Moon boy... and somebody who has actually been to Space!

5-4-3-2-1! The countdown has begun to the 50th anniversary of the Moon Landing on July 20, with astronaut Captain Jon A. McBride visiting Ireland this week to tell us what the Kennedy Space Center and its Visitor Complex in Orlando, Florida has planned for us this special year.

So being a bit of a space cadet myself...

For Jon, a Navy pilot veteran of Vietnam and former NASA astronaut it was something of a homecoming as his ancestors hail from Donegal... all the best people’s do.

Jon enthralled a gathering of Travel Editors and Trade professionals with his experiences in Space, of watching 16 sunrises a day and of photographing his ancestral home island.

To mark 50 years since the lunar landings, manned missions there will resume this year for the first time since 1972.

The real holy grail is Mars with the major obstacle Jon tells us food supplies... for the distance and the duration (a year and a half) the astronauts would need to find a way of recycling EVERYTHING on the way.

Orlando, of course, is a favourite destination for Irish holidaymakers, to see Mickey, Donald and Disney and Harry, Hermione and Universal, but the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is just as much a kiddies (and adults) treat as either of those.

American Holidays is offering a seven-night break at the 3* Rosen Inn at Pointe Orlando from €492pp including return flights from Dublin, based on two adults and two children sharing. For travel this September. Alternative dates are available, though prices may vary.

You can get right up close to the Mars Rover Vehicle Navigator and even experience life on board the Space Shuttle.

And strap in tight at the Shuttle Launch Experience for a simulation of its eight-and-a-half minute ascent into orbit. It’s out of this... wuuuuuuurld! Call (01) 673 3804. Visit www. americanholidays.com.

So get out to Kennedy this year. And the last man on the Moon has to do the dishes!