So Your Kid Wants To Be An Astronaut….

Having “snow-birds” for parents I find myself spending most of my kids spring breaks in Florida. With Anna, 9 and Gus, 5 we have spent more than enough time at Disney World, this year I wanted to try something different. I had heard great things about visiting the Kennedy Space Center and having never been myself and my kids budding interest in space exploration, I started exploring tour options on NASA’s website.

The Space Center offers a variety of special programs and tours for all ages. I happened to luck out with our visit dates and was able to book the “Fly With An Astronaut” tour. 

The tour is limited to 43 guests and runs from 9am-2pm. Our astronaut was Norm Thagard  who was a member of the Space Shuttle Atlantis, which happens to be housed at Kennedy’s visitor center. We found ourselves up close and personal with the Atlantis along with one of its crew members. This was truly an amazing experience, being able to learn about life on board and to ask him questions about his actual experiences. (who knew that astronauts slept upright and strapped to a wall?)  The tour included a private bus tour of the grounds, lunch with Norm out at the launch pad, individual pictures taken with Norm, a “flight” on the space shuttle simulator, guided commentary throughout the day and a commemorative space shuttle crystal paper weight was a nice touch.

After the tour with Norm we visited the Apollo exhibit which is not to be missed. Reenactments of the Apollo launches, interactive moon-walking videos, and moon rock displays are fun for all ages.

There is an IMAX theater included with your admission and it shows two different movies throughout the day which provided a perfect respite for a break and snack They have a full movie theater snack bar, kiddies loved it!

We ended up running out of time and missed quite a few of the other exhibits so a return visit is a must. In the future I ​will be checking out other special tours including “flight training school”, “behind the gates” and “launch director tour

Tour with an astronaut (only available select weekends throughout the year) rates are $199 for adults and $174 for children ages 3-11 and include admission. However, I would suggest that kids be at least 5 years old due to the duration and in-depth content of the tour. Tickets must be booked in advance and they do sell out.