Our last day of vacation was spent at the Space Center! Camden wasn't near as excited as I thought he would be, but I knew once he got inside, he would love it and I was right!! There were so many neat things to see!!
Camden checking out a model of the very first satellite the US put in orbit!!
Mark and Camden trying on some helmets for size!!
Man were they HEAVY!!!
In the astronaut history section, Camden got to see how space suits have changed over the years and how they differ from country to county. I love that Camden is reading so much now, he just wanted to read all about each of the suits and the men/women who were wearing them!
Next, we took a tram ride tour over to "Mission Control." This was the actual room where everyone was when the brave astronauts from the US walked on the moon for the first time! I had always pictured it being in a elaborate building and fancy, but it was so PLAIN! I was shocked!! It was still kinda neat to think about the excitement that was going on in that room not many years ago. I did learn something pretty amazing: At the time when we landed astronauts on the moon, the computers that they used only had enough memory as 2 digital pictures that we take today.... AMAZING!!! Just goes to show how far our technology has come in the past few decades!!
After mission control, they took us to see the the rocket launcher. It's turned over on it's side so it can be enclosed in a building, but oh my gosh... SO HUGE!!!! This picture of me and the kids just shows one fuel igniter. There were a total of 5! I guess you can't really imagine how big those shuttles are until you see them! I was amazed!
Next, we took a simulation tour. We saw all kinds of simulations from the astronauts on the moon to the astronauts showering and doing somersaults due to the lack of gravity. It was really interesting!
Next, we went the the kids activity area... Camden and Mark got to play together for a while!! Camden was mission control and Mark was actually upstairs in the space shuttle. Here is a short video of their correspondence. It is so great to see Camden in his imaginative play. He has really come a long way!!!
Camden got to see how heavy things were on other planets. Here he is lifting to see how heavy this dumbbell would be on Jupiter... Really heavy!!! Come on... You can do it!!!
Life on a Space Shuttle... was a little presentation where they actually walked us through what it was like to live on a space shuttle in outer space. They showed us how they exercise, go to the bathroom, shower, cook, eat, etc.. It was pretty cool!!!
Katelyn enjoyed herself too!! Here she is checking out the gear!!
Mark and Camden went in the space ship to check it out! Here are some pictures of Camden in the control room!!! Look out NASA.. I think you could have a future engineer astronaut on your hands!! :)
Here is one for show and tell at school... Camden can literally say, "I have touched the moon." They have a moon rock on display and they allow people to touch it, so they can say they have touched the moon. This took about 45 minutes to explain to Camden. He is so darn literal... he didn't understand how he was actually touching the moon. He thought we were lying to him:( He just didn't get it. Here is a picture of my little astronaut touching the moon!!!
The most amazing thing about the space center was a presentation that we went to towards the end of our visit. There was a lady giving the presentation and she opened it up to the audience for questions. Well... Camden ALWAYS has questions... His hand shot up like an arrow!! She pulled him aside after the presentation and told him that if he promised to never stop asking questions, she had a special surprise for him. He was so excited! She gave him an autographed picture of an astronaut in space right now. His name is...Douglas Wheelock. Camden might of well thought he won the lottery.... He wouldn't put that picture down the rest of the day!! Matter of fact, he ran over to the astronaut wall to try to find him! He LOVED it:)
The most amazing thing about the space center was a presentation that we went to towards the end of our visit. There was a lady giving the presentation and she opened it up to the audience for questions. Well... Camden ALWAYS has questions... His hand shot up like an arrow!! She pulled him aside after the presentation and told him that if he promised to never stop asking questions, she had a special surprise for him. He was so excited! She gave him an autographed picture of an astronaut in space right now. His name is...Douglas Wheelock. Camden might of well thought he won the lottery.... He wouldn't put that picture down the rest of the day!! Matter of fact, he ran over to the astronaut wall to try to find him! He LOVED it:)
Star Wars... Clone Wars..
Good Guy/Bad Guy... Why does he have to look so darn cute as a BAD guy???
