Gateshead ISS Visit

Sorry about taking so long to post having previosly typed one up and then the internet decided to conk out, just like home. Right now I'm watching the Ares Launch on Nasa TV online. But I will begin at the beginning, the best place to start. The flight to America was quite a comfortabke flight. It only took seven hours! From Newark there was a slight delay with some paper work however it was not too bad, On Wednesday we were take on a tour of the historical background of NASA. This was an excellent tour and contained lots of brilliant pieces of information, probably the most enjoyable part of the day was the Video footage of the Space Race. This showed images of the American Space Program including its' sucesses and failures, which did include its most prominant in the loss of lives in the Apollo missions. Later on that day we went around all the shuttle launch sights which included where some of the more historical Space Shuttles launched. We then went on a tour of the NASA grounds including KSC and Cape Canavral. On Thursday we met up with a group of highschool kids from America and went on a tour with them having taken part in a group activity simulating the Impact of the Satellite. We were the closest school children ever to the Ares Rocket and also went up close to the Atlantis Space Shuttle however could not go too close thanks to security (alligators) and the fact toxic tests were in place that could cause us damage. We also went to the vehicle assembly building which is absolutely huge, whilst there the Rocket Pad that carried the Ares out was just coming in and that was also unbelievebly big. We then went to the Biological Test Centre where we were given a tour. We also went into the Assembly building of the ISS ( International Space Station). At this point we returned to KSC and gave our farewells to our new friends. That night we went to the Observatory where we watched a movie in the planetarium which was brilliant. In addition we were allowed to experiment with static electricity, motion and Sound waves. We then went up to the observatory where we looked at Jupiter. Thats al I have time for right now I have to get ready for breakfast and watch the launch. Bye, James