BGuthrie Photos: FL -- Kennedy Space Center -- On day of Columbia disaster

FL -- Kennedy Space Center -- On day of Columbia disaster:

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Description of Pictures: Saturday was my day to visit the Kennedy Space Center. Despite visiting local people during the week, I had no idea that a landing was planned that day and then it turned out to be that landing which resulted in the destruction of the craft and the deaths of the astronauts over Texas. I decided to go to the Space Center anyway. It was very somber there and people talked in low voices. They showed the IMAX film "To Fly" which was dedicated to the astronauts who had died in the Challenger explosion. The film starts with a space shuttle landing in Florida. It was very eerie to be watching that just a few hours after the planned one had disintegrated.

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Copyrights: All pictures were taken by amateur photographer Bruce Guthrie (me!) who retains copyright on them. Free for non-commercial use with attribution. See the [Creative Commons] definition of what this means. "Photos (c) Bruce Guthrie" is fine for attribution. (Commercial use folks can of course contact me.) Feel free to use in publications and pages with attribution but you don't have permission to sell the photos themselves. A free copy of any printed publication using any photographs is requested. Descriptive text, if any, is from a mixture of sources, quite frequently from signs at the location or from official web sites; copyrights, if any, are retained by their original owners.

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. NASA_030201_001.JPG: The parking lots were named for the six space shuttles that were constructed. This was the parking lot marker for the Columbia.
2. NASA_030201_011.JPG: This wall is part of a memorial "to American men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice believing the conquest of space is worth the risk of life". I was surprised at how many names were on it. Obviously, there were the astronauts from Apollo 1 and the Challenger but there were others as well. I'm curious how this wall will be changed to reflect the Columbia crash, since one of the astronauts was from Israel.
3. NASA_030201_013.JPG: This sign was at the bottom of a podium near the memorial. Officials had led a moment of silence right before I got there. The sign was later moved in front of the memorial itself.
4. NASA_030201_019.JPG: Descriptions of some of the astronauts who had died previously
5. NASA_030201_021.JPG: In the distance, two NASA employees hug in colsolation
6. NASA_030201_023.JPG: Here's the marker for the Astronauts Memorial Foundation. The half-mast flag in the background will appear in some of the later photos.
7. NASA_030201_031.JPG: This is the Discovery, a full-size mock up of a space shuttle that was used for training purposes. The structure on the right are steps which allow you to peak into the various floors.
8. NASA_030201_057.JPG: This is the gantry for the space shuttle, where satellites are strapped in on their way up and released during missions.
9. NASA_030201_070.JPG: In the distance is the Astronauts Memorial Foundation marker
10. NASA_030201_088.JPG: Since all tours had been cancelled on the day of the crash, this was the natural place for people to gather that day. Note the reporters on either side of the walk area.
11. NASA_030201_122.JPG: This image, from the museum there, struck me as being pretty retro. Remember the days when we presumed families would be living up there? Originally, they were saying that would happen by the end of 20th century. It seems so far away now.
12. NASA_030201_134.JPG: I'm not sure what I thought of this. Have lunch with an astronaut. In some ways, it seemed a really neat way to keep people excited about the space program. On the other hand, it also hit me as being sort of desperate.
13. NASA_030201_136.JPG: This is the ticket booth area. I liked the creativity in the rain barriers above them--space lab panels being serviced by an astronaut.
14. NASA_030201_147.JPG: On the morning of the crash, they expected another launch the next month. I have no idea when this one will happen.
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Wikipedia Description: Kennedy Space Center
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is the NASA space vehicle launch facility (spaceport) on Merritt Island, Brevard County, Florida, United States. The site is near Cape Canaveral, midway between Miami and Jacksonville, Florida. It is 34 mi (55 km) long and around 6 mi (10 km) wide, covering 219 square miles (567 km�). Around 17,000 people work at the site. There is a visitor center and public tours and KSC is a major tourist destination for visitors to Florida. Because much of KSC is a restricted area and only 9 percent of the land is developed, the site also serves as an important wildlife sanctuary; Mosquito Lagoon, Indian River, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore are also features of this area. The area receives more lightning strikes than any other place in the U.S., causing NASA to spend millions of dollars to avoid strikes during launch.

Operations are currently controlled from Launch Complex 39, the location of the Vehicle Assembly Building. 3 mi (5 km) to the east of the assembly building are the two launch pads. 5 mi (8 km) south is the KSC Industrial Area, where many of the Center's support facilities and the administrative Headquarters Building are located.

Kennedy Space Center's only launch operations are at Launch Complex 39. All other launch operations take place at the adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), which is operated by the Air Force. The center employs about 15,000 civil servants and contractors.

History:

The announcement of the lunar program led to an expansion of operations from the Cape to the adjacent Merritt Island. NASA began acquisition in 1962, taking title to 131 miles� by outright purchase and negotiating with the state of Florida for an additional 87 miles�. In July 1962, the site was named the Launch Operations Center. It was renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center in November 1963, after the assassinat ...More...
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2003 photos: Equipment this year: I decided my Epson digital camera wasn't quite enough for what I wanted. Since I already had Compact Flash chips for it, I had to find another camera which used CF chips. That brought me to buy the Fujifilm S602 Zoom in March 2003. A great digital camera, I used it exclusively for an entire year. Trips this year: Three-week trip this year out west, mostly in Utah. Number of photos taken this year: 68,000.
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