Hey, we're next up! Ok, it's wrong, but it'll be right eventually. This was a sign I found at the Kennedy Space Center.

Gven my non-refundable tickets for the April launch I decided to just hang in Florida for a week. While there I drove down to the Cape to scout out the viewing areas for the launch. The whole operation is actually somewhat confusing, as the tours and restricted areas are very unclear. Maybe this page will help a little so people can understand what to expect.

Seeing the launch is actually more problematic than it appears. The reason is that the Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is truly huge. The two occupy Merritt Island. KSC is the northern end, and CCAFS is the southern end. Most viewing locations are actually quite a long ways away. Furthermore, the whole place is at an elevation of just a few feet above sea level, and is heavily wooded. As a result, it is very hard to get a clear vantage point.

When I first got to the Cape, I went to KSC. This is the first confusing part. I was last there in 1995. Admission is now up to $28! Furthermore, if you want a special bus tour, this is another $20. This makes KSC as expensive as Seaworld, the most expensive theme park. The first thing you'll visit is the old visitor's center. However, even if you don't buy the "Special Interest Tour", you still get a bus ride. This now goes to a special viewing platform from which you can see Launch Complex 39 (the Shuttle pads) and then to the "Apollo/Saturn V Center". The latter is a big new building, inside of which they have placed the old Saturn V that used to be rusting in the Vehicle Assembly Building parking lot (you can't go in that anymore, BTW). This part is quite cool - they really cleaned up the rocket, and there is a big new cafeteria and stuff. For VIPs there is a terrific viewing area by the Saturn V building for viewing Shuttle Launches. Now, the "Special Interest Tour" is what I remember the bus tour used to be. They drive out to a viewing platform that is right next to the launch pad. Is it worth it? If you've never seen it before, probably. From this area, I could not see Launch Complex 17 (the Delta pad) at all. It is lost in the woods and way too far away. In principle there was a bus tour called "Cape Canaveral: Then and Now", which would have gone to the air force museum and toured the air force launch pads. However, at KSC this was not available the day I went there, and the calls I have tried making to the Air Force Museum have gotten disconnected number errors. Personally I suspect this service is a victim to 9/11 security, which is now much, much higher than it used to be (metal detectors and thorough bag searches were in use at KSC, for example). The tour I took to the Shuttle pads only just restarted.

It is my hope for SIRTF that the VIP viewing area is somewhere with a direct view of the launch pad. A logical place would be in one fo the many areas on the air force station or on the causeway over the Banana River. This is not the same causeway used for public viewing (which is over the Indian River to the west) - this area is heavily restricted now. For the unmanned launches the public highway areas would be the Beeline causeway over the Indian River, or anywhere along the A1A. KSC has a web page for where to go. None of these has a direct sightline to the Delta pad.

Another popular viewing area for unmanned launches, all of which originate on the air force station part of Merritt Island to the south of KSC, is Jetty Park. This is a small park just to the south of the air force station, across a canal, essentially in the town of Cocoa Beach. It's a somewhat industrial area near the docks for the cruise ships. It's generally filled with local fishermen.

The map provided on the park's website is wrong - E. Jetty Drive does not extend to the A1A. Here is a better map. The easiest way to get there is to take the A1A south, and take Atlantic Ave N. up to E. Jetty Drive. Otherwise, get off at the exit for the gambling cruise ships and proceed east.

This image on the right will open a labeled aerial photo of the southern part of the Cape, showing the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. You can click on the things that are labeled in order to bring up a close-up image. I have drawn the sight-lines from the Jetty Park pier to each of the three major vertical landmarks. You can then compare them to the photo below. This site has a terrific interactive map that will show you pictures of all the pads.

The view from the end of the pier in Jetty Park. Click on the picture for labels. Complex 17 is the Delta pad.

Walking out to the end of the pier.	The rock part of the jetty.

At Jetty Park there is a long fishing pier several hundred yards long and about four men abreast (above left). This runs parallel to a rock jetty. The jetty itself (above right) is very rocky and has a steel wall running down the middle of it. Climbing on it is discouraged, and I would not try navigating it in the dark. The Delta launch pad is directly visible only from about the last quarter of the pier. From anywhere else it is partially blocked by trees. The pads are clearly visible, although to see any details I used 7x50 binoculars.