DAY TWO – 9 SEPTEMBER 2013: SPACE CENTER HOUSTON
We came down in the morning to the
hotel’s sitting area for the breakfast they provided. As expected, the
selection of cold cereal, muffins, juice, and coffee were rather un-filling.
It was a lot of “bready” items, and not something which would provide
long-term energy. Since Space Center Houston (aka NASA) was just a few
blocks down the road, we didn’t have a “long drive” to eat up time before it
opened. It made no sense to me to loiter around the hotel when we could
loiter somewhere else, and have some decent food while doing so.
I live on the “hobbit diet plan” of
eight meals a day (although I do eight small ones), so the idea of having
“second breakfast” is not foreign to me. I looked on our Webster Visitor
pamphlet to see what other close-by choices were available. We decided on
a place called “The Egg and I” which was right up on Bay Area Blvd. This was a clean
establishment, and very inviting. The menu was very broad, and the items
we got were very good. Okay, it’s a chain out of Colorado, but it was very nice. We
commented to our server that as we were visiting this week, they should expect
us back every day while we’re here. We did the lighter fare today, and
would save the fuller breakfasts for the next days.
We arrived at Space Center Houston
just before it opened, so we were able to get a good parking space. A
test space shuttle (called Explorer) sat out front.
There was also a “Planet Walk”
designed to go across the property here. I’d been one at Lowell
Observatory in Flagstaff,
and we have something similar we do at Austin Planetarium events. From
the starting point, every foot equals a million miles, and plaques mark the
positions of the planets. Looking at the front of the building here,
Jupiter’s marker is off to the left, and Saturn’s is to the right by the flag
pole. The next marker farther out (for Uranus) was on the other side of Explorer.
I like presentations like this, because it really shows how vast space
is.
Just as the place was opening, a
busload of tourists arrived (nearly all of them retirees, and most all French,
based on their jabbering). We secured our tickets, and were given two
suggestions by the ticket lady. We paid extra for the portable players in
order to listen to audio presentations at the exhibits, and we went straight
for the NASA Tram Tour. This tram would
take us around the campus of Johnson
Space Center,
and it was better to do that before it got to hot (and it could be cancelled if
the weather got bad). We bee-lined across the museum right for the tram,
and ignored all the other exhibits. We’d enjoy those afterwards when we
were wandering around this air conditioned environment during the hottest part
of the day. Because this was early September, we were past the time when
they’d be a lot of “family vacations” going on, but I figured we might
encounter some school groups.
The first we passed on the tour was
the huge building which housed a Saturn V rocket (which was left-over from the
Apollo program). I’d seen Lee’s pictures of this when she’d went there in
2009. When I was MapQuesting the city of Webster, and clicked on “satellite view,” I
was able to zoom in on this section and still see the actual rocket sitting
there (before the enclosure was constructed).
That showed you how often MapQuest updated their images. I figured
the building was probably made to protect the rocket from the elements, but
we’d be hitting that on the last leg of the tour.
Also, in the field next to the
rocket, was a group of longhorns just hanging out in the field. Sure when
you go to Texas
you expect to see these bovines, but not next to a place dedicated to space
science. Yet another oddity I stumble upon every now and then.
Since Johnson
Space Center
is still a working establishment (even though the current U.S. space program is rather
minimal), most of the tram ride was the tour pointing out what the specific
buildings were, and what they were used for. We did make a couple stops
where we were able to get off the tram and go inside. I will say I didn’t
think the stops were long enough to be able to soak up the area or look around,
but I do understand the tour has to stay on schedule. I would’ve enjoyed
the opportunity to come back to some of those places and fully absorb the
displays (more on that below).
The first stop was the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. building, which housed both
versions of Mission Control. We couldn’t go into the active one (as they
were in the process of communicating with the personnel aboard the
International Space Station), but we were brought to the original Mission
Control. We were only able to sit in the gallery and look at the
equipment stations, which have remained unchanged since the Apollo missions
which dropped people on the Moon. (The ashtrays built into the back of
the chairs, and the “telephone room,” were signs of the times.)
Everything was original material as possible.
On the walls were plaques showing
the mission badges, as well as what was referred to as the “alternate flag”
standing in the corner. On every Apollo mission, a U.S. flag was
planted, but a spare was carried with them in case it was needed. Since
it never was, when the Apollo program ended, this flag (which rode to the
surface of the Moon and back a half-dozen times) was erected in Mission Control
as a way to honor those achievements.
