Team India to NASA !!

We have a Team in India that commissions and maintains the equipment that I sell.  They came to Houston in March for some training, so we organized an outing to NASA (Johnson Space Center, Houston).

Photo by Ritesh

I got the boys up early...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

There is a new display at JSC, the Boeing 747 converted to transport the Space Shuttle from its original California landing site back to its Florida launch site for the next flight, has been converted into a portion of the museum.  A shuttle training mock-up has been installed on top of it, and is also a museum inside.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

On display in the visitors center is Orion, the new capsule being developed for trips to Mars.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The Team !

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

We took a tram tour and stopped at the historic Mission Control.  From this room the early manned space flights were controlled.  You can see how the room was used in movies like The Right Stuff and Apollo XIII.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The original visitors facilities at JSC were more limited, basically a tram tour, a commissary and this "rocket park".  Here is an early model rocket used to lift Apollo capsules into earth orbit for testing and training.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

This (huge) Saturn V rocket, with three large (huge) stages and a recovered Apollo capsule used to be outdoor, but to halt deterioration due to weather, they built a building around it.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

In the main visitors center, there are other recovered capsules, Apollo, Mercury and Gemini, that actually carried U. S. astronauts into space.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

A space suit inside the shuttle mock-up, for extravehicular activities (EVA's).

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The Team posing in the cargo bay of the shuttle mock-up.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

A quick team-selfie with a Space Center associate.

Photo by Ritesh

Then off to Kemah for a seafood lunch on the shore of Galveston Bay.

As I have said several times now, I hope that my pride in America is not excessive or offensive.  I very much enjoy touring visiting foreign friends around, whether it be NASA, or Washington D.C. or other chances I've had to show off the U.S.A. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Our current president says he wants to "make America great again".  My own view is very different.  I believe that America has been, and is still great, and it is the solemn obligation of all Americans to keep her so. 

America. 

Come visit, be welcome, enjoy.

- Mark W. Laughlin