Houston is one of the largest cities in US and home to the famous Houston Space Center and the impressive Rice university. It has many nicknames – Space City, Bayou City (because of the many small creeks and rivers crisscrossing around the town), H-town (R&B vocal group from Houston), the 713 (Houston’s original phone area code). Houston used to be the capitol of Texas from 1837-1839. In 1839, the Republic of Texas relocated its capital to Austin.
Houston Space Center – The Johnson Space Center in Houston is a huge complex and a place to learn about NASA’s past, present, and future missions. You may even bump into an astronaut if you are lucky.
At the entrance to the Space Center is the Independence Plaza which is a $12 million exhibit featuring the original NASA 905 space shuttle-carrying jumbo jet topped by a full size replica of shuttle independence. Visitors can go inside and explore both plane and the shuttle.
There are many tours available to select from at the visitor’s center. We took the tour which took us in an open-air tram to Johnson Space Center, home of mission control, to see where astronauts train for space missions. The tour then took us to Rocket Park to see actual rockets on display. If you’d like to only visit the Rocket Park, there is no charge. Just drive to the guarded gate, inform them that you’d like to visit, and they will let you in.
Space center Rocket Park – At George W.S. Abbey Rocket Park, visitors have the pleasure of viewing four rockets that were used in NASA missions during the 1960s and 70s, including Little Joe II, Mercury-Redstone, the Gemini-Titan, and Saturn V, the tallest, heaviest, and most powerful rocket ever flown.
The mighty and massive 30-story tall Saturn V is perhaps the most accomplished of the four with 9 trips into outer space (six of which landed on the Moon) carrying 27 Apollo astronauts. Saturn V also launched Skylab, America’s first space station, into orbit in its final mission. There are only three Saturn V rockets on display in the world. The rocket at NASA Johnson Space Center is the only one comprised of all flight-certified hardware. The other two rockets are made of flight hardware, mock-ups and test components.
If you have time to spare, you should try getting tickets to the 5 hour VIP tour, but only a handful of tickets are available per day.
Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park – Completed in 1985 and located in a landscaped 3-acre park, the Waterwall is 64 feet tall and pours out a whopping 11,000 gallons of recirculated water per minute, creating a spectacular backdrop for photos. The park has more than 180 oak trees and is a perfect place to relax on a hot summer day.
Rice University Campus – Founded in 1912, Rice University sits in the heart of Houston on a 300-acre, tree-lined campus next to the Texas Medical Center and the Houston Museum District. Walking and running trails, thousands of mature trees, and lovely old buildings are spread over this 300-acre campus. It is one of the top-tier universities in the US offering more than 50 majors for students to choose from.
