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CAPE CANAVERAL – You can go to Johnson Space Center, Marshall Space Flight Center and NASA Headquarters and unless it is a special event you won’t meet any astronauts on your trip. Not so when you visit the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Everyday the center has an astronaut live for guests to meet, get photos with and at the end of the day even get an autograph. It is one of the many things that the Visitor Complex does that sets it apart from other centers around the nation.

Held in a nice, air conditioned (trust me that is very important) auditorium, guests get to hear the astronaut tell them about his or her experiences. Then a question and answer session, followed by pictures with the guests. This last part always impresses me as the astronaut and the assistant that helps during the show really have to hustle to make sure everyone that wants a picture can get one. After the 4 p.m. EDT presentation the astronaut heads over to the space shop to sit down and sign autographs for a half hour. This allows guests to acquire a memorable keepsake from their visit.

So where other centers are almost museum-like in quality, the Kennedy Space Center is far more interactive in design. Many of its attractions are crafted to provide guests with a tactile reminder of their stay. It is made this way to create an indelible, memorable impression. Former NASA astronaut Jon McBride feels that there is a reason as to why the KSCVC is the only Visitor Complex that has a daily astronaut show and why it is important that it continues.

“I think the reason that this is the only (NASA) center to have a daily astronaut encounter is because of the volume of guests we see annually,” McBride said referring to the 1.5 million guests that the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex hosts every year. “I also think it is a very important aspect of what we do. You never know if you’ll spark the imagination of one of the kids in the audience – who might just become the first person to walk on Mars.”