Florida Space Coast Travel

West Indian Manatees

Christopher Columbus was the first European to report seeing a manatee in the New World. To Columbus, and other sailors who had been at sea for a long time, manatees were reminiscent of mermaids -- the mythical half-fish, half-woman creatures of the ocean. Manatees are not fish, however, but marine mammals.
The West Indian or Florida manatee (and sometimes called sea cow) is found primarily along the coast of Florida. Most adult manatees are about 10 feet long and weigh 800 to 1,200 pounds, although some larger than 12 feet and weighing as much as 3,500 pounds have been recorded. Read complete story.

The Space Coast of Florida is synonymous with the Kennedy Space Center. Although NASA is responsible for putting the "Space Coast" of Florida into the limelight it is by no means the only reason to visit us. Thirty minutes in any direction and you can be on lying on beautiful sandy beaches, fishing in rivers or off shore, frolicking with Mickey Mouse or listening to the Beach Boys perform on Cocoa Beach. Whatever you do for fun in the sun. We've got it here!

Launch Notes: Next Shuttle Launch targeted for Feb 7th at 4:39am : STS-130 Mission Information updated 12/31/2009

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Endeavour's STS-130 Mission

Commander George Zamka will lead the STS-130 mission to the International Space Station aboard space shuttle Endeavour. Terry Virts will serve as the pilot. Mission Specialists are Nicholas Patrick, Robert Behnken, Stephen Robinson and Kathryn Hire. Virts will be making his first trip to space.

Shuttle Endeavour and its crew will deliver to the space station a third connecting module, the Italian-built Tranquility node and the seven-windowed cupola, which will be used as a control room for robotics. The mission will feature three spacewalks. Liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is targeted for February 7, 2010, at 4:39 a.m. EST