| I only have sketchy information from a myriad of sources.
It is like SpacePort U.S.A. at KSC (it has close NASA ties, but I'm pretty
sure it is self-supporting).
Actually, Disney was involved in the design of several of the exhibits (as
a subcontractor rather than a full business venture I believe).
The simulators are rumored to be very good (e.g., astronauts can land them,
but others have trouble).
I think there was (or will be) something about it in Air&Space magazine.
- dave
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| Well, the note referred to actually is titled "Johnson Space Center in Houston".
I doubt that anyone would find "Space Center Houston" unless they actually
searched through all the subtitles.
I would suggest either leaving 113 for JSC and moving the last few notes here,
or moving these notes there (to retain the info about the ad in AvWeek) and
changing the main topic title to reflect that it also talks about SCH as well
as JSC.
BTW, did you just add the SCH keyword? I thought I looked for it before.
Burns
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| I went there last weekend with a group of 5 adults. It was great.
It was like a Disney/Epcot kind of thing. What they've done is built
an exhibit center in front of the JSC complex. This building has
interactive videos (some with joysticks even) that simulate shuttle
landings, satellite dockings, orbital mechanics, etc. Very nicely done
too.
There is a full-scale shuttle mockup you can go through, a spacelab
mockup, two theaters with very well-done movies (one a 7-story flat
screen, almost as big as IMAX), a well-stocked gift shop (of course),
plus lots more.
When you get out of one theater, you go into a display area with a
history of space flight set up, some ACTUAL used capsules (Mercury, Gemini,
Apollo), some educational areas, and some chunks of Lunar rock, one of
which you can touch.
The new building seems geared towards kids, which is great, but us
older kids loved it too :-).
The best part for me was the tram tours. There are two of them, one of
which takes you to Mission Control where you can sit in the VIP lounge
behind it and watch what's going on (nothing while I was there), and
proceeds on to other major buildings (~45 mins.)
The other tour is longer (~90 mins.) and takes you to the simulation
labs, including the large hangar where they have several shuttle
mockups, a spacelab mockup, Canada arm simulators, and a full-size
Freedom mockup. This is the better of the two tours, but take both!
Almost all of these are "look but don't touch" kind of places where
they show you a video about what happens there (so they don't have to
train the tour guides that much) and then you can look at it for a
while. You are usually behind a glass wall. Still, it was well worth
it.
On the way back, each tram will let you off at Rocket Park, where a
Saturn Five, Mercury-Redstone, and an Apollo rescue vehicle are
displayed.
$8.50 per person, kids about $5.00 I think. Open every day 9 - 6. Last
tram tour leaves at 3:30.
If you get a chance, do it! It's nice.
It got me fired up!
- Russ
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