So in addition to the Lighthouse, the tour took us to several historic sites related to the early days of the American manned space program. Not going to take you to every overgrown, abandoned, junked site blow-by-blow, but will focus on a few and mention other in passing.
First in order of the space race, it's interesting to include the Lighthouse angle. Which is ..... when it was relocated to its present location in the late 1800s, the federal government also acquired over 800 acres of land around it. That federal holding was a key reason why this position in Florida was chosen for space launches as opposed to other Florida locations or in Georgia. So the Lighthouse is why the rockets launch from the Cape area.
Next to the Lighthouse property is a hangar that houses several restored missles from the 1950s that were the first efforts by the Army and Air Force toward flight in space. Too many to name or distinguish between. But we did also, at the end of the tour, visit the block house (command center) and launch pads that launched the first two Mercury astronauts, Alan Sheppard on Mercury 3 and Gus Grissom on Mercury 4 (1 &2 were unmanned). There was a replica of Mercury Redstone rocket with their single seat command module on top of one of the pads and it is NOT big at all. The blockhouse is a museum too (1950s technology that helped run the program).
A second stop was at the launch complex where the rest of the Mercury missions (using the Atlas rocket) and Gemini missions launched from (John Glenn launched from here as the astronaut on Mercury 6). It is also where the pretty Mercury 7 Memorial is.
Tour guide joke while at the launch complex Glenn launched from: "You know how up in the northeast there are spots known for famous people like 'George Washington slept here?' Well, she said, pointing to the single stall bathroom outside door at the launch complex, 'John Glenn went in there'".
One poignant time was at Launch Complex 34 which was the site of Apollo 1's tragic accident. Astronauts Grissom, Chaffee, and White died during a pressurization test inside the command module as a spark lit the pure oxygen atmosphere on fire. Family and friends return to the site annually for a remembrance.
Of course, the Apollo program shut down for a year and half to review procedures, make changes, and adopt new manufacturing methods. The next Apollo mission actually launched in space from this same site with Apollo 7 (missions 2-6 were scrubbed during the review period). After that all the Apollo missions launched from the new civilian side of Cape Canaveral as did the shuttle after that: from the Kennedy Space Center.
One last interesting note: there is a sign on the AFS side of the Apollo astronauts with their missions, and dates. Neil Armstrong is the only name listed as "Mr." on the sign while the other names carry their miliatary rank "LtCmdr" or such. Armstrong had been in the AF but had retired to work for NASA as a civilian. He then applied to the astronaut program for Gemini and was accepted. It was important that NASA was seen as a civilian space agency and that a civilian was the first to walk on the moon.
Gusty and windy (20 mph) tonight. I noticed that our SpaceX launch previously scheduled for tonight has been pushed off to Tuesday. Oh well.,
Got some shrimp at the seafood market to cook for dinner.
Tick tock - time is running out on our stay.
Bama Ed