This year, I'm taking each kid (well, each kid who can walk) on a trip just the two of us. First up was my first born...my boy...my heart...my tween. Where did we go? Houston. To have LUNCH WITH AN ASTRONAUT at the Johnson Space Center.
*Scroll to the bottom for resources we used that really helped to supplement our trip*
We met Joshua who had to work a half day that Thursday morning, switched cars, and said our goodbyes before running to the grocery store. The Boy got to pick all the road trip snacks and drinks. It was magical. When you're one of four and the other three are all girls, the struggle is real. We stayed with family friends in Katy and arrived pretty late so we went straight to bed. When we woke up, our friends were busying themselves with getting ready for work and school while we got dressed and read a children's book written by Colonel Jerry Ross - the astronaut NASA had scheduled for the day.
*The Space Center holds the Lunch with an Astronaut twice a week - Fridays and Saturdays most weeks and schedules their astronauts months in advance so it's easy to plan ahead*
The lunch tickets included admission to the Space Center for the whole day and we wanted to take advantage of it so we braved the Houston rush hour traffic (the sort of thing you normally get to avoid by homeschooling) and made it just as they opened.
The first thing we did was check out the full size Space Shuttle replica and 747 Carrier Plane. Inside was amazing. The Shuttle control panel was intimidating to say the least but inside the 747 were several exhibits that showed both the history of the Shuttle program and the science behind both the Shuttle itself and what it took to attach it and fly it on the carrier plane. Wind tunnel replicas demonstrated the need for proper weight distribution and a three-part crane system showed how it took precise measurements to attach the Shuttle to the specially designed 747.
We had a small window between checking out the shuttle and the 11 o'clock astronaut presentation (open to everyone at the Space Center, not just those with lunch tickets) and I asked an employee what he recommended. He recommended a temporary exhibit with the actual Apollo 11 command module that brought back Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins back from that historic flight.
The astronaut presentation was lead by Colonel Ross. He did a great job of explaining the Shuttle Program and the International Space Station, or ISS to a mixed crowd of space nerds, kids, and adults who knew little to nothing before that day. The presentation ended with questions about the space program and his years in it. To be honest, it was so informative, I was a little concerned the lunch would be redundant. I could not have been more wrong.
But before we could go to the lunch, we had about 20 minutes to spend playing with Mars rovers and reading about what will be the next steps in the space program. It helped tremendously that we had recently watched The Mars Generation on Netflix.
We hurried to the elevator that would take us upstairs. It was so exciting. When we arrived there were eight tables with seven chairs at each but none of the tables looked full and it felt more intimate than it was. The hostess lead us to our assigned table and presented us with our personalized astronaut cards. It was a hit.
I thought the food was buffet but it wasn't. It was one meal for adults and one meal for children and there were no orders or substitutions made. But even if the food was only so-so, we didn't go for the food. Colonel Ross spent about 20 minutes telling his amazing life story. He grew up modestly on a farm in Indiana. He's been to space a record-setting SEVEN times. He was the first to go so many times and only one other astronaut has tied with him since. He helped build the ISS. He's had NINE spacewalks.
He told us about his childhood and the fact that he didn't get selected the first time he applied to be an astronaut. He didn't encourage the children in the audience to try and become astronauts. Instead, he encouraged them to find the thing about being an astronaut that they loved, the flying, the engineering, the innovation, whatever it was and pursue that. Let that be the goal and if, in the process, they became astronauts, it would be icing on the cake. The message that it takes thousands of people each doing their own part to accomplish something so much bigger than each of them individually was beautifully delivered.
After his own life story, he opened the rest of the time to questions. He answered everything from the expected question of how do they go to the bathroom to more detailed information on training and what it's like to be an astronaut when not in space or preparing to go to space. The Boy asked two or three questions but the one I enjoyed hearing the answer to the most was which space walk was Colonel Ross's favorite. He started by comparing them to his children saying he couldn't really pick but he said the one that probably meant the most was the one where he saved a $630 MILLION satellite. It hadn't deployed correctly and he had to "use some farm boy tricks and kick it into place."
After lunch, somehow my son convinced me to jump in line with him for the fighter pilot simulator. It's not a good idea to let a 9 yr old pilot a jet you're in right after lunch. We crashed three times and spent most of the time upside down.
We wobbled from the flight simulator to the tram line. By this point, it was a two-hour wait but thankfully, I had pre-booked our tram tickets online (free and open to anyone who visits the Space
Center but there's a limited number of tickets so book early) so we were escorted to the front of the "other" line while those in the stand by line watched and seethed.
The tram takes you through the historic mission control center, rocket park, and the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility which was by far the Boy's favorite. You walk across a catwalk that overlooks a full size model of the ISS. Engineers, scientists, astronauts and just about everyone involved use the model to train and solve problems before they happen. Also in the SVMF, are robots. Man shaped robots. Drones. Rovers. All very cool things.
When we left the SVMF building, we came out to the tram to this:
It was a trip we'll both remember forever. I'm so grateful to be able to have these memories and this time together. This is why we homeschool.
Additional resources if you're studying the journey into space:
Books: Hidden Figures - we spent part of the trip to Houston listening to this book on cd. It was a great connective thread from our studies on civil rights to the space race.
Becoming a Spacewalker: My Journey to the Stars - age recommendation: 4-10. Engaging enough for the little ones but informative enough for older kiddos.
Spacewalker: My Journey Into Space and Faith as NASA's Record-Setting Frequent Flier - age recommendation: 10+
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth - older students. Parents. Although the subject matter was appropriate, the level of language and overall length were above my 9 yr old. I listened to it via the audible app and my son overheard and enjoyed some of it.
