Austin - Houston - 27/1/13

Up early and feeling the worse for it. Luckily, today was the shortest drive that we will have had to do - a mere 3 1/2 hours to Houston (187 miles). The reason for leaving early was so that we would have time to visit the Johnson Space Centre - the NASA base where mission control is located for all of their expeditions.

It had been suggested in Austin that we visit Franklin's on sunday morning - but as it didn't open until 11, it would have meant delaying leaving and then not having much time at the JSC. Much as the 'best BBQ in Texas' had us salivating, we couldn't really spare the time and thought that we'd get BBQ in Houston. As it happens, that worked out quite well.

Rolled into Houston around 1 and got to the JSC around 1.30. Pretty exciting; (for me anyhow!) As you arrive, you are greeted with two training jets marking the entrance and a life-size mock-up of a space shuttle, imposing its way over the car park.

Entry was $28.50 (including audio apparatus with guidance from astronauts), with the staff being pretty helpful when you tell them how much time you have with regards which attractions in the JSC you should see and in which order. First up was a tram tour of the key buildings in the JSC - Mission Control, Training  Area, Rememberance Garden and Rocket Park.

NASA have preserved the original control room on a level of the MC building from the Apollo 11 era - the moon landing in 1969. A short talk in the visitor's theatre told you how the room was set up - the back row the commanders and working forward launch control, systems control, with guidance being at the front. In those days, the computers weren't powerful enough to correct guidance errors, so what they had instead was a team of mathematicians who would be expected to manually work out and return correct guidance adjustments in a matter of seconds. The equipment looked antiquated, as you may imagine, but it was suggested that we think of these desks as car dashboards rather than computers - showing up warning lights and information as and when the sensors flagged up information that the controllers would need. Thus, behind these desks was simply (haha) monitors and wiring. The computer that they used was an old IBM machine with far less processing power than we have in modern day phones.

Next was the training area, with life size module mock-ups in a long thin building from various space agencies around the globe - NASA, ESA (Europe),  RSA (Russia), NASDA (Japan). These were exact replicas of the units the astronauts would be using in the various missions - mostly now centred around the ISS.

The Rememberance Garden was there for obvious reasons, with 1 tree planted per lost life. This was indeed a venerated space - it's purpose to never forget those who gave their lives for the boundaries of human exploration and accomplishment. It did its job well.

The final stop was Rocket Park. A gigantic building which housed the Saturn V rocket (on loan from the Smithsonian). It was vast, and split into each individual stage. So called the 'V' because of the 5 boosters from the rocket's first stage. Each booster cone is probably large enough to fit at least 4 people standing on each others shoulders across the diameter. Moving onto the 2nd stage, it had 3 smaller boosters, and then the final stage with 1. The nose cone housed the mission module and living quarters with small guidance boosters to correct spin etc.

Waiting for the tram to take us back to the visitor's centre, it was not possible to see the edges of NASA's property - 16,000 acres with a lot of it, it seems, yet to be built on. Back inside the visitor's centre, there was a lot of things to see and do - IMAX films of launches and past missions, 15 minute talks on the ISS, the current 'Curiosity' program on Mars, a shuttle cockpit, space suits through the ages along with unused designs. All the way along through the tours we were supplemented with the audio tour - well worth the extra few bucks.

We spent about 5 hours there but had to leave as we were pretty wacked. Made it back to the hotel and sought out a local BBQ joint - it was a family run place, VERY busy, VERY popular, set up like a cafeteria with a tray. You request what meat you would like, sides and then head through to the dining area. It was delicious - Brisket (chopped beef), pork ribs (so well cooked that it just slipped off the bone), sausages (3 choices from about 7), all slathered in a tasty BBQ sauce. The sides were awesome too - we had broccolli rice, <side dish>, <side dish>. Being very full, we got back to the hotel and slept - ready for the mission to New Orleans the next morning!



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