“Uh, Houston, we’ve had a problem”. This now famous phrase was uttered by Apollo 13 astronaut John (“Jack”) Swigert on the seventh manned mission in the Apollo space program and the third intended to land on the moon. Launched on April 11, 1970 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank exploded two days into the mission. Fortunately due to some heroic and outlandish efforts the mission’s motto of “Failure is not an Option” came good and they all returned safely to earth. But not until after many nervous fixes.
We have been to Kennedy Space Centre (KSC) where the mission was launched. We’ve been to Hutchinson, Kansas to see the actual lunar module and now with this blog post we will complete an Apollo 13 trifecta having visited Mission Control at Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston.
The first thing we saw as we approached JSC is two NASA – T38 space trainer jets mounted on the corner but then as you turn into the carpark you are struck by the sight of a Space Shuttle on the back of a 747 piggy back style. These are actual craft not replicas. We were getting pumped. We love this sort of stuff.
Once inside the complex we took local advice and headed for the trolley which goes across the many acres taken up by the centre to show us some of the working base. On the way we see some of the Texas Longhorn Cattle that graze on the property (don’t ask me why). We go past the giant warehouse that houses the worlds biggest ready to use rocket, the Saturn V. We’ll return there later we’re told. Before being taken into one of the Mission Control rooms where training is underway.
The photo of the 3 desks is a progression from the ‘70’s to the 90’s to the 2010 era. I have then put in pics of the ‘working area’ and a close up of the (actual) track of the ISS (International Space Station). After that we move on to the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility where astronauts are trained and problem (in space) solved here on earth. Again these are the actual facilities. The individual units you see are exact replicas of the ISS. There is even a Russian unit there (the smaller grey ‘ball’ like unit). Also in this warehouse much R&D is conducted developing things like the Mars Rover and other ‘space’ vehicles and robots.
After the SVMF we were bussed to the home of the Saturn V rocket. If you can’t get a full appreciation of it’s size go back to the 7th photo in this gallery and see it’s silhouette painted in full scale on the side of the building. It is massive. When our guide said it was the only working Saturn V we were about to argue until he said that the one we’d seen in Kennedy is capable of flight but was never completed.
From the Saturn V we were taken back to the main public hall where we were able to wander on our own. Where did we go? Straight to the 747 and it’s piggy backing shuttle. There are 3 levels to the display. There’s the jumbo jet and all the displays within it and then two levels in the space shuttle. While we were not lucky enough to ever witness a launching at least we can say we’ve been in an actual Space Shuttle craft. Totally awesome experience.
Back on the ground we walked ‘the astronaut walk’ along the gantry to the White Room where astronauts undergo final prep before boarding for a launch. Back inside there is even more to see but surprisingly it has a vastly different slant on it to the KSC in Florida. Here seems more centred on the people than the technology. After looking around for another few hours we were totally exhausted but truly satisfied. It was another great day and something we are so glad we came all this way to see.
So, that’s it for another blog post. Again we do hope you are enjoying these reads. I’m getting few comments so I’ll take it that all is good.
Cheers for now
Garry & Shane.
P.S. We also found out that the USA is planning to start revisiting the moon again in the next several years.
Well I’ll add some more to your comments box, I’m really enjoying the read and the pics, covering stuff I’m really interested in, love the planes, ships and space stuff and the fascinating history of some of these places and the ice cream, wow. …………… if the boat turns up it will have to sit at customs as we have the van hooked up for a few months of wandering, end up somewhere between Winton and Adelaide this time….Travel safe folks.