November 2019 – Aliyah and cousins Anastasia & PJ took their Beloved Boomers to Space Center Houston in November to hitch a ride to Mars and shop the Space Suit Fall Collection. Although it was on the pricey side, Space Center Houston is a very popular destination for kids and their adult companions for so many reasons:
A. Astronauts!
B. Big, beautiful universe out there!
C. Cool job opportunities when we get bigger!
D. Destination Mars!
Aliyah’s uncle is an amazing engineer at NASA doing amazing Engineering Stuff to get our people to the Moon and Mars. He had shown Granddad and Grandma around the base earlier, so we have some great pics of areas Aliyah missed out on. We’ll share some of those pics with you as well.
Right in front of the main building is the actual NASA 905 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft with a replica Shuttle on top. The replica shuttle is the only shuttle mounted on a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft — anywhere — that the visiting public can go inside. Unfortunately it appeared to be closed the day we went, so we don’t have any interior pics. But next time we hope for better luck!
Once we entered the main Visitor Center we were surrounded with exhibits for all ages. The main exhibits we saw were Mission Mars, an Astronaut Gallery, and the Starship Gallery. The center also had a nice theater and a wonderful tram ride around the NASA grounds and stops at the Space Vehicle Mockup Lab and Saturn V rocket .
Aliyah was especially fascinated by the Astronaut Gallery. This was an extensive collection of space apparel for the fashion conscious, and Aliyah does like to dress appropriately for the weather and planned activities. She insisted on reviewing each and every suit in detail and had a lot of questions such as “Why is his helmet yellow?” and “Can I have a suit like that one?”
We were able to answer most of her questions by referring to the informational panels alongside the suits. But there were no price tags, so we had to break it to her gently that nothing was on sale.
Grams liked how each suit was documented with a short bio of the astronaut who wore it (right panel), the mission for which it was designed and worn (left panel), and features of the suit. Aliyah was more interested in learning that space is cold, there is no air to breathe, and the astronauts need protection from the blinding sunlight. Who would have guessed?
Sadly, Judith Resnik’s display was not well lit, as you can see. Also, Resnik’s display combined information about her and women astronauts in general on the “Mission” panel, which diluted her story. And this in spite of the fact that she died in service to NASA and our country. She definitely wasn’t getting the love here. Maybe someday individual women astronauts can get equal footing in this gallery instead of getting lumped together? Hint, hint.
Everybody loved the Pop-Up Science Lab. Nothing beats the presence of real human instructors and tactile learning though. Interactive displays are great, but the best learning was to be had at the Pop-up Science Labs.
At today’s lab, the kids got to predict which of several materials would best protect astronauts from the heat of reentry. They could pick up the samples, examine them, and write down their guesses. (Anastasia took charge of the writing part, as she is a very accomplished young lady of six.) Then they conducted an experiment to test their guesses. The scientists used the test materials to block the heat from a blow-drier pointed at a paper cup (space vehicle) containing a heat sensor (which looked like an unbent paperclip. Even little PJ was spellbound! And if you want to know the answers, you will just have to go yourself. Ha!
The Mission Mars exhibit area had a full-size model Orion capsule, a moon rock the kids could touch, and plenty of interactive stations. Aliyah was able to enlist a little help from her big cousin with the difficult bits, such as reading the words. Aliyah was a bit young to appreciate the Orion module, but she knows all about playing computer games, so this was right up her alley.
After we completed the Mission Mars walkabout, we took the Tram Tour around the NASA grounds, and there was almost no wait to get on. It was included in the price of admission to the center so of course we took advantage of it!
The first stop was at the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, which was a fascinating building full of vehicles and spacecraft modules. This is a working space, not a museum, but there was a walkway above and surrounding the main floor at a mezzanine level, so we could all get a great view of the goings on below.
After we finished oogling the space modules and ground vehicles, we headed back to the tram. Below is a pic of a memorial grove of trees we rode by, dedicated to past NASA heroes. We were amazed to see deer hanging around the grounds, showing very little respect for those honored here. Were they hoping to join the Mars Expedition? We may never know!
Our next stop was the gargantuan Saturn V, in it’s very own, dedicated building. And it is HUGE. And folks, this is not a mockup or a model. It’s and ACTUAL Saturn with all its parts. You must *not* miss this on your visit!
OK, so there was some horsing around at the Saturn V. Someone may have mistaken parts of it for a jungle gym. Ahem.
And bend… 
… and stretch… 
Don’t you DARE climb that! 
What?! You DO know I’m only four.
Aliyah did enjoy having a private tour guide in the form of Granddad explaining about rockets, and reading the stories posted on the walls. Did you know that the Saturn V is the Biggest, Baddest rocket EVER flown? Seriously. This bad boy is 363 feet tall and has a lift-off weight of over 6 million pounds. That’s a lot of rocket right there.
Saturn rockets were flown from 1967 until 1973. They were used to launch six manned missions to the moon. A Saturn rocket also launched Skylab, our predecessor to the International Space Station. The first stage of this rocket only burned 47 seconds into the flight and then dropped off. But in that 47 seconds, the rocket would have already made it 42 miles above the Earth’s surface. Can you imagine the g’s you would be feeling? Yikes.
After we spent a good three hours on the tram ride and exhibits, we had worked up quite an appetite and some of us were tired. Not sayin’ who. *Looks sheepish* Luckily there was a large food court with a wide range of overpriced food options. We settled on pizza for the kids and stuffed baked potatoes. The potatoes were delicious, and the staff were very friendly and extra nice. Grandma even got a discount as a former service member. Awesome!
SNEAK PEEK AT OFF-TOUR AREAS
There were several areas where Granddad and Grandma went on an earlier visit sans Aliyah, and we’ll include a peek at those just for you!
One of the first places we visited was the Mission Control Center that was in use back in the 1960s through 1980s. It was the control room for the very first manned missions to space, including the moon landing in 1969. Baby Boomers like Granddad (Dave) and Grams (Marlene) remember watching the first moon landing. Grandma was called in from the front yard, where she was playing jacks with her little sisters, just to watch the first steps on the moon on their black & white TV. Mother assured her at the time that she would remember this day, and always be glad that she hadn’t missed it. She was right! Aliyah has a smart Great Grandmother for sure!
Next, we were astonished to see the incredible Neutral Bouyancy Lab, which is an unbelievably huge swimming pool virtually littered with mockups of International Space Station modules and other spacecraft & specialized mockups. Astronauts suit up and take the plunge to practice operating in zero gravity. This pool holds 6.2 million gallons of water. It’s 235 feet long, 135 feet wide, and 60 feet deep.
In the pictures below you can see space modules resting on the bottom of the pool. Next, you can see real astronauts suiting up to go swimming or already in the water. It was our understanding that one of the many purposes of training in this tank is to make sure the suits behave as expected and the wearers can still move well enough to perform their missions. Also, the astronauts have to practice performing all their tasks in a “weightless” environment so they are prepared when they have to do it for real.
Grandma wanted soooo bad to jump in. 
The water looks fine!
Here is an actual cockpit control panel that was set up for display, but I don’t know much else about it. Can anyone help me out here?
The kids all had a great time, and Aliyah gave the visit an enthusiastic two little thumbs up! If she had been able to go to the extra facilities her Boomers toured, she would have probably needed more thumbs.
Houston out!
About Space Center Houston :
Website: http://www.hmns.org/
Address:
1601 NASA Pkwy,
Houston, Texas, 77058
Phone: (281) 244-2100
Email: schinfo@spacecenter.org