On our journey out of South Texas, we stopped in at the Houston Space Center, in Houston, Texas. This is another one of those museums that we got into for free due to our EAA student membership The boy got during his Young Eagles flight. And probably the BEST space museum we’ve ever seen.
The museum was a little overwhelming at first. Everything was off the main entrance, and we’re not even sure we saw all of it. There was a tram tour of other sites, but we weren’t sure if that cost extra or not. (Mom here: two of the three tram tours are included in the cost of general admission.)
Among the exhibit areas, there was an expansive area dedicated to the moon and all the programs dedicated to getting Niel Armstrong and Friends to the moon. We’ve been to the Museum of Flight back in Seattle many times. And I have been a space nut for most of my life. However, I always find something new to learn at these places.
SpaceX and NASA are on display together!
One thing that I found interesting at the Houston Space Center was the inclusion of a Falcon 9 rocket outside.
SpaceX has been ferrying NASA equipment and personnel into orbit for several years now. However, one can’t help but try and see them as adversarial. If only in our own heads.
Having watched SpaceX developing the Starship in Boca Chica, it was pretty neat to see the “little/older” brother of that massive rocket. A Rocket that NASA will be using in its Artemis missions, returning people to the moon.
Gemini to Apollo, the Moon, and Beyond!
Speaking of moon missions. I had no idea just how much the Apollo program affected space exploration. Aside from the trips to the moon, some parts of the Saturn V rockets were repurposed in interesting ways. Like Skylab.
The workshop of this first, and to date, only 100% US-operated Space Station was built out of the 3rd stage of the Saturn V rocket. Launched unmanned with a modified Saturn V, the crew was delivered to and from the space station with modified Apollo command and service modules!
Space Shuttle Trainer, as well as the Shuttle Ferry
Eventually, the Saturn rockets were retired as NASA’s workhorse and that job was handed over to the Space Shuttle. And on the topic of the Space Shuttle, The Houston Space Center had not only one of the Space Shuttle trainers but also the 747 used to ferry the shuttles from their landing fields in California, and New Mexico to the launch facilities in Florida.
The inside of the 747 was set up as a museum of the aircraft. There were videos on a loop about the problems engineers had thinking of ways to ship the spacecraft. My favorite was the one about the engineer who built a scale 747, and a scale shuttle, then bolted the two vehicles together to see if it would work.
Overall, it was an amazing day, limited only by our own endurance. We could probably visit 10 times and learn something new every time. However, we were only in the area for a few short days. If you do find yourself in the neighborhood, check it out!