Day before yesterday we visited Space Center Houston, the historic location from where six missions to Moon were launched off. Space Center Houston is an interesting museum not only for kids but for adults as well. Though I would say it would be more entertaining for kids, this is one place for everyone to experience the wonders of outer space and the high-tech world of NASA. The dramatic history of space exploration unfolds through the various exhibits at the Space Center Houston. This is one of the few places in the world where visitors can experience something that is close to getting into space.
I would categorise the museum into three different kinds of places: the interactive exhibits, theaters and the tram tour. There are three theaters: Blastoff theater, Space center theater and Starship gallery, each of which broadcast multimedia presentations on the history and technological innovations in the quest of space. The Astronaut Gallery and NASA Tour are two other sections which are equally interesting and educating.
Personally speaking I enjoyed the NASA tour the most. But I liked to exhibits in the various galleries and the film shows too. The exhibits of the first successful Lunar mission, and the next time when they took a Moon Rover or a 4-wheeled electric powered vehicle was highly interesting. There are displays of space stations and what all happens inside a spaceship/ space station. The space ship is truly a very small vehicle and space is highly constricted for astronauts. It is a wonder that these men and women travelled for months in such narrow/ small spaces over long distances.
All the exhibits in the Space Center are very interactive and well maintained. There are several volunteers, mostly ex-employees of NASA who help explain some of the exhibits to visitors. The enthusiastic volunteers is something that make visiting public places in the US a very pleasant experiencs. I believe we must have such people in Indian museums and public places. One of the biggest advantages would be to harness the youth and attract them towards working for the country and also give some pastime activity for retired people.
Here are some pictures of the exhibits at the Space Center. Tomorrow I will blog about the tram tour of the NASA campus, including a visit to the historic mission headquarters, rocket workshop and the rocket park. 
Rockets on display
A Rocket Engine on display, looks quite interesting!
An exhibit of man on moon
Moon rover - A model of the electric vehicle which was taken to the moon during the second mission
A exhibit of a space station
Exhibit explaining how gravity can be defied
The NASA museum's main wall
1 comment:
Great Post, Sahasi. These tours are open to all tourists, right? Would love to be there some time!
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