NASA's Johnson Space Center

Johnson Space Center in Houston, NASA’s manned spaceflight center has been around since 1961. This huge facility of 100 buildings covers an area of 1620 acres and is home the American astronaut corps. Its training programs also include astronauts from all of our partner countries.

Today the Space Center is host to quite an array of things for the visitor to see and experience. Yeah, the kids have a huge playland type of thing that is quite tall and covers lots of space. Then there are the IMAX theater with a couple of movies, and the stand where JFK promised our safe space flight and return before 1970. There are also several things and galleries to touch and experience and even a shuttle cabin to walk through and gawk at (more buttons and knobs than you can imagine).

The highlight of the day as far as I was concerned was the tram ride around the facility, where it took us to the old Mission Control Center, then to Building 9 where you can see mockups of all of the space vehicles (this is where the astronauts actually get hands on training), then to Rocket Park, where several different rockets are displayed including a full Saturn V rocket. I have even included a picture of that Saturn V rocket before the Metal building was built over it. All along the way the tram guide gives you interesting and educational facts that make the trip fun.

There is a very good-sized gift shop to purchase souvenirs of all kinds. I'm sure you'll find something to suit you.

I felt this was a great experience for the price.

This is a fun education activity for the entire family. There is so much to do and so much to see that I will not bore you with all the details. The best way to check it out is to visit the website and, if possible, take a trip there. I will just say that we had a great time taking the tour, exploring all of the exhibits and taking some fun pictures. The staff is very friendly. They were accommodating to all of our needs, even on the tram tours. This place is like a little Disneyland. You queue up for most of the experiences and attractions which include: The Starship Gallery Artifact Museum which includes Moon Rocks; Blast Off, which starts off with a great video about the space shuttle taking off. Once this short video is over you get to enter into a live conversation with a tour guide about current missions and watch current space feeds. The lady we had was patient and answered question with a confidence of all NASA employees; The Tram Tours are also grand. They have three to choose from, the Red, White or Blue. Red takes you to the Astronaut Training Facility and the Saturn facility, for which we took. It was a ‘blast.’ The Blue: Mission Control and the Saturn Facility and the White, the Neutral Buoyancy Lab. You can also visit the Northrop Grumman Theater and the ‘Feel of Space’ exhibit. Because there is so much to see and do, they first give you a color map that list all these activities with a brief description about each one. They also include a chart that will suggest ‘what to see in the time you have.’ They break it up into hours: 3-4, 4-5 or all day. It is a great way to organize you adventure. We were there for over 5 hours and didn’t have a chance to experience everything. The crowds were smaller than those of the summer, so if you plan to visit, do get there early and stay late.

The have a place called Zero G Diner which is really a food court for your dinning pleasure. It is rather expensive, so be prepared to shell out quite a few dollars to eat there. The gift shops are full of great trinkets, photos, t-shirts, candy and about anything else they can slap NASA on. The must get gift is the freeze dried foods that astronauts take into space. My niece decided that Chocolate chip mint and the ice cream sandwich was the best. If it all seems a bit overwhelming, it is not that bad. Get there and just have fun.

There is a way to save a little money, purchase a membership. The membership entitles you to free parking on your next visits, up to a year out, discounts on the food and souvenirs. It was a good deal for our large family. One membership and all the discounts all paid for itself in one swipe of the card.

Very, very disappointing. Most of the museum is aimed towards young children. Very few things to do. Quite possibly the most poorly designed tour I have ever experienced. Sixty-Ninety minutes riding around through the NASA area which offers one bland office building after another. 2 of the 3 separate buildings in which you get to "tour" require you and the other 100 or so visitors to climb flights of stairs to get to what they want to show you. The best part may have been the gift shop! There was definitely more to see there and perhaps the only place in the whole museum where you'll find any info or even a picture about that one guy.. Neil Armstrong.