24 Jan 2019 - NASA's Space Center Houston

24 Jan 2019
This morning we drove north about  30 minutes to NASA's Space Center Houston.

We purchased our tickets online and made our way quickly  into the Space Center main building. The best way I can describe the Space Center is a cross between a museum and a space travel-based STEM facility for kids.  It is very children-friendly with many hands-on displays and many interactive displays.  There are also pay-to-play virtual reality experiences, and of course a restaurant and a gift shop.

Staff recommended we take the tram tour first and then finish in the main building, and there was no waiting at the tram, although we quickly filled the four-car tram with visitors.  There were quite a few school groups there and many foreigners.  Great that folks from other countries have the opportunity to come to the United States and see the sites, but I wish they would be respectful and keep their dang traps shut when the tour guide is talking.  Arg!

The tram tour leaves the Space Center property and travels through NASA's Johnson Space Center. The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is an operational facility, with mission control and other functions very active.

As we rode past the various buildings the tour guide described what was going on in them. 

Our first stop was the Christopher C. Kraft Mission Control Center building, which houses active, working mission control centers and where they do mission control training.  If you saw the movie Apollo 13, or are old enough to have watched any of the launches, you likely know what mission control does and how it looks.  It is a room full of consoles, electronics equipment, displays and very technical people that manage every aspect of the mission, from launch to recovery.

Display inside the building

Our tour guide briefed us to be very quiet as we made our way into the building and down the hallway past the operational mission control room that was currently controlling the International Space Station.  We then entered an observation area above another mission control center, but this one is where they train the mission controllers.  It also serves as a back-up to the other mission control.  Doreen and I were lucky enough to get two seats in the front row at the glass!  Made for great pictures!

Where there are two at a console, one is the trainer and one is the student

The colored lines on the status screen indicate there is a problem of some sort, in this case more than one problem at a time.

The mission controllers have a lot of data and systems to monitor.  This is just one position.

There is a lengthy training and certification process where the students are pressed very hard.  They control simulated missions and while doing so they have to deal with various problems that arise.  They must maintain their composure and work as a team to solve them or they will be eliminated from the program.

After the Mission Control building, we traveled to the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility where they have replicas of various spacecraft components.  Astronauts use this facility to train for future missions.  It is also used by scientists and engineers to design future space exploration vehicles.  This is not a museum.  This is real, live, operational equipment in use today.

We walked along an elevated pathway so we had a great view of the equipment.

International Space Station mockup's

The building is packed with space vehicles of all sorts

Orion is the name associated with the future Mars mission

There were astronauts training inside this capsule and personnel outside also

This is a robot NASA is experimenting with.  It is so "smart" it will return a handshake with the same pressure as was given!

Modular Robotic Vehicle in the background

  From here we headed to the Rocket Park.  This building houses one of only three remaining Saturn V rockets, and this one is the only remaining Saturn V who's stages were scheduled for flight.  

In front of the building

The business end of a Saturn V rocket.  Holy cow this thing is HUGE! The Saturn V is the rocket designed to take astronauts to the moon.

Saturn V first stage rocket

Saturn V second stage rocket

Saturn V third stage

After viewing the Saturn V, the tram took us back to the Space Center where we finished up inside the building.

The next big mission will be Orion and travel to Mars.  There was a lot of emphasis here on the Orion mission and it was some very interesting reading.  

This is Valkyre, the robotic helper!  We saw Valkyre on the tram tour.

There were may space suits and accessories on display

A scale model International Space Station display

An astronaut on a space walk

Inside the International Space Station

The Space Shuttle Discovery cargo bay.  Was launched in 1984 and flew 38 missions. 

Ed is his new "uniform"!

Doreen at the stick landing the Space Shuttle!

Lunar Module display!

The mock-up of the Space Shuttle mounted to an actual 737 used to transport it.

NASA's Space Center was well worth the time.  We headed back to the RV and our son Dan had sorted our mail at home and emailed me some documents I needed to finalize our 2018 income tax information for our accountant.  I got that all compiled, walked the dog a few times and chilled for the rest of the evening. 

Tomorrow we are going to have dinner with Doreen's cousin Tammy and her family.  Othe than that we will see what the day brings!