The presenter at Mission Control
told us when Tom Hanks and Ron Howard were gearing up for the Apollo 13
movie, they took a lot of pictures and measurements of the original Mission
Control room in order to recreate it as authentically as possible. The
presenter said the floor manager went to Hollywood
to see the set that was created, and commented it was so spot-on that he even
stepped out the side door expecting to find the lavatory there.
The second stop the tram brought us
to was the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility building, where a full-scale model of
the ISS was set up. This allowed those training for assignment there
would get use to the layout and the feel of the station. Each of the
compartments had names, which were chosen by the specific countries that built
them. Our guide said when the shuttle
program was still active, a similar mock-up of the shuttle was there.
Presently there were items which
were being worked on for the Orion manned mission to Mars. The orbiter
for Orion is about twice as big as the capsules for the Apollo mission, and the
astronauts are going to spend about six months in transit in that? They’ll go freakin’ stir crazy. And where is the room for the necessary
exercise in order to retain their muscle mass?
Also sitting out there was a
centaur-robot, my term for a human-like torso attached to an ATV, which would
be a robotic assistant on Mars. The robot had the GM logo on it, so I
wanted to know what specific part General Motors had in this (as they generally
don’t build ATV’s). A drivable rover which was sitting there was
interesting, as it had the spacesuits attached to the “porch” of the vehicle
(so the Mars dust wouldn’t get inside the way the Lunar dust did).
The French tourists were on the
tram with us, and I was able to ignore them for the most part. We paused
briefly at a field where there were groves of trees set up in small rings.
There were three older trees, and two groups of seven. These are
planted in memory of the astronauts who’ve died while on missions (hence why
each of the groups were of different ages). There were also other trees
for astronauts who died at other times, to mark the service they’d given.
A recently planted tree was there for Neil Armstrong. The tram tour
asked everyone to observe a moment of silence for these fallen heroes. A
couple of the Frenchmen continued to gabber on during that time (and didn’t
even take their hats off, either). How fucking
disrespectful.
There was an Australian gentleman
who was sitting next to, and we had some decent conversation during the
portions where the tour guide wasn’t speaking. He was very interested in
the science behind how everything worked, and wondered how that could be applied
to sci-fi aspects to make those things a reality. He was kewl to chat
with.
The last
stop on the tram ride was to bring us full-circle back to the Saturn V rocket.
The tour guide noted the nearby longhorns were actually part of a project
done by local FFA students to raise these animals and sell them, thereby using
the profits for scholarships. The JSC Longhorn Project had originally
leased the land from NASA decades ago when this was empty pasture, before the
city of Webster
grew up around the whole area. Well, that explained that.
We were told we’d only have 15
minutes inside the building where the Saturn V was. Saying this rocket
was “freakin’ huge” is an understatement. Laying on its side, it was
broken up by “stages” (the parts that would separate off as it got higher into
orbit). Looking inside these hollow
sections was interesting because these were just to contain the fuel to get
this monstrosity into orbit.
The five engines were huge, and
that added the spectacular nature of the level of engineering required which
made this work. Mum took a picture of the engines, and commented that
when it came up on her random screen saver, she probably scratch her head and
wonder what this was.
Hanging along on edge of the
building were banners with the patches of each of the Apollo missions. On
the wall sections, synched up with the banners, was information about each
mission, and the astronauts involved. I wanted to stand there and read
all that, but that 15 minute clock was ticking. Reasonably we should’ve
had double that time in order to absorb everything in here.
There was also a piece on how the
elements had started to deteriorate this (after sitting out in the Texas sun here since
1977), and the restoration project which started in 1999 to preserve this piece
of history. The creation of this very building was part of that.
As this rocket had never flown, the
paint had been redone to look like when it first constructed. The crew
capsule was one of the actual ones which brought astronauts home in, so it
retained the same “roughed up” look it had (caused by fiery re-entry into
Earth’s atmosphere).
One interesting thing which was
pointed out was the section forward of the crew capsule, which was the
emergency ejection system. If the rocket was still on the launch pad, or
early into the flight, the small thrusters would activate and detach the crew
capsule from the rest of the rocket. It had its own parachute system too.
The guide noted this had never needed to be used, but it worked every
time it was tested. Just as a side note, it would not have helped the Apollo
1 crew, as the accident which killed them happened inside the crew capsule.
After the tram deposited us back at
museum building, we started checking out the various displays in between seeing
some of the shows. One exhibit was on the captain’s quarters on the space
shuttle (which was the size of a small closet) had his sleeping bag and laptop
attached to the walls. I was amused at the copy of 2001: A Space
Odyssey sitting there.
