Johnson Space Center - Houston, TX

My youngest son just finished Kindergarten.  His teacher held a small ceremony for their promotion to First Grade.  Part of the event required each child to stand in front of parents and explain what they wanted to "be" when they grew up.  G-Man surprised us when his answer was "astronaut".  We had no idea that this was something important to him.  As a NASA nerd, I loved the answer...but know that this will change multiple times between now and when he has to make real decisions concerning a career.  For now, we'll help him learn more about space and space exploration...to support an interest in science.  To be honest...I love this topic and don't mind spending time doing that.  In fact, when my oldest daughter was rather young, she was really interested in the space program.  I sent her to NASA's Space Camp when she was growing up - all the way out in Huntsville, Alabama.  That's a story for another post ; )

My wife and I made a last-minute decision to take the family to Houston, Texas, to visit the famous Johnson Space Center (JSC).  This facility has been the home for U.S. space missions for the last fifty years.  It houses Mission Control, where all of the famous Apollo and Space Shuttle missions have been coordinated.

My heart started racing a little, when we pulled into the parking area and I saw two T-38 training jets at the entrance to the facility.  As I yelled "There are T-38s there!!"...it dawned on me just how much of a space nerd I am.  I actually did some programming work for NASA, back in the early 90s.  I was on loan to them from my team at Apple Computer.  I proudly wear a NASA shirt, to this day.  I can remember waking up at 4am to watch the Apollo-Soyuz connection in space.  For you younger kids, that was all the way back in 1975 ; )

But I digress...back to the JSC.  Just outside of the main visitor building, there is a life-size replica of the space shuttle, that they used for astronaut training purposes in Houston.

We entered the visitor building, right as they opened the doors.  Our first activity was a tram ride, that takes you to various training buildings inside the JSC compound.  Our first stop was Building 9, or the Vehicle Mock-Up Building.  Here, they have full-size mock-ups of the International Space Station (ISS), portions of the space shuttle (which are now being removed to museums) and future projects.  They use these mock-ups to help train astronauts and engineers:

 ISS modules - a Russian capsule is the green "egg" on the left side of the picture

This is the last space shuttle component, and will sadly be removed to a museum

The new Orion capsule is on the left - this will be used for future missions to places like Mars

New rovers and vehicles to be used on the moon and in deep space

The next stop was called Rocket Park.  They had several rocket engines and upright rockets on display.

A funny thing happened - as we were taking pictures, our little 2 year-old walked right up to her older brother and grabbed him to pose for a picture.  I suppose we've trained these kids...and this was the first time she actively participated ; )

That's a rocket shadow on the right...

Inside the adjacent building was a true wonder of the modern world.  The football field-long building houses one of the few remaining Saturn V rockets.  "Huge" doesn't even begin to describe what we saw.  Here's a picture of G-Man with some of the five base engines.  You get a feeling for the size when this is just a tiny part:

The entire thing is lying on its side...for people to be able to see the whole thing...as it's about thirty-six stories tall!

We returned to the main building for more exhibits and activities.  They had a wonderful film that brought the history of the space program to life, and connected to the Starship Gallery - with displays and memorabilia from human space flight

I believe this was one of the Gemini spacecraft...one of the first two-seat craft...

One of the first lunar rovers...

There were plenty of exhibits and attractions that were geared toward kids.  They had an Angry Birds Space area that had interactive stations to learn about life in space.  Here's G-Man, lifting weights that are adjusted for gravity on Mars and Jupiter.

Another fun activity was the launch simulation.  You are able to sit in a capsule and with videoscreens around, you experienced what it looks like to be on top of a rocket.  The vibrations helped just a little...

The whole family got in on the act...

Another dream activity for kids?  A giant pile of Lego bricks.  Yes, kids...dreams do come true...

Overall, it was a wonderful day.  G-Man had a blast and my wife and I loved watching him explore and learn.  This NASA nerd was in heaven and loved every part of it.  Now we have to figure out how to get everyone to Florida, to visit Cape Canaveral!!