our Kennedy Space Centre Bus Tour, & it’s actually about 40 mins wait instead of the one hour’s estimation stated earlier which is all much better for Dear & I who’re really eager to venture on our Space exploration & discovery…………

Our Bus Tour is fast approaching us……..So I’ll see you again later at my first Bus Tour destination okie!

In the meantime, do enjoy my following Slideshow, inclusive of a most heart-warming beautiful “The Greatest Adventure of Mankind - The First Moon Landing” Song Video  :