Pam Jones is starstruck as she enjoys an out-of-world experience with a galactic explorer in a place like nowhere else on Earth.
You're spinning towards the stars in a craft launched by something the size of a nuclear bomb and then you remember.
As you look towards a blue and white Earth, you realise a simple yet remarkable fact about our home planet: you're not on it.
Such epiphanies are oft-recounted by former astronauts who travel the galaxy, combining intellect, training and teamwork to navigate the cosmos.
But after such out-of-world experiences, what is one who previously pursued the moon to do once back on Earth?
For former Nasa astronaut Thomas (Tom) D. Jones, part of his mandate is enlightening visitors to the Kennedy Space Centre Visitor Complex (KSC) in Florida, 45 minutes east of Orlando.
Jones, who clocked up more than 2000 hours as an officer in US Air Force jets before joining Nasa in 1990, holds a doctorate in planetary science, has been honoured with various medals and exceptional service awards by Nasa and is now an author and space researcher, regularly holds court with visitors at the KSC and his is an endearingly gracious and amiable spirit for one with such an illustrious career.
Jones logged 52 days in space over four space flights from 1994 to 2001, including three space walks totalling 19 hours on his last mission, helping install the US Destiny Laboratory Module in the International Space Station.
Calm, good-humoured, articulate and generous with his knowledge, Jones has audiences at the KSC eating out of his hand and makes it seem almost normal to meet a real-life astronaut (a veteran astronaut is ''on duty'' each day at the visitor complex, where photos, autographs and handshakes are invited and more up-close-and-personal ''lunch with an astronaut'' sessions are available).
As Jones shares his opinions about life on Mars (Martians no, but microbes definitely) and elsewhere (he thinks it ''very likely'' that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe, and thinks he'll hear of it in his lifetime), I'm starstruck; like groupies, those around him are hanging on his every word, and he's clear about the impact outer space has had on him.
''I miss it. I dream of it every week. It's too vividly burned into my memory.''
His Q and A is a highlight of our trip to the KSC, a large, spectacular and multifaceted complex that revisits the past conquests and challenges of pioneering astronauts and encourages the space explorers of tomorrow.
A giant ''rocket garden'' containing some of Nasa's early launch vehicles greets visitors to the complex, and other attractions include behind-the-scenes tours, 3-D space films, real moon rocks, launch-viewing opportunities and hands-on simulators, but it's the space shuttle Atlantis that really wows, complete with scorchmarks and space dust.
In another building, the 110m Saturn V rocket (the same as others that lifted Apollo lunar spacecraft off the ground from 1968 to 1972, but this one never flew) is displayed horizontally in three parts, surrounded by real spacesuits and information about the mettle required to become an astronaut.
All the bus tours around the KSC (research what you want to do before you go, because the complex is so large you could easily spend more than a day here) also pass by the 160m-high Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).
Visitors can also sometimes see one of the complex's 2700-tonne crawler-transporters, developed in the 1960s to carry fully stacked Saturn V rockets from the VAB to designated launch pads.
This year, 24 rockets are scheduled to lift off from the KSC and nearby Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
By 2017, private companies are scheduled to start making commercial flights into space, the following year a new Nasa Space Launch System (SLS) is scheduled for its test launch, and a new Nasa space vehicle, Orion, which will take astronauts further into space than ever, is being developed.
Where will it go?
Will trips to Mars become a reality?
• Pam Jones travelled to Orlando with the assistance of IPW (International Pow Wow travel conference) and IPW's New Zealand international advisory committee.
