Johnson Space Center

Well, here I am hanging out at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston

OK... a lousy attempt at humor.  We were greeted at the JSC by a most impressive site - the space shuttle atop the Boeing 747 used to transport the shuttle from its landing at Houston to Cape Canaveral for launch.

Both the 747 and the shuttle may be toured.  There are films and other interactive displays explaining the shuttle program.  They even had the wind tunnel model of the shuttle atop the 747 used to test the aerodynamics of this radical mode of transportation.  The airplane reportedly suffered a significant vibration the entire flight when transporting the shuttle; "like driving down a cobblestone road."

Shuttle Flight Deck

Other interesting items that we were able to view incuded the Russian Soyuz space capsule

the newly-developed Orion spacecraft, capable of transporting 4-6 astronauts

The weirdest thing we saw?  a docent explaining how urine is recycled to drinking water aboard the international space station!  Note the bag is labeled URINE.

I think I'd rather die from dehydration!!

The coolest thing we saw?  Definitely the Saturn V rocket!!!

This building houses the Saturn V seen in the pictures below.

Janice next to a Saturn V engine

Janice with all five engines. Each engine produces 1.5 million pounds of thrust!

The Saturn V broken down into its stages.  This thing is HUGE!

OK, maybe the strangest thing, or at least the thing you least expected to see at a space center, wasn't the recycled urine, but rather this:

The JSC has 58 acres that is devoted to the raising of Texas Longhorn cattle.  Local schools are heavily involved, as is the Longhorn Cattlemen's Association.