Thur - Visiting Center

After the tram ride to the Space Center we spent some time in the visitor center.  They had lots of interactive stations for kids and adults.  I tried to land the space shuttle twice - the first was a big crash and the second was a little crash but I definitely need much more practice!!

This part of the center gave us an update on what the current space missions are.  We are not aiming for any moon missions at this time but missions to Mars are being worked on now.

Our joint International Space Station is now complete and we have several countries providing transportation to and from the ISS.  The latest shuttle took off from Kazakhstan.  There are also corporate sponsors that will be involved with the programs.

NASA has a goal of astronauts on Mars by 2030.  It will take about 9 months of travel to get there and they will plan on staying about 1 to 1 1/2 years before they return. 

Inside a mockup of the space shuttle are a lot of switches!

A lunar rover can be used as one way of moving about the land!

The space rocks need to be securely maintained in special atmosphere so that they are not destroyed, though they did have one rock that the public could touch.  It was as smooth as glass.  Again, lots more to see than I could do in one short visit and lots more pictures were taken than I could put on the blog.  I think this side trip to the Houston Space Center is well worth the time.

We are back to reality now - and heavy traffic is part of it.  This picture does not do justice to what Gary had to drive through when we left today.  We did stop at an ATT store on our way north to get a new phone.  Gary's was getting worse by the day - always turning off by itself or cutting off phone conversations and not good for connecting the computer to the internet.  Well, he has a new phone now and that is why I was able to get all the blog postings up to date.  It works great - and fast!!!  We shouldn't have any more trouble withs WIFI!




We are at another Flying J tonight as we get ready for tomorrow.  We will be stopping at the Houston Temple in the morning and then traveling on to my cousin's house in Conroe later in the afternoon.  We will see you tomorrow Debbi & Manny!!!