There were also representations of
the various clothes worn by astronauts, from an actual space suit, to the work
coveralls they’d wear while on the mission. On one ISS mission, a Star
Trek uniform was donned by astronaut Greg Chamitoff in order for him to
speak “from outer space” to William Shatner. That was pretty amusing.
One of the shows we watched was
called “Living In Space,” and showed how you’d take care of the basic
necessities in zero gravity (like eating, sleeping, and shitting). We
were also able to go inside a shuttle cockpit to see all the various controls
they had. It looked about as easy to fly a shuttle as it would be to fly
a 747. Because we had the portable players, our experience of this was
enhanced by being able to hear the audio portions, so that was worth the extra
cash we paid.
We were hungry, and it was time to
locate some food. There was an extensive café set up there (called the
“Zero G Diner”), which lots of variety (cold sandwiches, burgers, salads,
etc.), but we opted for the pizza. Actually, I was looking at the turkey
sandwich, and Mum wanted the pizza. As each station had its own register,
it was logically to get the food all at the same area. The cheese was
good, and the crust very chewy. We agreed that this was better pizza than
what we ate the previous night.
I have to note that I’d been
wearing a button from Austin Planetarium all day (and planned to all week).
That was by design, as it’d help draw some awareness to our project.
This was the one that had three items from the Periodic Table arranged in
such a way to spell out a particular word. The symbols for the elements of
nitrogen, erbium, and dysprosium formed “N.Er.Dy.” There were a few
people (mostly employees of Space Center Houston) here and there that commented
how much they liked the button.
A recommended item was called
Blastoff Theatre, and we were able to get in for the show on the International
Space Station. At first we were standing in a room watching a video of
what it’s like during take off. The loud bass speakers replicated the
great noise, and jets of steam came out (to simulate the exhaust), but it wasn’t
that impressive, nor much of a theatre. Then another set of doors opened
up to show we were just standing in an antechamber, so we filed into a theatre
with good seats. The host (Francie) gave an excellent presentation on the
ISS’s orbits of the Earth, and how we were currently relaying on the Russians
to help maintain our presence there.
After the presentation, I stopped
and spoke with her a few moments, and told her about Austin Planetarium. Francine
mentioned she would be in Austin
the following week, so I suggested that she should reach out to Torvald (and
contact him via the website). Because my
parents and I enjoyed the presentation so much, we got right back in line for
the next show, which was on the rovers sent to Mars. Francine pointed us
out, and said she was glad we’d come back. Much of the information on
this focused on Curiosity’s recent finds, but had a bit on the earlier ones
(Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity). Due to the presentation Torvald did
as part of Austin Planetarium’s monthly Speaker Series, much of the information
about the rovers was already known to me. What I liked about these shows
was how Francine presented the information in digestible facts for the laymen,
but with enough scientific stuff to support it (and to pique the interest of
impressionable young minds). Kudos! I can see why this was
considered highly recommended.
Space
Center Houston did have a section to one side with
hands-on exhibits for kids to give scientific education. Next to that was
a giant jungle-gym based on Angry Birds to compliment that. Even as an
adult I find the idea of playing on a jungle-gym fun, but I didn’t go on it.
The Angry Birds portion had been there for a little while, and was being
dismantled to make room for something else.
On the
map for the area, there was a section full of exhibits which I really wanted to
see, but we initially couldn’t figure out how to get into it. Turned out
the entrance to Starship Gallery was located at the side of the kiddie section.
It was here where the portable audio players really earned their keep.
There was a timeline of space exploration and technological development,
and a model of the space shuttle that we saw when we first came in. While
many of the displays were small things, what I found was one of the most
interesting was a full-scale recreation of the interior of Skylab.
That was freakin’ kewl! This only had a crew of three at any one
time, and was three times as big as the Orion capsule we’ll be sending people
to Mars in. I’d rather go to Mars in a spacious ride like this, as
opposed to the cramped conditions Orion will have.
Continuing through the exhibits
took us to earlier and earlier portions of the space flight history. It
was like we were going through this backwards. My camera started to flash
the “low battery” warning, and I started taking shots sparingly to conserve the
energy as much as possible. It was completely dead when I got to where
the Moon rocks were. This metal bench was the last shot I was able to
get.
Beyond this was a mock-up of the
Lunar landing, Mercury capsules, and the module from Apollo 11 which
brought our first humans back from the surface of the Moon. The audio
presentation directed me to walk around to the back side in order to look at
how blackened the heat shields were. The last sections (or what should be
the first) had the V2 and Goddard’s rocket.
