One of Florida’s most popular destinations, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex tells the epic story of the U.S. space program – from the first day through the present. The 70-acre arena, a gateway to a working space center, takes visitors on a journey that’s both entertaining and educational, interactive and inspirational. Located just one hour from Orlando, Kennedy Space Center is a fascinating place where it seems anything is possible. Here you can meet a real life Astronaut, walk amongst giant rockets, tour actual rocket launch areas, be wowed by stunning IMAX films, touch a piece of Mars, or take a peek at a full size Space Shuttle replica. Complex opens daily at 9 a.m. with closing times varying by season. Admission is $50 + tax for adults and $40 + tax for children ages 3-11.

credit: Lee Cannon

Wind tunnel test wooden copy of Buran (BTS-02) space shuttle scale 1:3 is at the far corner of Zhukovsky airfield. It no longer exists. destroyed. The Buran was a test vehicle in the Buran program. It was constructed in 1984, and was used for 25 test flights between 1985 and 1988 before being retired.

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Today is a extremely sad moment in US history, the end of the Space Shuttle program. Space program ran for an impressive thirty years. The first shuttle, Columbia, blasted off in April 1981. This was followed by four more shuttles, Challenger, Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis. Today (21th July 2011), after decades of inspiring millions around the globe, space shuttle Atlantis made a final touchdown at Kennedy Space Center. Space shuttles will be replace by a new generation of vehicles to fly to the international space station.

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The International Space Station alias ISS is an internationally developed research facility, which is being assembled in low Earth orbit. The ISS can be seen from the Earth with the naked eye. It is the largest artificial satellite orbiting the Earth. This is images of the International Space Station and the docked space shuttle Endeavour. The pictures are the first taken of a shuttle docked to the International Space Station from the perspective of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

Credit: NASA.gov