We traveled as a group of six with two 40-somethings, one senior adult, and three children: ten, eight, and five years old. The Astronauts Memorial Planetarium and Observatory will never be on the top-ten list of central Florida attractions, but it is a hidden gem and if you are interested in space or astronomy, it is well worth your time and the small cost of admission.
The museum is located in Cocoa, just a short scenic drive from the Kennedy Space Center. There is a very basic science museum with only a few, but interesting hands-on exhibits. On Friday evenings, they present a planetarium show called "The Sky Tonight." While the laser light shows they have at other times looked interesting, we wanted to see a traditional planetarium show that presented constellations, stars, planets—in essence the sky above. The planetarium delivers. Okay, the presenter wasn’t the most excellent speaker, but he was great fun to listen to and very interesting and we learned a lot.
Following the show we went up into the observatory which is run the Brevard Astronomical Society. They were very helpful in helping us see live images of Jupiter and other objects through their very large scope. All three of our children loved this.
The ten-year old and I returned later after the others left to see some late night images from the observatory.
Bottom line: This is an unknown attraction that is very inexpensive and well worth your time. It is the perfect companion attraction to spending a day at Kennedy Space Center.