Orlando Sentinel

Apollo/Saturn V exhibits reopen at Kennedy Space Center

- Dewayne Bevil Email me at dbevil@orlandosen­tinel.com. Want more theme park news? Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosen­tinel.com/ newsletter­s or the Theme Park Rangers podcast at orlandosen­tinel.com/ travel/attraction­s/themepark-ran

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will reopen its Apollo/Saturn V Center to the public in late March, the Brevard County attraction announced Tuesday. The center and its exhibits, accessed via bus, had been closed even after the visitor complex reopened from its coronaviru­s pandemic shutdown last summer.

An exact date for the reopening was not announced.

There will new health and safety precaution­s. Bus passengers will be seated with social distance measures. Time-specific reservatio­ns will be made at a kiosk near the bus transport entrance. Drivers will disinfect the buses after arriving at the Apollo/ Saturn V Center and again back at the visitor complex bus queue. Passengers must wear face coverings, as is required elsewhere at the complex.

A newly renovated entrance at the Apollo/ Saturn V Center will give a new “sense of arrival” and set a new tone. The area includes Moon Scape, which looks at the importance of the moon landing and future space exploratio­n; augmented-reality stations where the first steps on the moon may be re-created; speeches from life-size holograms of astronauts and a Saturn V Moon rocket, which now has projection mapping that shows footage of the moon landing.

The Moon Rock Cafe is not reopening yet.

The main part of the visitor complex remains open, including the Shuttle Launch Experience, Space Shuttle Atlantis, IMAX theater and Heroes and Legends featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

The attraction is now offering an expert-led walking tour through Heroes & Legends, Rocket Garden, Journey to Mars, NASA Now, Astronaut Training Experience, Nature and

Technology area and Space Shuttle Atlantis for an additional $20, Thursdays through Sundays. Other specialize­d tours remain unavailabl­e.

The center’s hours are currently 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and it is running at limited capacity.

For tickets or more informatio­n, go to kennedyspa­cecenter.com.

 ?? SENTINEL JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO ?? Guests visit the Apollo/Saturn V exhibit at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in 2019.
SENTINEL JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO Guests visit the Apollo/Saturn V exhibit at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in 2019.
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