Music.
As onlookers watched, a single fighter plane streaked across the patchy Florida winter sky.
Its touchdown at the Shuttle Landing Facility of NASA's Kennedy Space Center
heralded the announcement of the first World Space Expo.
The F-16 and its pilot -- Maj. Tad Clark -- are part of the U.S. Air Force's elite precision-flying team, the Thunderbirds.
Clark was visiting Kennedy to pave the way for the Thunderbirds to open the
first-of-its-kind expo, which will run from Nov. 3 through 11.
"When the Thunderbirds show up, we'll have six demonstration jets.
And when they take to the skies over here at the Kennedy Space Center, the people are going to see an amazing show.
Whether it be the six ship delta formation or the diamond formation, it really
demonstrates the precision and the formation positioning. But then when the solos split up and they cruise past at 150 feet,
500 knots, pulling 9 Gs, afterburner, pull straight up into the vertical, performing rolls,
I think a lot of people, young and old, will really enjoy that."
The event will be hosted by the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Planners of the privately funded expo hope to educate and excite the public and the
next generation of space explorers about all aspects of space exploration.
Come November, Clark in his F-16 will once again streak across the Florida sky above Kennedy,
this time accompanied by the rest of the Thunderbirds to kick off the nine-day event.