Wed - Apr 18/12

First thing this morning I called the Space Center Houston. We have tickets for a Level 9 Tour for Thursday which includes a free ticket for the following day entry. I asked if I could get entry on the previous day instead as we would not be here on Friday. They indicated this was possible so we were off to the Space Center Houston right after breakfast in the RV.

We arrived at the Center in about a half hour. We went in to the information desk and were given entry after they confirmed we had Level 9 Tour reservations.

On entry we received a schedule for the day's activities. This was a great help. Our first stop was the Blast Off Theatre where we received a multi-media stage presentation on NASA's upcoming Mission to Mars.

Our next stop was the Space Center Theatre. The Northrup Grumman Theater is the largest giant screen theater in Texas. This towering, five story tall screen is equipped with the latest in digital projection technology. The presentation "The International Space Station: The first 10 years. The Next Ten Years" took us behind the scenes of the world’s largest international collaborative effort in history. We saw onboard scenes on the International Space Station which is the size of a football field. The presentation also gave insight into the future with forecasts  on NASA's role and where the science and technology in development today will take us to tomorrow.
 

The Space Shuttle exhibit was awesome with access to life size mock-ups of the Flight Deck and other parts and features.

Equally impressive was the "Starship Gallery" which outlined the history of the US Space Program. This presentation ended with entry into the "Lunar Samples Vault" which displayed moon rocks and even one specimen could be touched.

We also had a little fun taking a simulated flight to the ISS (International Space Station).

I tried my hand at landing the Space Shuttle on a simulator. The Space Shuttle lands as a glider. I managed to land safely; but was diplomatically informed (by the computer) that it was a little "rough". I guess my time at the Harris Hill Soaring Center in Elmira, NY was of little benefit. (Charlotte and I once went "Soaring" here as passengers).

We decided to take the last Tram Tour of the day as we had done most of the displays at the Center. The tram tour took us first to the original "Mission Control Center". We got to sit in the same seats as the mission observers who watched the original  proceedings. We noticed a group of 12 entering the actual "Mission Control" room - that will be part of our "insider" tour tomorrow.

The last tour item for the day was a visit to the Saturn V display. This is the last actual "real" Saturn V Rocket in existence. It is huge! |Charlotte and I have stood near this rocket twice before. Once in the assembly building at Kennedy Space Center (Cape Canaveral, FL) when NASA let people do this kind of thing (prior to any tragic accidents) and once beneath a standing Saturn V rocket on display at the Huntsville (Alabama) Space Camp. It is still unbelievably large!

On leaving Space Center Houston we headed for supper at "T-Bone Tom's" in Kemah, TX. We can now check another DDD (Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) featured restaurant off our list. Charlotte ordered "Pig" (Pulled Pork Plate) and I decided on "Tom's Sausage Plate" as featured on "Triple D". This was well worth the visit! As usual, the portions were huge and we each took half back to the RV.

Factoid: Kemah is pronounced "See Ma". The "K" sounds like "C". I told the waitress we were from Canada - the "C" is sounds like a "K" (grin). Charlotte didn't think that was funny!

It was such a lovely day - Sunny, 80F and not too humid - we decided to go for a ride to Galveston Island where we stopped for a bit at "East Beach" to contemplate the tide (Gulf of Mexico). This beach runs for miles along the Galveston Island shore and is quite wide in places (can't beat Daytona Beach, FL). Further south a new pier amusement park was almost reaching completion.

With miles of beach homes (many on "stilts") this area reminds me of Kill Devil Hill, NC (location of the Wright Brothers 1st Flight) and the Outer Banks.

We took the fast road (I-45) back towards the RV just as the sun set over the oil refineries along the way.

Back to the RV in time to watch the end of the Ottawa Senators/New York Rangers playoff game (Hockey). We were disappointed that Jesse Winchester was injured and wasn't playing (a neighbour who our daughters babysat); but were happy Ottawa won in overtime.

Have to get to bed - tomorrow will be our Level 9 Tour at the Space Center.