These fighter jets mark the entrance to the Space Center in Houston. There is a visiting center here as well as a tram ride that takes you into the actual "campus" of the working center.
The first thing we did when we got to the center was head for the tram tour. Visitor centers are great but the real thing is even better!
Our first stop on the tour was the Mission Control Center. This is where all the action is as the space travel is going on. The space enter is an active place with engineers, scientists, astronauts and all the necessary support people needed for space exploration.
We had to walk up 87 stairs to get here but it was worth it. This is the actual command center used through Apollo missions - including Moon Landings! The digital camera I took this picture with probably has more capability than the machines they had to put someone on the moon. WOW! The computer they did have took up the whole floor below us though now that floor is used for the current command center. In the room we were sitting were the families of the astronauts as well as the media. Do you remember seeing the activity in this room when successful missions were made?
Of course, I had to take a picture of the picture of our first astronauts to land on the moon. Neil Armstrong is the one on the left - one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind! I still remember it!
Our next stop was at the "Space Vehicle Mockup Facility." This is where actual size space equipment and vehicles are used to help train the astronauts.
I tried to take a picture looking down to some of the people who are currently working on projects for the Orion program as well as any needs for the International Space Station.
A couple of space suits are ready for future astronauts to put on while training.
This grove of trees was planted to honor the astronauts who have lost their lives. Our tram stopped here for a few moments to remember them.
Our last stop was at the rocket display. It had a few rockets outside that seemed pretty big until we went in the building.......
This Saturn V rocket laying on it's side was HUGE! Each part was identified by which stage it was so you could see what portions were dropped off during the take-off.
This is just one of the engines on the first stage of the rocket - it had five engines.
Along the side of the rocket were displays giving information about all of the Apollo missions, including names and pictures of the astronauts and the purpose of the missions. I wish we had more time to read all of the information.
We had only 15 minutes at this stop - not enough to really learn how much our space program had done.
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