Houston's Space Center & Dallas Family Visit

We got to visit the Space Center in Houston!  We were very fortunate as we discovered that it is included in our ASTC Passport Pass for science centers, so the cost was mostly covered!  Lovely!


 
 
We had a great time! So much to learn!


We learned about the timeline of progress for space travel. It was exciting!
 
 
They had a fragment of moon rock that you can touch and feel what it's like. Very cool! It was brought to Earth by the Apollo 17 crew in December of 1972.  It is one of only 8 lunar rocks in the world that is available to be touched by the public.  Amazing.
 
The kids said that the moon was "nice and smooth". Later, they got to feel a fragment of Mars, which they described as "a little bit gritty, like sand".
 
When astronauts prepare to board the spacecraft, they go through this area....
 
 
The "White Room"--
 
 
We headed over to Independence Plaza--
 
 
And got to go through the 3 levels of the "shuttle carrier aircraft"--
 
 
 
 
We learned about John Kiker, the one who thought up the idea of how to transport space shuttles.
NASA chose this idea, with the 747, because it could use shorter runways, it had a longer range, it was safer, and it was commercially available. 
 
 
The kids got to use controls and maneuver the 747 and the shuttle together.
(Janson helping Sierra)
 
 
I love how focused they are!  So sweet.
 
 
Learning about such innovation, we were inspired especially by these two quotes:
("Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.")
 
 
And also one by Thomas Edison--
"I have not failed.  I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Success!
 
 
We then got to also go through the mid-deck and the flight deck of the space shuttle. 
 
 



Control center!

 
That was definitely a highlight! 
 
We also explored the kids' section...
where they discovered what they would weigh on different planets, like Jupiter and Neptune and Mars.
 
 
And try out a 'space chair'--
 
 
Gravity, mass, and weight. 
Learning about the differences in gravity on different planets.
 
 
"Holding" the moon! :)


 
 
My budding astronauts!
 
 
Daxton pointing to where Apollo 11 landed, in 1969, when man first walked on the moon!
 
 
Making their own space "patch"--
(Sierra's has hearts and family on hers)
 
 
(Daxton's has our Hoppo Tabi RV and car/trailer)
 
 
Ryah's NASA emblem, with original colors!
 
 
It's true....these kids are out of this world! (See what I did there? Smooth....) 
 
 
Sierra wanted one picture with them "floating", with no gravity! :)
 
 
The view that astronauts have, of earth...amazing!
 
 
We watched one video that specifically focused on the experience of the astronauts, and how they feel they are changed, after traveling into space.  Seeing earth from that point of view...realizing how we are in this together as there are no borders or walls or anything seen from space. We are all one. And the magnitude of the world and the universe....they are changed by it.  I thought, "That's right! Because there is a God in heaven, and He is over everything!"  Neat to hear their amazement.

Colton and Sierra "joining" with the crew!
 
 
Interesting to have just recently been on a ship (USS Alabama) and a submarine (USS Drum)....and now see the difference of a spaceship!  
A space toilet--
 
 
A sleep station/crew quarters--
 
 
It was a FULL day and we enjoyed it!  There were quite the crowds (I guess with the Christmas break?)--but we were still able to see and learn a lot!
 
 
We next traveled to Dallas (Princeton, to be exact).  This was a special stop, just to see some family.  Our niece (on Jonnie's side) lives there with her little family, so we got a chance to visit with them! 
They were great! Warren and Lynzee Febbo were very gracious and made it a fun time!
The kids played games--
 
 
And had fun with the toys--
 
 
 
 
Sierra loved holding Lincoln (and Colton did, too!).
 
 
And we had a fun homemade pizza and salad dinner! 
Sierra and Kate--

  Colton and Linc--
 
 
Sierra and Kate are 2nd cousins, but Sierra is just a little over a year older than Kate.
 
 
We had a wonderful visit! So good to see them!

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