BOU AVENUE
Space Center Houston
On the morning of 30 March 2024, Zosia Zgolak and I returned to Houston, Texas to visit Space Center Houston which is NASA's museum and visitor centre for the adjacent Johnson Space Center.  The interactive museum showcases all things related to US manned space exploration and features several spacecrafts from the 1960s and moon missions that actually flew in space as well as replicas of the Space Shuttle and Skylab.  Guided tours take visitors into Johnson Space Center, and while Zosia and I were able to see the astronaut training facility, we missed out--mainly due to heavy crowds and lack of time--on the more interesting tours of mission control and a Saturn V (moon mission) rocket.  Fortunately, we were able to attend a presentation by former astronaut, Brian Duffy, who shared many interesting photos and stories of his four Space Shuttle missions.  Although Zosia and I could have easily spent the rest of the day there, the growing crowds began to wear on us, and we promptly left the museum to find some fresh air and serenity.
Zosia got a free ticket since she is a teacher, but we almost didn't make it inside... Tourists flock to the entrance of Space Center Houston.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Hard to believe!

Zosia appears to be hotter than Sonny!
Not that crowded in the morning! Here is the main foyer of Space Center Houston.
She's got the Right Stuff! Zosia looks like she could be part of the crew aboard the International Space Station.
Looks...yummy.

Here are samples of vacuum-packed food from the Canadian Space Agency.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Moonbase Alpha, here we come! After an absence of several decades, there is now a renewed interest in exploring the Moon.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

 
Cue the theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey" (Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss)! Zosia is ready to face the final frontier.
The Eagle has landed! Zosia stands under LTA-8, a lunar lander that was used for testing purposes in preparation for the Apollo missions to the Moon.
Let's get a selfie with JFK! On 12 September 1962, US President John F. Kennedy gave his rousing "We choose to go to the Moon" speech at Rice University in Houston, Texas to drum up support for his vision of landing a man on the Moon before the end of the decade.  On display here is the lectern from which Kennedy spoke.
Truly the mother of all rockets! Dangling from the ceiling is a scale model of the Saturn V rocket used in the Apollo missions.
Imagine being stuck inside that for a week... This is the command module of Apollo 17, the last Apollo mission to the Moon.
I wonder how often they spray the rock with disinfectant... Apparently, there are only eight lunar rocks available for the general public to touch on Earth, and one of them is here at Space Center Houston.
Excellent presentation! Retired USAF pilot and NASA astronaut Brian Duffy gives a presentation about his experiences on four Space Shuttle missions.
Highlight of the tour was seeing an alligator plus turtles just as we pulled out out of Space Center Houston! Zosia rides a tram for a tour of the astronaut training facility inside Johnson Space Center.
Better check the door bolts on that Boeing capsule! The astronaut training facility holds mockups of a variety of spacecraft.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
Anyone remember the beginning of the James Bond movie, "Moonraker"? Just outside Space Center Houston is the replica Space Shuttle "Independence" sitting atop N905NA, one of two modified Boeing 747s that were used to ferry Space Shuttles across the country.
It's especially hard to eat borscht in space! Zosia experiences the challenges of trying to eat a meal in zero gravity.
Start the countdown! Zosia is aiming to become the first Polish woman in space.