Houston Space Center

Monday, February 15, 2010

Laundry day, and relaxing.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Off to the Johnson Space Center and Mission Control which was only 9 miles away. We arrived just before 10:00 AM opening.  This “entertainment” part of Space Centre provides lots of things to do for the whole family. 

We started our visit with the tram tour to the Johnson Space Center.  Security was almost as tight here as it is at an airport.  They first photograph you; although I think that this is more to try to sell you a picture package for $25, at the end of the the tour, than it is a security procedure.  I had to empty my pockets which were filled with spare batteries, memory cards and crunched up money.  At least I didn’t set off the metal detector as I walked through.  Janet was waiting by the tram talking to the tour guide who had given her our two security count tags.  We had a fairly small group so we got away fairly quickly.  First stop was the “classic Mission Control” centre.  This is the same Mission Control that first heard the words “Houston, we have a problem.” from the Apollo XIII, commander James Lovell.  (Actually, this was a misquote of Jack Swigert, who was the command module pilot, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.”)  The monitors in Mission Control were all connected to mainframe computers which only had 256 KB of RAM.  (Most of today's “plain” cell phones have that amount of memory. )  We visited the Astronaut Training Facility where “mock-ups” of all the equipment are located on the training floor.  A life size shuttle and a Canadarm are displayed along with a Soyuz space craft.  As we boarded the tram they collected our security count tags to ensue no one had escaped into the training facility and we were on our way to the final stop. 

When you see a Saturn V rocket, your jaw drops at the sheer size.  It was 363 feet tall and without fins, 33 feet in diameter. This particular rocket is displayed on its side and is separated into it’s stages.  This is one of the last surviving Saturn V’s but was never launched.  It  is still on the original carrier wheels. Basically it was just one large fuel tank with five massive engines attached and weighing over 6.5 million pounds. This is the rocket that launched the Apollo missions and the one that you see in the movie Apollo XIII.  Still one of my “bucket list” items is to see a shuttle launch.  I suppose I better hurry up as there are only 3 more shuttle launches planned.

We boarded a cutaway version of the shuttle where we learned how the astronauts eat. how they maintain hygiene and how they handle other bodily functions. In zero gravity there is no up or down so you need a suction or negative pressure system to take care of waste. You also have to attach yourself to the toilet seat to keep from floating away.  I will never again complain about the small size of our bathroom. 

There is a good history of the space program from the early days to the present.  An Apollo capsule bearing the burn marks of re-entry on it’s sides and heat shield is so cramped you wonder how one person could fit in there let alone three people. Finally we got to touch an actual moon rock.  The rock is cemented into a large acrylic block and is accessed through a narrow slot. 

President Obama has requested a halt to the research and development on the Ares 5 rocket and the objective to return to the moon.  Most of the guides are all too eager to point out that this has not passed in Congress and is not yet a done deal.  They subtly request that their audience should contact their representatives in Washington to continue the space program.  Not so unusual but we closed down another attraction at 5:00PM and then headed back to the trailer.

The news this evening reported that there has been a chemical spill just off Hwy FM 225, where we had been on Sunday.  They said that nitric-oxide had been released into the air near Pasadena, TX.  That is located approximately 20 miles away from us. Authorities have warned motorists to stay clear of the area and advised residents to turn off air conditioning units and to keep their windows closed.