A Spacey Pilgrimage to Houston: Part 1

We had such a busy and memorable Monday in Houston that I have to break my recount up in to three posts!

I've been planning this touristy trip to Houston in my mind for 4 years! Back in 2011, we were still stationed in Washington state. When we got the news that my husband was selected for orders in San Antonio we were going home. In retrospect, we really thought this would be a permanent-permanent move, not just PCS “permanent”; my husband's Navy life would end here after this command tour.

(Or so we thought. Oh, what it is to be young....)

Because of our limited outings and “hurry up and wait” lifestyle over our 4 years living in the Pacific Northwest, I was ready (desperate) for the Texas state of mind again. Naturally, my goal was to invest Texan identity within our children by giving them the full Texas experience as soon as they could appreciate it. Amongst many, MANY, MAAANNNYYY, Texan things to do and see, NASA sits at an exalted seat on my list.

We held out on our NASA trip though because NASA is one of those places you have to develop an appreciation for in advance to really enjoy the opportunity to learn and discover at their visitor center. We thought we would have a little more time to build up the suspense of NASA so the kids would be old enough to have that appreciation, but with our Japan PCS coming in a little less than 4 months, we're out of time.

 

 This NASA trip was actually not the first time we had come. Last month, in June, we made an impromptu stop on the way to a family vacation in Galveston. This was a desperate effort to squeeze NASA into the schedule not knowing if we could make it back before our PCS took us far away from Texas. We had all of our 5 children with us, alas our toddler (whom was exactly 23 months at the time), was not in the mood to cooperate for the tram, so we had to stick to the sights and activities of just the main visitor center. Completely worth it for the young ones! I do regret now not letting the kids do the “Angry Birds, in Space” play place, but we did run out of time. We spent 2 hours checking out all the indoor attractions and simulations. Touching that meteorite was almost a spiritual encounter.

Fun for some, frightening for others!  A simulation activity to experience what it's like to pedal a stationary bike in Space.

As we were walking out, that day in June, I knew we had to go back. I knew exactly what day I had to bring us too. We would leave behind our 4 year old and now, 2 year old, with Grandma over night in San Antonio, and with just our 9 year old, 7 year old and almost 6 year old in tow, we would embark on our own mission to Mission Control on the 46^th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing.

*Disclaimer Insert: Any child under 18 (or man-child under 55), has the potential to experience a sudden decrease in touring tolerance once the Texas heat of July beats down upon them. Go early in the day (doors open at 9am most days) to avoid literal meltdowns on your tram tour. Also, the tram tours have an amazing amount of information shared to you that really won't be fully digested for those under 20 (maybe 25 from my observations of the crowd). I do not recommend this tour for children between 10 months and 30 months of age. As a mother of 5, that is the least behaviorally negotiable age range. It's not the kids' fault, it's their nature to not want to sit still in this part of their toddlerhood. I highly recommend “child wearing” for babies/infants under 10 months too as you cannot bring a stroller onto the tram. I watched several little guys and gals nod off on the soothing sway of the tram ride.*

Because our visit was deliberately planned for July 20^th, we took the Blue Tour: “Historic Mission Control and the Saturn V Rocket experience.” As Space Enthusiasts, we've seen all the movies, TV series, documentaries, etc. of the Apollo Missions. In fact, I fell asleep watching Apollo 13 with my husband and sister-in-law the night before. You picture yourself there, at Mission Control or at the launch pad and Mission Control seems so huge, so crowded, and the Launch site is so mindblowingly high, it's hard to really appreciate the size of the rocket.

The beginning of your tram tour, starts as you exit the back of the Visitor Center main building. You're subjected to a voluntary portraiture in front of a green screen. Normally, this is not a must have commemorative souvenir I seek at amusement parks or the like, but this is NASA, so yes, I forked over $30 (well $25, woohoo for Military discounts!), at the end of the tour for our take home photo.

Once the tram is fully boarded, you're on your way!

On the Historic Mission Control tour, our first sight entering the complex is the Saturn V Rocket Hangar (some regard this as a lackluster garage, I however, was extremely impressed).  This is where one of only 3 surviving Saturn V Rockets is housed.  

This Saturn V Rocket sat exposed to the elements for years (from 1977 to 2004).  As Smithsonian Museum property on loan to the Johnson Space Center, proper care and preservation of this historic relic was dependent upon funds from the Smithsonian.  An entire committee pressured the city of Houston to allocate additional funds for a better, permanent home for this rocket, but there was a lot of politics impeding agreeable terms so this "temporary" hangar was built around the disassembled rocket.  

If interested in more discussion on the background of this restoration project you will find this article (and its commentary) 

from The Space Review quite interesting.