After we came out, I got talking to
one of the employees (named Phillip), and mentioned how we couldn’t locate the
entrance so we’d start at the earliest point.
He left us know the exhibits actually begun from the Starship Gallery
Theatre. Thank you for that bit of information, as that wasn’t clear on
the brochure (which made them appear to be two different areas). Inside was a film on how JFK’s challenge was
spurred on by both his assassination and the achievements of the Russians
(thereby ushering in the “Space Race”). In front of the screen was a
mannequin of Kennedy standing behind the actual podium from where the “place a
man on the Moon” speech was given.
I wanted to stop by the gift shop
before it got too late, as I like to buy t-shirts of places I visit. Mum
needed to get another magnet for the fridge, too. I like shirts that have
the actual location of a place, as opposed to something generic. There
was a shirt which was similar to my button, with the phrase of “Talk N.Er.Dy.
To Me” on it, but I didn’t get it because it didn’t have a locale on it.
Mum bought it for me a gift. Thank you very much.
There was one final exhibit section
we hadn’t hit yet. While this area mostly had pictures of all the NASA
crews since the very first mission (as well as post-Soviet Russian and ISS
crews), the main item with dominated this area was a full-scale replica of
shuttlecraft Galileo (from the 1960’s Star Trek series).
The position of this behind a banner made is not visible from the front
door, so that’s how we hadn’t seen it before.
Mum took a picture of me giving the Vulcan hand-sign. That was a
nice surprise.
Another nice surprise was when we
encountered Phillips over there again.
He’d asked if we’d gone in the IMAX theatre yet, as there was one last
show before the center closed. We would’ve missed it if it wasn’t for
him, so we appreciated that very much. The
film focused on the construction that went into building the ISS, and it showed
what its like to live aboard this. When the film ended, we were some of
the last people to leave. We ended spending the entire day at Space
Center Houston, and it was worth it.
After returning to the hotel and
having a relaxing swim, my parents said they wanted to have some brisket for
dinner. That’s one of the things they like to have when coming to Texas, and still mention
the best they had was at “that little place” in Gonzales. Looking on the pamphlet listing the area
eateries, this place called Pappa’s Bar-B-Q sounded good. The ladies at
the hotel desk (Angel and Jennifer, who were very nice) gave what they thought
were the best directions to get there (since it was on the frontage road of the
Gulf Freeway). Angel commented with a smile that we should bring some
back for her.
We went up the access road, and passed
Pappa’s Seafood House, and Pappasito’s Cantina, which were obviously not what
we were looking for. The address in the brochure seemed to indicate our
desired location would’ve been in between the other two. Since it wasn’t there, we figured the place
had closed since the pamphlet was printed (or Angel had thought we were looking
for the seafood place). I’d noted an alternate location as a back up, Ryan’s
Smokehouse BBQ, so headed back across Bay
Area Blvd and down Route 3 to locate this.
Since I was driving, I’m paying more attention to traffic, lights, and
street signs, than I am to businesses.
We’re waiting at a stop light, and
Mum noticed to a place called “The Ho.” I looked again, laughed, and
understood her confusion. The place was actually called “The Hop,” but
the placement of an exterior support beam separated the last letter from the
rest. Methinks I would’ve done the sign differently. Mum tried to get a picture of it, but the
angle was wrong to get an unobstructed shot.
The alternate location was located,
and it was a small little place in the vicinity of “The Ho,” er, I mean “The
Hop.” We were able to get chopped beef sandwiches (similar to what I’d
get a Smokey Moe’s in Austin),
but this wasn’t a brisket location. The meal was decent and filling, and
as we headed back to the hotel we noticed how dark the sky was getting.
Mum said they’d packed their rain coats in their luggage. I’d
brought none. I’m used to keeping my
umbrella and rain hoodie in my car, and since they were still sitting in
Argent, I obviously didn’t have them. If it rained during the week, I’d
deal with that bridge when I came to it.
It was a pretty massive storm that
hit last night. It knocked out the power at the hotel around 3 am, and
there went the air conditioning. For the next half-hour or so, the power
would blink on and off every few moments. Looking out the window I could
see some of the street lamps still had power, but all the buildings in my view
were dark. That could’ve been due to the time as much as it was the power
grid being down. I did wander down to speak to the hotel night manager
who said they were having some issues getting the generator to work properly.
It was about another ten or fifteen minutes before the power was
restored. We attempted to get what sleep we could before the next day’s activities.
For more information on the places visited or mentioned:
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