Meet Me in the Gift Shop: Kennedy Space Center: The Shuttle Express

Kennedy Space Center: The Shuttle Express

Part 3 of 3

Kennedy Space Center
Atlantis Gift Shop, the Shuttle Express
Kennedy Space Center, SR 405
Titusville, FL 32899

www.kennedyspacecenter.com

https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/home

AT A GLANCE: Kennedy Space Center, The Shuttle Express
Date of Visit:	Mondays, February 20 and 27, 2017
Parking	$10
Amount of time needed to peruse exhibits:	Easily 8 – 12 hours
Amount of time needed for gift shop	30 – 45 minutes
The “must have” souvenir	An Atlantis Space Shuttle shot glass. See gift shop photos, below.
Online shopping	Some. However, if you see something you like, buy it.
Kid friendly shopping	Yes
Kid friendly	Yes
Dress code	Come as you are
Be sure to…..	Take a ride on the slide that simulates a shuttle’s reentry.
Nearby/other establishments to visit	· Warbird Museum Review: http://www.meetmeinthegiftshop.com/p/valiant-air-command-wardbird-museum.html · Police Hall of Fame Review: http://www.meetmeinthegiftshop.com/p/blog-page_30.html · Ron Jon Surf Shop for great shopping Review: http://www.meetmeinthegiftshop.com/p/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html
Walkability, general downtown area / amount of traffic	Wear comfortable shoes, and either sunglasses or a hat to combat the sun.
Safety, in terms of type and number of crimes committed in general area	Generally safe, but stow your valuables out of sight and lock your car to keep the honest people honest.

"The sky calls to us." Carl Sagan

The Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is at the top of my list in terms of branding. From door handles to

Door handles

benches, it’s apparent that this is a space / technology visitor’s complex. The KSC also tops my list in terms of quality and quantity of items for sale, merchandise display, and store layout. All three gift shops, The Space Shop, The Right Stuff, and The Shuttle Express, are regularly busy, but this isn’t obvious because of the amount of space between the merchandise displays. Is KSC too good to be true? Yes. Or, maybe. While all aspects of branding & gift shop inventory are unbelievable, the KSC has an Achilles tendon, or a funny bone that gets sore more than funny. None of the aforementioned things matter if KSC is unable to build its

Benches

customer base at a speed faster than its current trickle. Customer retention is as important as bringing in new customers.

There’s a saying in the retail world that the second visit is more significant than the first. Folks will visit a place, whether it is a restaurant, retail shop, or tourist attraction because of a sale or a coupon

The JFK water feature

for reduced admission. They’ll visit and decide within the first five minutes if they’d like to stay longer and try the food or have a look around. This lack of focus on the second visit is an area where the KSC could excel. But, they don’t. The best they bargain they have is offering a slight discount with the purchase of an annual pass. The process of buying this annual pass is a painfully long wait, nothing short of watching a tortoise “run” a 26-mile marathon. Granted, a 10% discount on gift shop items and food purchases comes with an annual pass. 10%? Really? I could walk out my front door and find a better sale than 10% off. Pfft. I know that the travelers among us are nodding their heads in agreement. I constructed a polite email to the chief operating officer detailing my ideas, and will publish further correspondence.

To reiterate, a shop or business needs branding, retail (merchandise) and a focus on creating a loyal customer base. It’s difficult to be profitable if visitors leave within a short period of time after arriving. The opportunity to offer them food and souvenirs for sale has vanished. That’s money spent for advertising within nothing being gained in return.

Outside of the Atlantis Exhibit

The Shuttle Express is another gift shop that can be accessed without going through the exhibit. Don’t do that! The journey through the Atlantis inspires and will fill even the most hardened visitor with a sense of awe. This comes from viewing the introductory presentation of rockets and space shuttles, which occurs immediately before seeing the space shuttle Atlantis. Awe comes from the shuttle itself. How could something that looks like it was built with papier Mache be space worthy? Awe again resurfaces while standing close to the booster rockets and getting a perspective on the gargantuan booster rockets.

