Playlinda Beach

The first of many laybys along the road into Playlinda Beach that afford excellent views of Launch Pads 39A and 39B. The wildlife in the waterways was very prolific.
From this vantage point Pads 39A (Space Shuttle) and 39B (Aries) are aligned, with 39A containing STS 132 Atlantis, recognisable by its orange fuel tank, the most distant.
Further along the road, the two pads can be seen separately. Atlantis sits on Pad 39A at the left. The lightning masts identify Pad 39B, now modified for use by the Aries rockets.
From the boardwalk above the dunes of Playlinda Beach the orange External Fuel Tank of the STS 132 stack can be seen. A fence partway along the beach prevents southward access to the Kennedy Space Center.
Seemingly oblivious to the space infrastructure behind them, these folks engage in one of Floridians' favourite pass times.
Further north along the beach I chatted with other fishermen about their catches.
The DOAMS long range optical tracker building at Playlinda Beach's northern extemity.

Another short drive brought me to the northern Kennedy Space Center entry gate. Continuing east I entered the Canaveral National Seashore wetlands. The road out to Playlinda Beach afforded excellent views 3 km across the wetlands to the Aries launch pad 39B, and 2.5 km beyond it to the STS 132 Atlantis stack sitting proudly on Pad 39A.

Many photographic stops later I reached the beach. Again, more photos of the Atlantic Ocean, beach, fishermen, and space shuttle.

The road at this point heads north for seven kilometres, running parallel to the Atlantic Ocean and its bounding line of high sand hills to the east and the wetland lagoons to the east. Its end came next to an observatory dome housing part of the NASA tracking network, the DOAMS long range optical tracker.

The upper sign was ignored, the lower one obeyed.

Signs at the access paths though the sand hills to the beach announced that nudity on the beach was prohibited. I figured the signs were not there without due cause. Sure enough, even at 9:30 am, there was a friendly bunch of folks enjoying the morning sunshine, sand and fishing as nature intended. I joined them.

By late-morning the sun began to ignore my sunscreen, so I reluctantly dressed and returned to the car.

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