Videos:
The Mars Generation on Netflix
Apollo 13
*Scroll to the bottom for resources we used that really helped to supplement our trip*
We met Joshua who had to work a half day that Thursday morning, switched cars, and said our goodbyes before running to the grocery store. The Boy got to pick all the road trip snacks and drinks. It was magical. When you're one of four and the other three are all girls, the struggle is real. We stayed with family friends in Katy and arrived pretty late so we went straight to bed. When we woke up, our friends were busying themselves with getting ready for work and school while we got dressed and read a children's book written by Colonel Jerry Ross - the astronaut NASA had scheduled for the day.
*The Space Center holds the Lunch with an Astronaut twice a week - Fridays and Saturdays most weeks and schedules their astronauts months in advance so it's easy to plan ahead*
The lunch tickets included admission to the Space Center for the whole day and we wanted to take advantage of it so we braved the Houston rush hour traffic (the sort of thing you normally get to avoid by homeschooling) and made it just as they opened.
The first thing we did was check out the full size Space Shuttle replica and 747 Carrier Plane. Inside was amazing. The Shuttle control panel was intimidating to say the least but inside the 747 were several exhibits that showed both the history of the Shuttle program and the science behind both the Shuttle itself and what it took to attach it and fly it on the carrier plane. Wind tunnel replicas demonstrated the need for proper weight distribution and a three-part crane system showed how it took precise measurements to attach the Shuttle to the specially designed 747.
We had a small window between checking out the shuttle and the 11 o'clock astronaut presentation (open to everyone at the Space Center, not just those with lunch tickets) and I asked an employee what he recommended. He recommended a temporary exhibit with the actual Apollo 11 command module that brought back Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins back from that historic flight.
The astronaut presentation was lead by Colonel Ross. He did a great job of explaining the Shuttle Program and the International Space Station, or ISS to a mixed crowd of space nerds, kids, and adults who knew little to nothing before that day. The presentation ended with questions about the space program and his years in it. To be honest, it was so informative, I was a little concerned the lunch would be redundant. I could not have been more wrong.
But before we could go to the lunch, we had about 20 minutes to spend playing with Mars rovers and reading about what will be the next steps in the space program. It helped tremendously that we had recently watched The Mars Generation on Netflix.
We hurried to the elevator that would take us upstairs. It was so exciting. When we arrived there were eight tables with seven chairs at each but none of the tables looked full and it felt more intimate than it was. The hostess lead us to our assigned table and presented us with our personalized astronaut cards. It was a hit.
I thought the food was buffet but it wasn't. It was one meal for adults and one meal for children and there were no orders or substitutions made. But even if the food was only so-so, we didn't go for the food. Colonel Ross spent about 20 minutes telling his amazing life story. He grew up modestly on a farm in Indiana. He's been to space a record-setting SEVEN times. He was the first to go so many times and only one other astronaut has tied with him since. He helped build the ISS. He's had NINE spacewalks.
He told us about his childhood and the fact that he didn't get selected the first time he applied to be an astronaut. He didn't encourage the children in the audience to try and become astronauts. Instead, he encouraged them to find the thing about being an astronaut that they loved, the flying, the engineering, the innovation, whatever it was and pursue that. Let that be the goal and if, in the process, they became astronauts, it would be icing on the cake. The message that it takes thousands of people each doing their own part to accomplish something so much bigger than each of them individually was beautifully delivered.
After his own life story, he opened the rest of the time to questions. He answered everything from the expected question of how do they go to the bathroom to more detailed information on training and what it's like to be an astronaut when not in space or preparing to go to space. The Boy asked two or three questions but the one I enjoyed hearing the answer to the most was which space walk was Colonel Ross's favorite. He started by comparing them to his children saying he couldn't really pick but he said the one that probably meant the most was the one where he saved a $630 MILLION satellite. It hadn't deployed correctly and he had to "use some farm boy tricks and kick it into place."
After lunch, somehow my son convinced me to jump in line with him for the fighter pilot simulator. It's not a good idea to let a 9 yr old pilot a jet you're in right after lunch. We crashed three times and spent most of the time upside down.
We wobbled from the flight simulator to the tram line. By this point, it was a two-hour wait but thankfully, I had pre-booked our tram tickets online (free and open to anyone who visits the Space
Center but there's a limited number of tickets so book early) so we were escorted to the front of the "other" line while those in the stand by line watched and seethed.
The tram takes you through the historic mission control center, rocket park, and the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility which was by far the Boy's favorite. You walk across a catwalk that overlooks a full size model of the ISS. Engineers, scientists, astronauts and just about everyone involved use the model to train and solve problems before they happen. Also in the SVMF, are robots. Man shaped robots. Drones. Rovers. All very cool things.
When we left the SVMF building, we came out to the tram to this:
It was a trip we'll both remember forever. I'm so grateful to be able to have these memories and this time together. This is why we homeschool.
Additional resources if you're studying the journey into space:
Books: Hidden Figures - we spent part of the trip to Houston listening to this book on cd. It was a great connective thread from our studies on civil rights to the space race.
Becoming a Spacewalker: My Journey to the Stars - age recommendation: 4-10. Engaging enough for the little ones but informative enough for older kiddos.
Spacewalker: My Journey Into Space and Faith as NASA's Record-Setting Frequent Flier - age recommendation: 10+
An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth - older students. Parents. Although the subject matter was appropriate, the level of language and overall length were above my 9 yr old. I listened to it via the audible app and my son overheard and enjoyed some of it.
Videos:
The Mars Generation on Netflix
Apollo 13
Comments
Post a Comment