Original photo, before my overlay, was found at:
collectSPACE

 

Oh hey there Longhorns!  I laughed out loud when I saw what the ranch-like fenced area contained to the left of the hangar.  We're so Texas here.  The windmill there has NASA on the vane.

 

We return to tour inside, but initially the tram passes the hangar on its way to Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. Mission Control.  On the way, tram riders are treated to pre-recorded tales of history from iconic Space celebrities.  As you pass the buildings, on cue, the recording describes the purpose and contents of each facility.  My oldest daughter especially appreciated the commentary on one of the buildings being the location where Space Culinary Arts are developed and tested.  She told me she wants to be the baker of astronaut desserts!  Sounds awesome to me!  

In emulating the common regard Orion inspires in each instance of its mention at Johnson Space Center, I share the captured moment we passed Building 17 which is dedicated to the Orion project.  If you visit NASA sooner than later, you too will notice that all opportunities to boast the upcoming Orion mission are taken.  On both of our NASA trips, the Orion project has been professed with restrained enthusiasm and a twinkle in the eye.

 

Once we round the corner, we've arrived. 

 

 The architecture is very 1960s simplistic.  The structure itself has a very familiar minimalism that many buildings I've visited from the 60s share.

 

 

But then, you're greeted in the court yard entry with almost an optical illusion of geometric shutters scaling two tiers of the inlet's back wall exterior.  I was not prepared to see such a mesmerizing artistic design nestled in the austerity of the neighborhood.  

I gawked a little longer than I'm proud of, resulting in us entering the building last in the group.  I might have missed some information shared by the tour guide, but it's highly likely I would have been oblivious to what was said anyhow once I saw the mission patches in the wall's length showcase.  

 

I would have filtered out any range of hearing when I discovered Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad's watch and patch entering that awe.  ('Gordo' is a favorite of mine on The Astronaut Wives Club series).

The showcase wall ends and then it's time to enter the stairwell and trek three stories to the observation deck of Mission Control.  This is no light climb either and another reason I recommend some form of bodily baby carrier if you have little ones with you.  I took no pictures in the stairwell...  Energy was conserved for navigating our offspring up the stairs with careful speed.

Once we reach the observation room, you look around breathless (maybe literally for some).  The NASA speaker (for our tour, his name was Sam) begins as soon as everyone has taken a seat or is comfortably positioned in the back (we were in the back).  

The size of Mission Control was shockingly small.  Taking in the room like a starstruck fan, I compare my surprise at size to one finally meeting Seth Green in real life and towering over him (Seth, if you're actually gracing my blog with your eyeballs, you're a fantastic actor and I adore how you're using your influence to promote STEM and NASA. You're truly a celebrity worth idolizing, thanks man. Oh, also, we've never met in any way, so I'm just speculating I'd tower over you, I would certainly not pass up an opportunity to find out if I do though).  Looking down and around I notice the retro orange cushioned chairs.  We learn that they're indeed the originals and that even the Queen of England has once throned a seat in the front there. For an instant, with absolutely no hint of aroma either, I wonder just how smothered this room must have been with cigarette smoke in the 60s and 70s.  No doubt this room has been aired out for decades to relinquish the odor it most likely had. To be fair, I suppose orange upholstery in general triggers my recollective smell sensories and I involuntarily smell smoke no matter what setting I'm in.

I picked up a few factoids from Speaker Sam I didn't know before, but mostly I was just trying to wrap my head around this control room having less technology in it to monitor the Moon landings than I held in the palm of my hand... 

Indeed, this is an iPhone 4 in my hand and yes, even this infuriating piece of very outdated cellular technology exceeds the abilities this control room had 46 years ago to the day.  Also, this is the only way to effectively contain your 24 month old on the tour... ;)

 

Directly to my left, were a pair of phone booths.  Sam informs us that in one of these booths (I didn't catch which booth it was exactly) the World Record for the most long distance call was made.  Any guesses where?




 



Keeping with my established "last one out" pace, I take advantage of Sam's offer to answer questions at the end.  With me being a seamstress and Space nut, I idolize Hazel Fellows and the rest of the Playtex team of seamstresses that custom sewed each astronaut's space suit under the most tedious specifications any custom garment has ever been required to meet.  I had to ask Sam if any seamstresses had gotten the chance to be in Mission Control during the 8 days of the Apollo 11 mission or at least on standby to materialize (pun intended) in a designated position in the control room to provide suit support if an issue arose.  Being such a specific question he wasn't prepared with a specific answer, but he imagined that some Playtex representative, perhaps not the actual seamstresses themselves of course, if they were present at anytime, would have reported to the Flight Surgeon's station.

I could have sat in there and really soaked the place in, but the tour was moving on now and we needed to catch up.  

On to the Saturn V Rocket Hangar!!!