Houston, We Have Lift-Off - Day 10

On the very last day of our Texas trip we decided to do something completely out of this world - we visited NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. This is the place where the astronauts train and where all space missions are controlled.

The first thing we did there was to take a shuttle tour of the actual facility. The boys' favorite part of the tour was seeing the big hangar where they actually train the astronauts. Inside are several life-size mock-ups of the space station, space shuttles, and even a few rovers.

We were amazed at how huge the shuttle is.

Here is the huge robotic arm in the cargo bay of the space shuttle where the astronauts practice using it to move huge sections of the space center and check the outside of the entire shuttle during a mission to see if there is any damage before re-entry.

The shuttle also took us to the famous mission control room for all the Apollo missions. This is where the astronauts were talking to when they said "Houston, we have a problem." It was fascinating. Did you realize that they sent people to the moon with only enough computer power to equal two digital photographs, and it took a computer the size of several rooms to do it. It is amazing they could do it at all.

It was also kind of sad. The tour guide told us that there will only be 2 more space shuttle missions before the entire program is retired. No more space shuttles! It made me kind of sad because I grew up watching space shuttle launches. If watching a space shuttle launch is on your bucket list, you better make plans because they are scheduled for this November and next February. When asked what was going to replace the space shuttle program, she said sadly, "nothing." Congress has cut most funding to NASA and scrapped plans for the Orion program that had been in the works. That is a big place and lots of folks and many supporting businesses and corporations are not sure what the future holds. The great space age might quickly be coming to an end. Sobering.

Of course the boys got a kick out of the big rockets. Boys love rockets!

Check out the size of those boosters.

But those tall rockets were nothing compared to the Saturn V rocket that is housed inside this enormous building!

It is unbelievably huge! It is displayed on its side in sections so you can really get a good look at it. Hard to believe that most of it simply held fuel for liftoff!

The actual space craft with the people in it was the tiny little capsule on the tip. I can't imagine what it must have felt like to sit on top of that much combustible power.

The booster rockets were massive!

Back at the visitor part of the space center there was so much to do. We went on the perfect day, because it was the first day of school for whole state of Texas so there were no lines and no crowds at all! Sweet!

The boys got to see and play in replicas and simulators for the Space Shuttle and the Apollo crafts. Pretty cool!

What it feels like to fly the shuttle. Too many buttons and controls for me!

The boys were also thrilled that we got to be there for the coolest traveling exhibit - a hands-on Star Wars Clone Wars exhibit with all kinds of the coolest activities; like laser shooting!

And a two-story high rope course!

And a bicycle that could ride up-side down. They had very limited height and weight restrictions, so Derek was the only one who qualified. It was tough!

There was also this climbing wall where the holds lit up and you could play games where you try to beat the clock and grab the holds as they lit up - like a larger than life video game. Dennis got the high score of the day.

There was a show about what life is like aboard the space station inside a space station capsule that was cut in half to make a stage. Derek got selected to come on stage and pretend to be a space station astronaut. He got to be strapped into the bed so he wouldn't float away in his sleep, and he got to step into a space shower (strange because the water doesn't stick to you well and just floats around in a ball!) And yes, that picture on the lower left is a space toilet. There are some very interesting procedures in using a toilet in space, as you can imagine. No, Derek didn't have to demonstrate that.

He also got to do some astronaut exercise (they have to exercise a minimum of 4 hours a day just to keep their bone density up!) He also got to take a close look at astronaut food. It was all really interesting to imagine life in zero gravity. Take a bow, Derek.

There is so much to do - like play in a seven story play area.

And so much to see - like space ships and space suits that have actually been in space.

I had no idea we sent astronauts to Mars, did you?

They had fun driving radio controlled mars rovers from a remote location.

And of course, with my guys, the build-your-own-robot station was a big draw. The twins could show those NASA robotics engineers a thing or two about building robots.

We even got to touch a real moon rock!

Patches are a big deal at NASA, as every mission crew traditionally gets to design their own patch, so there were lots of patches for our family patch collector, Dylan, to chose from. Then he found these giant patches that were several patches in one. Problem solved! He was thrilled!

When we had had our fill of the immensity of space, we prepared for take-off, and rocketed back on the 10 freeway, headed west - for home. Even though it was late in the day, Dennis decided against getting a hotel and decided that we could just drive through the night. I was pretty wary about that idea.

After several hours of driving we decided to stop for dinner at a place that all the Texans swear by: Rudy's Country Store and Barbeque, "Wurst Barbecue in Texas." It is quite an experience. Apparently Rudy's used to be just a convience store and gas station, but then somebody started barbequeing out behind the store and selling the stuff, and now Rudy's is known all over Texas for it's mighty fine Barbeque. It is still a gas station and small convience store, but if you go to the back it is a huge restaurant with long rows of picnic tables. You buy the meat by the pound, and there are no plates, only sheets of wax paper! Meat, coleslaw, even beans just down on the wax paper. Crazy. At least they have forks!

The barbequed turkey was my favorite, and the cream corn was absolutely sinful! But the Barbeque "sause" was out of this world. I slathered it on everything!

What a wild place! Good eats before hitting the road again. Our last taste of Texas.

Turns out that driving all night was not a great plan because I am not a night person, so I can't drive at night, but I also can't sleep in cars, so I was up all night. The kids slept fine, though, so by early morning Dennis and I were too sleepy to continue, but the kids were done sleeping. That meant that while we were parked at rest stop so Dennis could catch some Zs, I was trying to keep six bright-eyed boys quiet. So not fun. Never again!

We eventually made it home, and how happy we were to walk through those doors!

What a road trip! Texas was really everything a pack of boys could want in a vacation. Astronauts and alligators, bats and boats, rivers and rockets, cannons and cousins, and some mighty fine barbeque!