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Space Center Houston



Space Center Houston, Clear Lake, TX, home of NASA and Mission Control

This year, one of the traveling exhibits for NASA is the Apollo 11 command module.  So, we decided to get a membership so we could go see it.  Why a membership since we do not live in the immediate area?  Well, the base price of tickets, even with their $5 off coupon, was the same as a membership.  On daily tickets, you pay taxes, on memberships, you don't.  So, it's cheaper for us to get the family membership.

In conjunction with a college campus visit to Sam Houston State University, we headed a little south before heading back north.  We arrived as the visitor center opened.  With membership and timed tram tickets, we were able to take both tram tours and still have enough time to visit the permanent exhibits and the traveling exhibits.  The only thing we didn't visit was the theater area where the display of space suits are.  Next trip!



Our first tram tour was to old mission control, which has been upgraded from the 1960's equipment, and is now being used as a training facility.  The ISS mission control was just down the hall.  I found it interesting because I've visit historic mission control before.  The kids, not really.  N was ready to leave the entire complex after that tour - and it was only 10:30am.




What started to redeem the trip - a stop at Rocket Park.  When we first drove past, N told me this rocket was what he thought took the astronauts to the moon

 From looking at this angle, it's pretty big and to a 6 year old, it looks big enough to take a trip to the moon.



And THEN, we entered the "indoor" display at Rocket Park.  For those who haven't visited in a really long time (12 years at least), the Saturn V rocket is now enclosed in a steel building to help combat aging and erosion.

WOW!  He was impressed!



Along one wall, there are pictures and stories about each Apollo Mission.  We've watched the Going to the Moon history series and Apollo 13 and we've been watching Space X launches, but seeing all the pictures and then later when we toured the permanent exhibit area, it really brought home that it's REAL!  Not just a Hollywood made up movie.



N: "They sent the Death Star to the Moon!?!"  It does look like it!


 Another fascinating feature we found was how each piece was put together to survive being shot through the atmosphere and still be able to separate without damaging other parts.

Our second tram tour was to what they called Astronaut Training - not what I was thinking (pool and zero gravity chamber).  However, the kids were very impressed with the ISS modules, the plans for Orion, robotic arms, next generation rovers and robots, and the fact that there was a 25th Anniversary Edition Singer (yes a sewing machine) in the work area.







Nasa supports several First Robots teams and several were in the area working on their robots.  The fascinating part of this trip - the Clone helmet among all the other hard hats.


We did see an observatory on top of one buildings - can you tell we like observatories?  We also saw some wildlife - alligator, some deer, and turtles.


All from our comfy seats on the open air tram tour.


After a lunch of pizza and Dr Pepper beside the Galileo Shuttle from the Enterprise..........



we found the Apollo 11 command module and a fuel injector plate....................................





an Orion mock-up...................................


With a model of the rockets which will potentially take the Orion to Mars.



We also found a neat Mars exhibit where you could test gravity on Mars, build a Martian space suit and pack a rocket with supplies.
















Our next stop was the permanent exhibits where we found Gemini, Apollo 17, Mercury, SkyLab, and a room full of Moon Rocks!





Inside the shuttle mock-up, there are many hands on activities including flying the shuttle piggy back, lining the shuttle up to attach to the piggy back plane, and learning about the shuttle itself.  N's comment as we were coming home that night - "How do they keep the astronauts from being hurt when they open the cargo doors and the whole ship decompresses?"  Guess NASA should rethink some of the remodeling they did to accommodate visitors - they moved the wall and air lock doors so that people can see the cargo area, but it sure does make a boy wonder how he'll be safe in space.


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