Houston Mission Control Space Center, June 24-25, 2018

Sunday

An all black lighthouse on Bolivar Peninsula

Leaving Bolivar Peninsula on the Gulf, we had to take a ferry over to Galveston Island.  The backup was 1 1/2 miles, so it took over an hour to catch one of the four ferries that were running continuously.

Galveston appeared to be an upscale beautiful island with some neat old Victorian homes and a few historical mansions - someplace I would like to come back and explore.

Crossing the bridge to the mainland was all oil refineries as far as we could see.  We continued on north up the mainland to the Houston Space Center, home of Mission Control.  We spent the rest of the afternoon viewing the exhibits about the International Space Center and sat in on an excellent presentation of what life is like on the Space Center, including hygiene, eating, and sleeping.   We took a tram tour to the Historic Mission Control for the Gemini and Apollo missions.  It was smaller than we expected, but listening to the woman talk about the history made in this room made us extra proud to be Americans.  We saw the speaker that broadcast those words, "One Small Leap for Man, One Giant Leap for Mankind" and "Houston, We Have a Problem."

The gallery seating was primarily reserved for families of astronauts - Press was by invitation only.

The little speaker on the right was used in all communications between astronauts and Mission Control

Sleeping bag to keep folks from floating around during sleep.  They have to exercise 2 hours a day to avoid getting osteoporosis

Suction bathroom, with urine being recycled into drinking water

Display how a candle flame differs on Earth vs. space

Crew Member quarters

Food - yuk

Our campground was 20 minutes south where we spent another hot, humid night with the AC running.

Monday
After doing some errands, we headed back to the Space Center to view the remainder of the exhibits, and watch a couple of movies.  We saw Moon Rocks, walked through the 747 used to transport the Shuttles, and watched an excellent movie about the folks in Mission Control and their support groups that are behind the scenes.

Mars Rock

Mars rock

Hummingbird Drone

3D Printed Tools the Astronauts can produce in the Space Station

Jetpack ala The Jetsons could only stay aloft 30 seconds

Airlock on the Space Station

Checklists and Paperwork are overwhelming

Modified 747's accomplishments

Yup, she is from Elmira and Jack approved her student loans.  

Tiles protecting the shuttle from the 3,000 F degree temps on re-entry

Struts added to 747 to support the shuttle

Big Moon Rocks

The shuttle is a reconstruction, but this is the real 747.

Overall, an excellent museum. especially to motivate kids to pursue STEM and the real-world things they can achieve with strong skills.

Staying the night just east of Houston, Texas.  In case you were wondering, the weather here is hot and humid, chance of showers, hot and humid, chance of showers, hot and humid, chance of showers.........