Last Saturday, Maki, CJ, mom and I flew out to Orlando to visit the Kennedy Space Center to view the night launch of the space shuttle Endeavor. So how did we get this gig? It goes like this. Maki's dad works for JAMSS America.
JAMSS America, Inc. (JAI) is part of the Japan Manned Space Systems Corporation (JAMSS), the prime operations contractor to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). JAI is an aerospace engineering consulting company that provides various support for the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM). Yes, Maki's dad is a rocket scientist.
To make a short story long, Maki's mom is good friends with Hitomi Doi, the wife of Takao Doi, one of the astronauts on the Endeavor. Hitomi invite Maki's parents and us and my mom to view the shuttle launch as their guests. Astronaut Doi is part of the Endeavor crew because Kibo, the Japanese experiment module, was scheduled to go up with the launch.
So, on Saturday morning, we flew to Orlando. Kennedy Space Center is a mere half hour away from Orlando Airport. Who knew? I've been going to Orlando all these years and kept missing the Florida space coast.
We arrived around lunch time, got our rental car and drove to the Best Western in Titusville. The weather was surprisingly cold (30s), so I broke the news to CJ that he was not going to get any beach time.
Titusville is not much to look at. The Best Western, which bills itself the Space Shuttle Inn, is surrounded by fast food restaurants and big box retailers. We were next door to Home Depot, McDonald's, KFC, Target, well, you get the idea. We met up with Maki's parents for dinner and turned in early so that we could get a jump on Sunday.
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