Entrance to the Shuttle Express gift shop

Experience what it felt like for the space shuttle astronauts to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere by sliding down a colossal 2-story slide. I did this once, and will never do it again. In the movie “A Christmas Story,” the main character is manhandled onto an exit slide after his visit with Santa. He thrusts his arms and legs out to stop his downward descent. This is the same move that I tried at the Atlantis slide. KSC had the foresight to make the slide wide enough, so there was no turning back and no way to stop. By the way, I dislike roller coasters, and after the slide I was left with that same sick roller coaster feeling that I get in my stomach. Roller coaster lovers will want to ride the slide a few times. It’s free, and the line moves quickly.

A slide designed to mimic the effects of re-entering the Earth's atmosphere.

Before entering the area that houses the space shuttle Atlantis, an introductory video shows how rockets have evolved not only in technology but in size.

A crowd watching the video presentation

Entrance doors are beneath the screen, giving an indication as to the size of building

There she is, the actual space shuttle Atlantis.

The height of the people in this photo are small when compared against the rocket boosters.

By the way, the shuttle was left-handed.

The Shuttle Express is a wonderful gift shop. I think it's impossible to NOT find something to buy. Please remember the rule: buy one for someone else, buy one for yourself.

How about a pocket watch, a space pen that can
write when held at any angle, or a medallion?

Refrigerator magnets, anyone?

Lotsa good books.

If a title interests you, buy it. The majority of items in the KSC gift shops are not available online. You can take a chance on Amazon when you get home, but save the hassle and buy it here. It’ll mean more to you in the future.

A whole section for children’s gifts, or to let children shop for themselves.

No offense intended toward Neil Armstrong or John Glenn,
but Snoopy is my favorite astronaut.

The Shuttle Express carries space ice cream and space blankets. Space blankets are handy to keep in your car or backpack. One side is for designed for warmth, and the other side is designed as a signaling device.

Space pigs and resin space shuttles.

KSC gift shops not only carry a plethora of branded wearables, they package them into a great combo purchase. The combo deal for men is directly to the right of this display.

The Shuttle Express gift shop is the third at KSC that caters to patch collectors. There are many missions and flights that it's tough to know where / how to start a collection. I've observed that boys get more excited over patches than girls.

The must-have souvenir is a shot glass, with a miniature space shuttle attached to the side.
Look for the shot glass on top of the box on the right.

I admit that I didn’t understand the gist of the space missions, and thought that they were all pretty much the same. I learned this isn’t true. I’ve constructed the table below to help you compare and contrast the different missions, and most importantly, which gift shop to hit for the appropriate merchandise.

Mission Name / Years Active Mission Purpose	# of Missions	Example of Astronaut	KSC Gift Shop Pertaining to Mission
Mercury, 1961 - 1963
“…orbit a manned spacecraft around Earth, investigate the pilot's ability to function in space, and to recover both pilot and spacecraft safely.”	6	· John Glenn · Alan Shepard · Gus Grisson	The Space Shop
Gemini, 1961 - 1966
“Extended duration manned Earth orbit Extravehicular activity Space rendezvous"	12 manned missions	· Neil Armstrong · James Lovell · Buzz Aldrin · Frank Borman	The Right Stuff; The Space Shop
Apollo, 1963 - 1972
“To land humans on the moon and return them safely to Earth.”	11	· James Lovell · Neil Armstrong · Alan Shepard Jr.	The Right Stuff
Skylab, 1973 - 1979
“Paved Way For International Space Station”	3	· Gerald Carr · Charles Conrad Jr. · Alan Bean	The Shuttle Express
Space Shuttle, 1981 - 2011
· Take satellites to space · Shuttle astronauts to and from the International Space Station	135	· Guy Bluford (1^st African-American in space) · Sally Ride (1^st American Women in space) · John Glenn (at 77, oldest American in space)	The Shuttle Express
Journey to Mars, 2018 - ??
· Deep space exploration · Orbit Mars · Checking Mars for possibility of sustaining life · Living on Mars	Scheduled landing for Mars rover: 2020	Not known at this time	The Space Shop

All of the information included here is from either www.nasa.gov or www.kennedyspacecenter.com. When I used quotes it’s to denote that the phrase is verbatim from the websites.

Lunch

The KSC took us 7-hours to experience, despite skipping the IMAX shows, two entire buildings, and the Rocket Garden. We are return visitors, regardless of the lack of pageantry in buying an annual pass, and it still took us almost all day. Driving to the nearest town of Titusville consumes 15 – 20 minutes each way, and eating lunch at a restaurant seldom takes less than 30 – 45 minutes, adding up to a loss of 60 – 90 minutes that could be spent shopping. I mean, 60 – 90 minutes that could be spent learning about rockets. Yes, that’s what I meant.

Have lunch onsite to save time. The food is mediocre at best, with inflated prices, but time is the limiting factor here. The KSC allows visitors to bring backpacks, which will be searched before entry into the main complex. Packing non-perishable snacks and water saves both time and money.

The KSC opens at 9:00 am, admits the last visitors at 3:30 pm (or 2 ½ hours before closing), and usually closes at 6:00 pm. That leaves nine hours to see everything, do everything, and shop. If it can be squeezed into the budget, purchase an annual pass. This is an economical way to enjoy the KSC without the anxiety of not seeing everything. After the 6:00 pm closing, head 20 minutes south to visit Ron Jon Surf Shop. They’re open 24-hours.

Fun things to know:

1. Brevard County, on the Atlantic Ocean side of Florida, is 72 miles long, contains the Kennedy Space Center, and is known as the Space Coast. Almost all of the big players in the defense industry are located here in Melbourne:

· Alstom

· General Electric

· DRS

· Harrison

· Northrup Grummon

I’m sure that there are more that I’ve unintentionally neglected to mention. They are found at the website for Florida aerospace industry https://www.enterpriseflorida.com/industries/aviation-aerospace/

There’s a reason why I mention this. If trying to remember the 321 area code for most of Brevard County business or residence, think “Space Coast.” Countdown: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

Speaking of countdowns, this is a screenshot from the NASA website of the recent satellite launch.

This is a satellite launch from Kennedy Space Center, as viewed from my backyard. We not only see it, we can feel it. This photo is from a previous launch, because an overcast day doesn’t provide decent viewing. The satellite just disappears into the clouds.

Fun stuff to know:

3. The Kennedy Space Center is entirely self-funded, meaning its funds come from ticket prices, and sales at its gift shops and food courts. No tax payer money goes to the KSC.

4. The cost to the United States of putting astronauts in space is $81 million dollars, per seat, payable to Russia for the use of their launch pad facilities. That’s for one seat, but it is for a round trip. No astronauts have launched from KSC since 2011.

5. Like a ninja boy scout, an astronaut should be:

· Curious

· Passionate

· Tenacious

· Disciplined

· Confident

· Courageous

· Principled

· Selfless

6. Astronauts must exercise in space 2 ½ hours daily. Without gravity, the heart has trouble beating, and lungs have issues pushing air in and out. Exercising has been proven to help the body with normal functions.

7. The space shuttle Atlantis was delivered to KSC, and the building was built around it.

8. There are other retired Space Shuttles throughout the U.S. for folks to visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/topics/shuttle_station/features/shuttle_map.html

9. There have always been astronauts in the ISS every day of your life if you are 16 years old or younger.

It doesn’t matter if there’s an interest in space. Visit Kennedy Space Center, knowing that its technology is part of America’s heritage. I certainly wasn’t a rocket / astronaut fan before visiting KSC. That has changed, because now…

I’m a rocket man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCf23ZTFaDM

I’ve included the YouTube link for those who wish to hear this great song again, and for those who may not remember Elton John’s iconic song about being in space.