Journeys through Space

With two generations of career space workers in our family, and a house that looks out over rocket launches, it's no wonder that the topic of space travel slips into our stories now and again.

When we were younger, we both looked at space as somewhere we might visit someday. The moon, at the very least. Fifty years after the moon landing, however, we don't plan to pay the big bucks to orbit as a space tourist. But we're happy to pursue stories about space as we travel around the country.

Many play out in our own backyard. John's previous career spanned three decades with the Space Shuttle program. His father worked every manned program from Mercury to the Space Shuttle. We still have many friends who work at Kennedy Space Center, and know many more who've retired from the many government contractors that supported all of the programs.

Since our interest in space is an ongoing journey, we hope you enjoy reading through these stories.

Apollo: To the Moon

Reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the launch and landing on the moon by Apollo 11 at Kennedy Space Center, and what it means to American and world history.

Trails and TravelSandra Friend

Race to the Moon: Apollo and Saturn V

It’s the Year of Apollo at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, and nowhere is that more evident than in the renovations and additions at the massive Apollo/Saturn V Center.

Trails and TravelSandra Friend

First on the Moon

North of Dayton, surrounded by farms, the Ohio town of Wapakoneta celebrates its biggest claim to fame: it’s the hometown of Neil Armstrong and home to the Armstrong Air & Space Museum.

Trails and TravelSandra Friend

On a Mission with Space Shuttle Atlantis

Thirty years. Six spacecraft. 135 missions. Learn the rich history of the Space Shuttle program inside Space Shuttle Atlantis, a compelling exhibit space at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, with its primary focus the orbiter Atlantis.

Trails and TravelSandra Friend

Ready for Launch

Living on Florida’s Space Coast, you’re either wowed by rocket launches or take them as a matter of course. I’m new enough to be wowed by living on the edge of space and being part of a family who worked on the space program.

Trails and TravelSandra Friend

Space View Park

Place your hands in Neil Armstrong’s handprints and look up to the moon at this unique waterfront park in downtown Titusville that recounts the history of the American space program.

Florida HikesSandra Friend & John Keatley

The Moon Tree Garden

Florida’s most unique arboretum features a circle of sycamores honoring the Apollo missions, all here thanks to an Apollo 14 project for the U.S. Forest Service to take tree seedings into orbit around the moon.

Florida HikesSandra Friend