Space is the Place: A Visit to Johnson Space Center, Houston

by Christopher Blay July 7, 2021

The last time I visited Space Center Houston and the Johnson Space Center in Texas was in 1992. That visit confirmed a memory of mine that most of my family didn’t believe. As an elementary school student in the 1970s, the NASA traveling exhibition came to my home city of Monrovia, Liberia, and my school took a field trip to see it.

I even remember promising my siblings that I would bring each of them back a moon rock, because if you tell a kid you have moon rocks at an exhibition, they will believe there are hundreds and that they can bring some home. No one in my family believed my school field trip happened. On my first trip to the Johnson Space Center in Texas, my story was confirmed. I was crazy about space, but I wasn’t crazy.

This past week, nearly 30 years later, I returned and took some pictures.

 

Lunar Lander, Space Center, Houston.

Lunar Lander, Space Center, Houston.

 

Astronaut Display, Space Center Houston

Astronaut Display, Space Center, Houston.

 

Little Joe II unmanned launch vehicle, Johnson Space Center, Houston

Little Joe II unmanned launch vehicle, Johnson Space Center, Houston.

 

Little Joe II, engine

Little Joe II, engine.

 

Saturn V Heavy Lift Vehicle, stage 3 booster section, Johnson Space Center, Houston

Saturn V Heavy Lift Vehicle, stage 3 booster section, Johnson Space Center, Houston.

 

Saturn V Heavy Lift Vehicle, stage 1 tip section, Johnson Space Center, Houston

Saturn V Heavy Lift Vehicle, stage 1 tip section, Johnson Space Center, Houston.

 

Saturn V Heavy Lift Vehicle booster rockets, Johnson Space Center, Houston

Saturn V Heavy Lift Vehicle booster rockets, Johnson Space Center, Houston.

 

Saturn V Heavy Lift Vehicle, Johnson Space Center, Houston

Saturn V Heavy Lift Vehicle, Johnson Space Center, Houston.

 

Crew Capsule, Saturn V, Johnson Space Center, Houston

Crew Capsule, Saturn V, Johnson Space Center, Houston.

 

SpaceX Falcon 9 booster, Johnson Space Center, Houston

SpaceX Falcon 9 booster, Johnson Space Center, Houston.

 

Rocket section, SpaceX Falcon 9 booster, Johnson Space Center, Houston

Rocket section, SpaceX Falcon 9 booster, Johnson Space Center, Houston.

 

1 comment

You may also like

1 comment

Dan Workman July 11, 2021 - 11:26

I’m flooded with memories of visiting NASA as a kid in the 60’s, around the time of the Gemini missions. I wonder if future generations will look at the Saturn V technology, sort of like we look at the pyramids–marveling at how a primitive civilization could have created a vehicle to get us to the moon.

Reply

Leave a Comment

Funding generously provided by: