Space Center Houston












Ben didn't seem too eager to wake up so we had a later than desired start for the day. Consequently Space Center Houston turned out to be an all day event-and yes, that included smashed pennies! and a smashed quarter ('The eagle has landed'). We toured the museum sections and entered the vault where some of the moon rocks are kept. There is one rock that is sliced open and you can put your hand in the display and feel the rock-you are actually touching a part of the moon!

There was a $5 parking fee but your pass (printed online for the best discount) got you into everything at the Space Center-even the big screen movies and the tram rides. You could take the Blue Route-which we did because it had the shorter line or the Red Route. The Blue Route took us to the Historic Mission Control Center (the one used initially for the first US space flights) and to the rocket park. The Red Route went to the current Mission Control Center and then the rocket park.

At the Historic Mission Control Center we hiked 87 steps to the top to see the Historic Mission Control Room. The American Flag flying in the corner has been to the moon 2x. So-nope, we didn’t leave our flag up there! Ronnie Howard, when preparing to make the movie Apollo 13, took thousands of pictures of the Mission Control Room so he could recreate it in Hollywood-the room there was much too small for cameras. He got the details down so tight he even showed a ‘Shipley’s Donut’ box on one of the consoles.

As we were on the tram leaving the Historic Mission Control Center the tour guide pointed out the flag flying atop the building-that flag has done so continuously for the past 10 years. A flag flies when there is an American astronaut in space. On our way to the Rocket Park we slowed and paused across from the small grove of trees. One tree planted for each astronaut who has fallen. It was a sacred moment.
The rockets and jet engines in the Rocket Park were absolutely huge. The only thought that occurred to me there was that this was atypical of little boys. A group of 5 will get together. One will have brains and only brains, another will have almost as much brains but prowess and brawn to go with it. The kid with the brains will say wouldn’t this be cool and the kid with brawn will say-‘I wanna do it’ and so the kid with brains builds it, the kid with brawns lives it and as the hatch is being closed the kid with brains says, ‘I hope this works!’

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