We pulled in just as the doors were opening and followed the signs to our tour guide Dave. Dave has worked for the Space Center for three years and gave a great tour... including personal stories of watching the lunar landings as a child. He had a shadow named Robert who quietly followed behind us to make sure we didn't get separated. Plus we had another man who drove our tour van.
Our first stop was Mission Control. This was the original mission control and the room that controlled all of the Apollo Missions all the way through the Challenger mission. It has now been refurbished back to the layout that was seen during the moon landing. We were able to sit in the viewing room where families would often come to watch and get updates on their astronaut.
Next we went to the astronaut training facility. This was fascinating. They had a full mock up of the International Space Station as well as the various pods and vehicles that will be used in the upcoming Artemis missions. (Artemis II is scheduled for April 1, 2026). All of these are available for astronauts to become familar with and practice tasks in ahead of their missions.
We were also able to see the new space suits. Fun fact. The suits are used multiple times and typically come in basic sizes like S, M, L; however, there are 70 sizes of gloves available since a perfect fit is so critical when in space.
We got to see Valkyrie the robot that has been designed by NASA to handle much of the work in space and will likely be used in later Artemis missions.
We were able to walk a catwalk along the side of the length of the building. Typically our tour would also take us down on the floor but because of the pending mission and geo-political climate, we were not able to on this visit.
Next we went to Rocket Park and were able to see the rocket that was used in the Mercury mission.
And then compare it to the more modern Saturn V rockets used for the Apollo. This one was supposed to go to the moon in one of the last three missions that were subsequently cancelled. So it is almost 50 years old but still amazing. I had no idea of the size!
Next, we took a tour through one of the space shuttles and one of the 747 transports that were designed to move it across the country.
Finally we wrapped up the tour back at the museum building where Dave walked us through the exhibits.
Both kids got to touch a piece of moon rock.
Once the tour was over, we visited the cafeteria for a late lunch and a few games of Battleship (yes, Sammy still won). At this point, we decided to part ways. Scott and Sammy headed to BJs for a favorite dessert while Tyler and I stuck around for a documentary called Moonwalkers and then did some shopping in the gift store.
I had a hotel reserved only about 15 minutes away close to the shoreline again. Well, I thought I did. But when we arrived for check in there wasn't any reservation for tonight. (Apparently I booked it for last night by mistake). So we decided, to take advantage of the mistake and start our trip north toward Dallas. We have a tour scheduled tomorrow around lunchtime but we are at least four hours away so we figured driving a bit tonight will set us up well for a more relaxing morning.
Sammy was shot. I was too. We all settled in and just relaxed after a very long day.
The hotel we are staying in is nothing special but it cost me just $19 for two rooms with some points that I had aquired. It was a Holiday Inn close to the highway but check out the size of the kids room - it is the largest, spacious double room I've ever seen!
OK. Great day in Houston. So glad we could do the tour and definitely something I will be remembering as we watch the Artemis missions in the years to come.
