Houston Mission Control
Thursday 9.11.23
And a day for the boys – Space Center, Houston. We have a bit of a trek out of town this morning on the coach and the roads and usage demonstrate my earlier comments.
The Space Center Houston is huge and now far more than just the Mission Control although that is our first destination as we have been given a timed trip shortly after our arrival on the site. The main displays and visitor area are a ride away from all the cool stuff as the area occupied has grown over the years.
Mission Control has been returned to the layout and equipment with which we are familiar from the Apollo missions in the late 60s / early 70s. The touring party sits in the viewing area overseeing the control room and we are played three recordings of those key events. Apollo 7 landing on the moon followed by the recording of Neil Armstrong walking onto the surface. The third recording is of the first report of Apollo 13 having a problem plus the surrounding story of bringing the participants back safely. Obviously now the visible technology looks hugely dated and one wonders how it would be organised today.
There were rudimentary computers on board the space vehicles and mainframes processing data – but these days when we are conscious of how Formula 1 (for example) has intricate reporting detail on their engines, chassis, wheels and so on all being fed not only to the pit teams but also to their headquarters (which can be half a world away from the race) it is a very different data process that would now be put in place.
As well as the displays in the visitor center itself there are two other major exhibits which also require a ride to the other side of facility – one is a Saturn V rocket launcher – which lies on one side rather than standing erect. The other is a visit to the astronaut training center which is a huge hangar with a huge variety of technical equipment where the potential travellers have to learn how to manage all of the equipment.
Shuttle Carrier and Shuttle
As with Graceland earlier on the holiday those with a particular interest could and probably should spend the whole day here – for the ladies of the tour this held the least interest.