‘Houston: mission complete!’
Solar system communications central - the space centre in Houston was our target today. We arose early because it was a 1.5 hr trip from our hotel on public transport. While it takes ages, it is very low cost.
The centre is not quite as spectacular and theatrical as Kennedy, but it still piqued my interest. It was great to see an operating control centre (well the training room for one) and hear of the two year training one has to have to work at mission control.
My focus at the centre was the International Space Station (ISS) and potential missions to Mars exhibitions. I enjoyed the thought provoking displays on what would have to be overcome on a mission to Mars, not to mention how they deal with life now in the ISS.
The final (unused) rocket for the Apollo missions was in a massive shed. Along with being mind bogglingly large just to get such a tiny unit out of the Earth's atmosphere it also showed the amount of technology needed to create the propulsion rockets. Originally the rocket was kept outside but it is now housed in a purpose built shed to protect it from the degradation of the weather on it.
Samuel enjoyed 'docking' a ship onto the ISS.
Samuel was excited and inspired to say he wanted to be an astronaut, we got him a book detailing the minutia of everyday life on the ISS. He is of course fascinated with the toilet aspect of the operation. He asked so many questions as we roved about the exhibitions. Then he got caught on a computer game. This was rather disappointing since it bore no relation to space exploration or travel and a lot of relation to mindless cartoons.
Although personally I have more affinity with the mission control aspect than the actual rocket launch aspect of space exploration, I would definitely recommend the Kennedy Centre over this one.
Solar system communications central - the space centre in Houston was our target today. We arose early because it was a 1.5 hr trip from our hotel on public transport. While it takes ages, it is very low cost.
The centre is not quite as spectacular and theatrical as Kennedy, but it still piqued my interest. It was great to see an operating control centre (well the training room for one) and hear of the two year training one has to have to work at mission control.
My focus at the centre was the International Space Station (ISS) and potential missions to Mars exhibitions. I enjoyed the thought provoking displays on what would have to be overcome on a mission to Mars, not to mention how they deal with life now in the ISS.
The final (unused) rocket for the Apollo missions was in a massive shed. Along with being mind bogglingly large just to get such a tiny unit out of the Earth's atmosphere it also showed the amount of technology needed to create the propulsion rockets. Originally the rocket was kept outside but it is now housed in a purpose built shed to protect it from the degradation of the weather on it.
Samuel enjoyed 'docking' a ship onto the ISS.
Samuel was excited and inspired to say he wanted to be an astronaut, we got him a book detailing the minutia of everyday life on the ISS. He is of course fascinated with the toilet aspect of the operation. He asked so many questions as we roved about the exhibitions. Then he got caught on a computer game. This was rather disappointing since it bore no relation to space exploration or travel and a lot of relation to mindless cartoons.
Although personally I have more affinity with the mission control aspect than the actual rocket launch aspect of space exploration, I would definitely recommend the Kennedy Centre over this one.
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