Vacation-Day One…The Nasa Experience

Jeff, Robin, Hayden, and I left last morning heading toward Galveston.  We weren’t supposed to check into our condo until Tuesday, but we decided to leave a day early and make a pit stop at Nasa Space Center in Houston.  As part of our tour, we took a tram to the astronaut training center. 

This was really cool to see!

They had numerous tanks of liquid nitrogen to simulate the cold temperatures of outer space.

Also, as part of our tram tour, we made a stop to see an actual space shuttle similar to one they used in the Apollo missions.   This one was supposed to be used in Apollo 18 but never launched.   These pictures don’t do it justice.  This thing was unbelievably LARGE!!

It showed the different sections of the shuttle. 

I guess I was really space ignorant, but I had no idea there were so many sections of these shuttles that just broke up and were lost in space.   Seems like  A LOT of money wasted!  They said it cost over $1 Billion for each launch.  Maybe that is why they are saying the launch next week will be the last space mission??

This is the pod that was used for the astronauts to return to earth in the Apollo 16 mission. 

Hayden enjoyed checking out the “plane”!  Or, saying “Go!” and running off!  Ha!

A space station model.

A rocket that was outside.  Perfect opportunity for a photo!  :-)

Hayden was one happy boy when he got his “plane” to take home!  He sat down right in the middle of the walkway to start playing with it. 

I am really glad we made the stop at Nasa.  There was so much to see!  Almost overload for my OCD.  :-)  There was so much for kids to do.  I think in a few more years, Hayden would LOVE to do everything they had to offer.

After Nasa, we headed south to Galveston.  We checked into our hotel for the night.  I found a really great last minute deal on priceline and it was perfect for what we needed.  Hotel Galvez is 100 years old.  I thought it was so pretty! 

After checking in, we headed down to the beach for a little bit before dinner.  There was a lot more seaweed than I would like and was quite smelly in some parts.  Made Hayden gag.  But, we made the most of it!  :-)

 

Then, we enjoyed a yummy dinner at the Orignal Mexican Cafe where Hayden’s daddy fed him lemons.  LOL!

Lots of beach time, pool time, Moody Gardens, The Strand, and more coming up!