A Travelbiz day with an Astronaut

Don Shearer (Travelbiz & Travelfinders) joined Graham Hennessy (Dosomethingdifferent) and Philip Britton (Kennedy Space Centre) in John Cassidy Travel Dundrum for a truly out-of-this-world afternoon and very special dinner with former NASA Astronaut and mission specialist aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, Joan Higginbotham.

The John Cassidy Dundrum team are among the top sellers in Ireland for Graham and Philip, sending hundreds of customers to Orlando to experience the Kennedy Space Centre. The venue was the perfect setting for Astronaut Joan to inspire a select group of customers and the team.

Joan’s incredible story of spending over 300 hours in space on board Discovery is one of perseverance, belief, and resilience and was further enhanced with an very special evening with our very own Declan Mescall (Features Editor) where he joined fellow trade partners for dinner where Joan got to share more of her amazing journey.

The Dinner gave all gathered the opportunity to hear how Joan began her career with NASA as a payload electrical engineer at the Kennedy Space Center in 1987, before being selected as an astronaut candidate in 1996 and eventually, 10 years later, becoming one of only three African American women to have flown in space.

You can read a full Bio on Joan right here: https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/higginbotham_joan.pdf

WHAT’S NEW AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER VISITOR COMPLEX?

Thrilling New Adventures Await at Florida’s Space-Themed Attraction

With new attractions and exhibits to enthrall guests, a new show to dazzle visitors over the festive season, and more rocket launches than ever on the horizon, there’s never been a better time to visit Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Latest opening – The Gantry at LC-39

The latest guest experience is a reworked Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour, which now includes a stop at The Gantry at LC-39. Opened in July 2025, The Gantry at LC-39 offers 360-degree panoramic views of active launch pads and the surrounding wildlife refuge, a full-scale rocket engine that comes to life during a simulated static-fire test – complete with thunderous sound, dazzling lights, and mist – hands-on exhibits including a Rocket Build Interactive for designing and virtually launching rockets, and a cutting-edge Earth Information Center showcasing NASA’s planet-monitoring efforts through immersive visuals and interactive media.

New for the Christmas 2025 – Space-themed Drone Show

This Christmas, guests can enjoy a brand-new nightly show during the Holidays in Space festive celebrations. Visitors will be wowed by a nighttime spectacle that’s out of this world when an exclusive, space-themed drone show lights the sky above the world-famous Rocket Garden. The drone show will be included with admission and will run nightly between 21 – 30 December 2025, beginning at 6.50pm.

More Launches Than Ever!

Watching a live rocket launch is an unforgettable, exhilarating experience. At Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, visotors can watch a launch from behind NASA’s gates, complete with live commentary from space experts, bleacher seating and access to the visitor complex’s attractions and exhibits. Kennedy Space Center is on pace for a record-breaking number of launches in 2025 and visitors can expect even more in 2026, including NASA’s return to the moon mission – Artemis II – scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center in early 2026. The Artemis II crewed launch will venture around the Moon and is the next step on NASA’s path to establishing a long-term presence on the Moon.

Tripadvisor Poll Positions KSCVC as No. 1 US Attraction

In July 2025, Tripadvisor named Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as the top-ranked attraction in the United States and third best rated global attraction, as part of its annual Travelers’ Choice Awards: Best of the Best Things To Do. Based on more than 15,000 five-star reviews, the accolade placed Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at #1 on the USA list – surpassing iconic landmarks like the Empire State Building, Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge – and #3 globally, just behind Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia and Paris’ Eiffel Tower.

Apollo 12 OMEGA Watch Now on Display

The OMEGA Speedmaster has been the watch of choice of astronauts and space agencies for over half a century. Now, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has added the Apollo 12 chronograph to the Apollo Treasures Gallery Presented by OMEGA at the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The watch, which is on display in the Apollo Treasures Gallery, was worn by mission commander “Charles” Pete Conrad, Jr. A video, featuring James Ragan, the NASA procurement officer who oversaw the certification of the NASA spaceflight watch for Apollo astronauts, tells the tale of why astronauts needed to have a watch they could use on the surface of the moon.

StemRad Astrovest

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has now added the StemRad Astrovest inside Gateway^™: The Deep Space Launch Complex. As part of the Matroshka AstroRad Radiation Experiment, or MARE, this vest was flown on Artemis 1 as the first experiment to measure human body radiation absorption and a protective remedy. Two human-shaped test models, Helga and Zohar, were tested on to understand the vest’s effectiveness in radiation absorption during long term deep space missions. Helga was unshielded and Zohar wore the AstroRad vest. Data showed that it can shield astronauts within the Orion capsule from 60% of harmful radiation during a solar storm.

 At Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, less than 1hr from Orlando, guests can go beyond their imagination and discover something real. From the dawn of space exploration, to current and ongoing missions, visitors can get a hands-on feel for the story of humans in space.

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex opens daily at 9am, with closing times varying by season. Single-day admission is US$77 per adult, US$67 per child. A two-day ticket is available for US$91 per adult and US$81 per child.

For more information on Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and to book tickets, please go to www.kennedyspacecenter.com.