March 15, 2018 Houston, TX

Hi everyone.  It has been a few days, and we did get 1 puzzle done.  Grammie is still working on the mittens, and Grampie is getting older so that someday he can say he shot his age...for the 2nd time.

On Wednesday, we left Brookeland 2 days early to come down to the Houston area.  We stopped at the Holocaust Museum of Houston.  We got to hear a Holocaust survivor speak about her experiences.  She was born in 1941 and was very young at the time  Her family was split up so they could go into hiding.  All but her father survived.

Today, Thursday, we drove across town, to go to the Johnson Space Center.  If you have never been to Houston, it was 65 miles and about an hour and a half to drive there.  We managed to use the toll roads which circle the city and hopefully, we can square up with them sometime in the future as we didn't have a pass.
The land for the space center was donated by Rice College and was originally designed like a college campus, and in case the space program failed, this would allow the buildings to be re-purposed and be used by Rice University.

 The Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia.

The cost of the Space Program was huge...although through the ingenuity and research of the engineers, many things were invented. 

This Chess game and board used Velcro to keep the pieces from moving while in the weightless of space. 

 This will probably answer the most asked question...How did you go to the bathroom?

 Since the year 2000, there has been an occupant in Skylab, some of them for months at a time.  This display shows the personal space and accessories of one of the astronauts.

 Many of the Shuttles landed in Houston but needed to be inspected, repaired and sent back to Kennedy Space Center in Florida in Florida for the next trip.  A Boeing 747 became the taskmaster.

 The insides were gutted out and reinforced for the shuttle on its roof.

 There were many displays, talks, and demonstrations.  As always, the program is looking to the future.  Helium-3 is a potential source of energy.  Studies indicate that Helium could very well be the answer to the long term energy needs of the earth's inhabitants.  The implementation and use of Helium could still be decades away.  Helium-3

For more info, visit   Johnson Space Center  

How to spot the orbiting Space Station, go to  Spot Skylab 

The next place on the timeline is  Mars.  Visit  Future Mars Program 

We were going to get a picture of Grammie but they didn't have a spacesuit in her Color.