In February 2022, I had the opportunity to go to Space Center Houston for a conference (the conference will be a separate post!). This was my very first time since I became a mom that I traveled without my kids (and wow, was that weird)! I came in a bit early so that I could explore the museum and experience it fully, not knowing how much time I would have while at the conference to take in the sights. It was a very cool experience!
When I arrived in Houston (Hobby Airport, as Houston has TWO airports), I took an Uber to my hotel and then walked across the street to Space Center Houston. I was giddy with anticipation! I had a friend and past trombone lesson student who has an internship with NASA in Houston, so as soon as I got into the museum, he called and asked if I wanted him to pop over on his lunch to show me a few interesting things. There was no way I was passing that up! He took me through the gallery and showed me some of his favorite exhibits and told me some fun stories that he had heard, and I loved having the inside scoop!
After he left, I made sure to book my tram tours, as I had read these fill up fast! You have to download the Space Center app and then book the (free) tram tours through that. There were two tours running the day I was there – one to go see the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility (white tram) and the other to visit Mission Control (blue tram). I booked the Space Vehicle Mockup first, as it had the shorter wait time. While I waited for my tram time, I ate lunch at the cafeteria, enjoyed the other exhibits, and listened to a talk about experiments on the International Space Station.
When your time to load the tram has arrived, you get an alert through the Space Center Houston app. I managed to lose signal while I was in the gift shop, however, so I almost missed my loading time. Thankfully, I had been checking it religiously so I knew about when to head over there. The tram is very full – there aren’t any empty seats, so don’t be the person who sits in the middle of the bench expecting to have the whole thing to yourself! It didn’t take very long to load everyone up and get moving. As you take the tram to the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility, the driver gives you a tour of what you are seeing, so you get to find out what all of the buildings you are driving past have inside. Also, because this area is a wildlife preserve, you will see a lot of deer!
It did not take us long to get to the Space Vehicle Mockup, and it was fun to feel the anticipation of what I would see inside. This building was really interesting, as this is where the astronauts train in the different vehicles they will use to get to, or hang out in, space. There is a mockup of every possible vehicle that NASA uses. The neat thing was that we could see training going on while we were there. They were trying out a new space suit while we watched, and they were also working with Valkyrie, which are some cool space robots.
On the way back from this tram tour, we got to stop and visit the Saturn V rocket. I knew those rockets were big, but I was not prepared for how giant it was. Even seeing the outside of the building that houses it did not prepare me from its size.
It was definitely awe-inspiring, and I think this was my favorite stop on all of the tours. After this building, which also housed a nice display showing a timeline and history of all of the Apollo missions, we returned to the main building. Luckily for me, it was just in time to board the tram for my other tour (which I had booked the minute I was on the first tram tour (#protip)…and I also managed to lose connectivity during that tour as well, but it held my place in line, so don’t freak out if that happens to you!).
This tram tour also featured a guided trip through the grounds, and before I knew it, I was staring at the historic Mission Control building. We went into the Mission Control room that was used for the moon landing. It has recently been restored, down to the cigarette butts in the ashtrays! There is a very neat replay of the entire moon landing video, and you feel all of the excitement of what it must have been like on the very day they landed on the moon. It gave me chills!
After the whole replay was over, there was plenty of time to take pictures, and then we boarded the tram for the main building again. Once back in the museum, I headed to the Independence Plaza to check out the airplane that carried the shuttle.
They also had a Falcon 9 from SpaceX on display, which was really neat to see, as well, after having watched those launches recently.
After all of that exploring, the museum was closing, and I was tired! I walked back to the hotel, called my family, and prepared for the conference the next day!
Car Full of Harmony 
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