NASA Houston

Want to re-live that feeling you had as a kid when everything was new and exciting? Take a trip to NASA Space Center in Houston. What a ton of fun!

Welcome to NASA!

As you turn into the entrance there are two fighter jets on display and just around the corner to the parking area you are face to face with an actual Space Shuttle. Wow! 

Chris & the Space Shuttle.

Getting a picture of your own self standing next to the Shuttle is exciting enough and then you enter the main building. There are so many cool exhibits to see and Chris & I kept saying, “I wish we had the grandkids with us, they would love this.”

Part of the cockpit.

Space toilet!

The first thing you see upon entering is the nosecone of a Space Shuttle. It is actually a mock up but it was great fun to be able to climb up inside and see firsthand how the astronauts lived in space. The console, walls and ceiling of the cockpit are covered with buttons and switches and dials and gauges and the windows seemed incredibly small. It must be a real project to see where they are going when the pilot is trying to land this vehicle.

Walking in Space.

There are several theaters. One presents a movie history of space travel and then you exit into a large area filled with all sorts of space memorabilia. There are space suits, capsules and a moon rover on display as well as a number of moon rock specimens. 

There is even one small moon rock that you can touch if you so desire. It is, naturally, glued securely in place so no one can walk off with it. 

Astronaut Brian Duffy

Friday is “Meet an Astronaut Day” and luck was with us as it was Friday. Astronaut Brian Duffy was in attendance that day and we were completely entranced as he talked about what it takes to become an astronaut and what life in space is like. He also showed his “home videos” of his last trip to the International Space Shuttle and back. 

We caught the last tour of the day to see some of the more interesting areas of the NASA facility. The first stop was the actual control room from the early days of the Space Program. When the “Houston, we have a problem” call went out from Apollo 13 this is where it was going. Oh…and reaching the control room involved climbing 86 steps! That will definitely get your heart rate up. 

Robotic Arm.

From here we were transported to a building where the astronauts receive training. Not the least of which is learning to use the robotic arm to complete tasks in space. 

Used to practice docking the Space Shuttle with the Space Station.

Next we were off to a building that holds mock ups of the vehicles currently in space as well as experimental craft. Whenever something goes wrong on the Space Station or one of the other things we have flying around in space the ground crew can be working on a fix at the same time the astronauts are which means more smart minds and less time to figure it out. 

Int'l. Space Station parts & pieces.

One of the interesting things about all the parts and pieces of the International Space Station is that different countries built different sections. There is a flag decal on each of the section to indicate which country did the work on that one. 

Future Capsule.

This building also has a mock-up of the spaceship that is being developed with the intent to send people to Mars! I had no idea that was in the works but it sounds pretty exciting. The new project is called Orion. 

Sandy with F-1 Engine.

At the end of the tour we were dropped off at “Rocket Ship Park” where there are some rocket ships and engines to explore. 

5 F-1 Engines on the Saturn V.

Next to the Park we entered a very long building where an actual Saturn V rocket, complete with space capsule, was resting on several (very large) trailers. Each of the three stages of the rocket had been separated and each was very different from the others. 

I was stunned to see how huge the rocket was when compared with how very small the capsule (where the astronaut rode) was.

Most (but not all) of the Saturn V. The capsule is just the brown section in front.

Last stop of the day was a trip to the gift shop for some mementos.  It is a requirement when you have grandchildren, you know.  

All in all, it was an amazing experience. 

We can hardly wait to get to Cape Kennedy in Florida!