NASA

Wednesday was our day out at the NASA space center, Houston..
And i haven't been able to post about it cos i was busy playing home maker and hostess :) But the place had such a huge impact on me that i thought i must share it with you..
The place is hardly an hours drive from my home and the first attraction there was a tram trip of the entire NASA Johnson Space Center, which included visits to the Historic Mission Control Center, the Space Vehicle Mock up Facility and Sonny Carter Training Facility..
The picture below shows the Historic Mission Control Center which was used during the 60's to control the famous escapades like the one by Neil Armstrong to the moon and the Mercury and Gemini series..It took us a fleet of 87 steep steps to reach the control room and on the floor below that is the current control room to which of course we had no access..

It felt great to be seated on the chairs which were once occupied by ex - Presidents of the United States or famous personalities like Marlyn Monroe when a space ship was launched..
Next our stop was at the Training Center.. The astronauts are Trained in the Sonny Carter Training Facility and Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. We got a fair picture of their though training and grooming schedules trough a 30 minute movie they played us on the IMax theater the screen of which is 5 stories high and the movie was called "To be an astronaut"

It was thrilling to watch the would be astronauts dress up n get geared up to take their practice sessions in the Mock up room.. As i stood there awestruck, my husband captured a video of the same which I've uploaded below

After the tram tour we were left to explore on our own the various marvels put forth by NASA.. For kids it was all the more fun n excitement for they had games and other amusements..The Blast Off Theatre was another interesting stop where we could interact with one of the Mission Briefing Officers who showed us live pictures of what was happening at the International Space Station(ISS) which has 3 astronauts living in there for the past 145 days.. And it was really a proud feeling when she mentioned that one of the 3 was Ms Sunitha Williams an Indian.
And for those of u who r interested to know more about her http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/williams-s.html

Another exhibit was a living in space module where the officer in charge told us about the various constraints on a space ship and how the astronauts coped up with it.. It was interesting to know that they had magnets attached to their food trays, spoons forks and had special shampoos, soaps which didn't require water.. How they trimmed their hair, how everything is kept sealed in a cupboard lest it all starts flying around etc..The picture below shows a mock up of their space inside a space ship.. Note that the door just behind the officer is the shower.. Imagine wat a pity!!

Next was the Star ship Gallery with many artifacts and hardware on display.. I will let pictures do the talking for if i start describing about each one its gonna take forever..



For all the other attractions i missed out because one day is seriously not enough for the huge place, do check out :- http://www.spacecenter.org/