Space Center Houston/Space-X Launch

Space Center Houston

On our journey to Florida, we took a detour for a couple of days to Houston to take a break from the road, check out some birding areas, and visit the Johnson Space Center.  I have been a life-long space geek and truly believe I missed my calling as an astronomer. I am completely fascinated by any TV Shows or movies that take place in space, Cosmos, Contact, Star Trek, Star Wars, Lost in Space, Ancient Aliens.  I own an 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and frequently have my eye on the universe. So, the Space Center was a natural attraction for me. 

It was a cold, grey, windy, 40-degree day and we were not properly dressed for the tram tour of the property. These are your typical trams, all open wagons with seats, and the wind made for a very cold ride. We only had sweatshirts on but we were the lucky ones. Several girls were wearing tank tops, but as the saying goes, "It's better to look good than to feel good Dahling". (Billy Crystal You Look Mahvelous)

The first stop was the working government facility. Here you walk the length of the building on an elevated path through the Astronaut Training Facility where you can see NASA astronauts train for current missions and where scientists and engineers are developing the next generation of space exploration vehicles. We were excited to see there were two astronauts actually training on the anti-gravity machine dressed in full space gear. 

The next stop was the building that housed an actual Saturn V rocket, the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever flown. Standing beside it makes you feel small and insignificant. It was quite difficult to photograph and none that we took did it any justice. A few shots are in the link to the photo album at the end of this blog. 

We were disappointed they weren't offering a tour of Mission Control headquarters, where all mission communications were handled once the rocket cleared the tower in Florida. The infamous Apollo 13 "Houston we have a problem" was handled here. 

After the tour, we explored the museum for several hours, scrutinizing everything the place had to offer. It features many space artifacts, fascinating exhibits, and theaters dedicated to the history of human space travel. It's home to the world's largest collection of moon rocks. 

I think the highlight of the visit for me was an actual 747 on the property with a space shuttle attached to the top of it. You can go inside and explore both the airplane and the shuttle. The shuttle was a lot smaller than I thought it would be and hard to imagine 4 or 6 people sitting in it. 

Link to photo album: Space Center Houston

SpaceX Launch from Cape Canaveral FL

As luck would have it, we got to see 2 SpaceX launches in Florida. These were both unmanned, launching 22 Starlink satellites into earth orbit. We watched the first one from the beach in Cocoa Beach. From this vantage point, you can see the Cape Canaveral peninsula and several of the launch platforms. The rocket launched and flew over our heads in seconds, heading south down the coast of Florida. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is unique in that the very expensive first stage is reusable, returning to earth thus reducing space junk and the cost of future flights. Miles above our heads, we watched the first stage detach, turn around, head back to Cape Canaveral, and land with a resounding sonic boom right back where it started. A truly impressive sight to watch. 

We watched the second launch from the Rocket Launch Viewpoint at Port Canaveral. This was more of a direct view of the launch pad as you can see in the picture above. Sadly, the first stage rocket detached and landed on a platform out in the ocean, so we didn't get to see the landing.

This link will take you to a YouTube video we shot of the first launch. It's about 7 minutes long and takes you from launch to return of the first stage rocket. Falcon 9 Launch Video

This link will take you to a few pictures we shot of the launch: SpaceX Launch

Click on any photo to enlarge it to full screen.

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Until next time, peace

Pete & Lori