25th Anniversary Lunch with the Astronauts

[disneyholic family]

I don't know if anyone has posted this.

For those interested in the Kennedy Space Center and are going to be in Florida from March 5th to April 12th, there will be special activities at the Kennedy Space Center in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Space Shuttle.

One of the activities (that i just received a notice about in my email) is a special lunch with the astronauts - Astronauts John Young & Bob Crippen, commander and pilot of the first Space Shuttle mission.

You can buy tickets online at:
http://www.ksctickets.com/kennedyspacecenter/25th.html

the following is from the website:

25th Anniversary of the Space Shuttle Lunch with the Astronauts

Special Lunch with an Astronaut!
STS-1 Commander John Young and Pilot Bob Crippen
Date: April 7
Time: 1pm
Location: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

This is your chance for an up-close and personal opportunity to share in the excitement as John Young and Bob Crippen tell you their personal stories and experiences of being the crew of the first Space Shuttle mission.

Tickets also include Maximum Access Admission to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, a gourmet hot lunch buffet and and a special souvenir item.

Adult -$70.00
Child - $50.00

 

[jockey]

Thanks Beth! Can't make it those dates but we are thinking of going in December. Have you been to this before?

 

[disneyholic family]

Thanks Beth! Can't make it those dates but we are thinking of going in December. Have you been to this before?

I've never been to lunch with the astronauts, but it looks like a fun thing to do, especially if you have kids who are space crazy. And given that the price includes the space center, it's not as expensive as it seems.

When we visited the space center, we spent an entire day there and ended up just eating at one of the counter service places. It would have been nice to have a buffet lunch waiting for us. And being able to ask an astronaut questions would be interesting as well.

There's another thing my son has been talking about doing. They have a day-long program of some kind. I have to go to their website and find it. Something about a day as an astronaut type thing. It probably requires reservations way in advance.

 

[snookhams]

We did the ordinary lunch with an astronaut last August - although it was good the food was nothing to write home about - and there was not alot of choice I'm afraid, very greasy fried chicken, some pasta, salad, bread roll (although barely enough to go around), chicken nuggets , I think that there were a few other things as well but a tip, collect your dessert with your dinner we didn't and there was not alot of choice left when we did want it and by then the Astronaut had started his talk so not really good to get up for more food during it. All in all we enjoyed it but would not do it again.

 

[disneyholic family]

We did the ordinary lunch with an astronaut last August - although it was good the food was nothing to write home about - and there was not alot of choice I'm afraid, very greasy fried chicken, some pasta, salad, bread roll (although barely enough to go around), chicken nuggets , I think that there were a few other things as well but a tip, collect your dessert with your dinner we didn't and there was not alot of choice left when we did want it and by then the Astronaut had started his talk so not really good to get up for more food during it. All in all we enjoyed it but would not do it again.

thanks for the review. So i guess it is pretty expensive...i'm trying to remember how much we spent on lunch when we were there.....

did people get to ask questions, or did the astronaut just lecture...
how long did it last?

 

[snookhams]

yes people got to ask questions - alhough they mostly picked on the children for this, if my memory serves me right it lasted about one and a half hours

 

[jdybnsn]

Hi just back

We did the lunch Feb 20th and really enjoyed it - We met Winston Scott.

Don't know if it was the time of year (though it was actually President's Day) or the fact that it was a non moonwalking, non moon orbiting, lesser known, Astronaut.... but the room was only a quarter full.

Lots of food, the quality of which I didn't find too bad at all given US mass catering standards.

It starts with a short (amusing) film presentation, then you get your lunch from the buffet (you don't actually dine with the astronaut though !!).

Following the tail end of lunch,the astronaut is introduced. In our session he told us about himself, NASA, his mission etc and then there was a Q&A session - mainly as you can imagine centring on the children (though I asked a few questions myself). Then you can all line up & shake his hand , have your picture taken (they are quite happy for you to take your own too). The whole session is just over an hour start to finish.

All in all we thought it good vale for money and very interesting .

On reflection it would have been nice to meet a 'moon walker' but as you can imagine there are not too many that have done that AND participate in the lunch programme (only 12 possible candidates to begin with- in case you didn't know).

You can check on the NASA website as to who is hosting lunch on any particular day a few months in advance.

 

[disneyholic family]

that sounds interesting...
i guess if the questions are mostly from the children, there aren't many "difficult" questions (e.g., regarding NASA arrogance)....

i think my son would enjoy this....although i think he'd enjoy the full day as an astronaut program more...