Tag Archive for NASA-Johnson Space Flight Center

A Dream Come True…A Visit to the NASA-JOHNSON SPACE FLIGHT CENTER (Part 1)

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“HOUSTON, TRANQUILITY BASE HERE.  THE EAGLE HAS LANDED!” were the first words spoken on the moon by Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969.  On that hot summer day, I was sprawled out on our living room floor with my family, watching this great moment in history take place on our television.  Soon after the lunar module landed on the moon, the cameras flashed back to Mission Control in Houston, Texas.  All of the men at Mission Control had huge grins on their faces and were letting out huge sighs of relief!  (Back then, only men were working at Mission Control.  Years later, during a shuttle launch, I was ecstatic to see women had entered this domain.)  So it was a dream come true for me when I took a field trip last month to the Mission Control Center at the NASA-Johnson Space Flight Center.  Here are my photos from this amazing and inspiring adventure.  Enjoy!

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HELEN LANE, PHD, RD IS THE LADY IN THE BLUE SUIT.  SHE IS THE MANAGER OF THE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH & AFFAIRS FOR NASA.  SHE ALSO WAS THE FORMER NASA CHIEF NUTRITIONIST.  WHAT A GREAT TOUR GUIDE! 

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MISSION CONTROL.  THE SCREEN SHOWS ACTION AT THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION IN REAL TIME.  IF YOU LOOK REAL CLOSE, YOU CAN SEE AN ASTRONAUT FLOATING AS HE COMPLETES HIS DAILY TASKS.

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THE MIDDLE SCREEN SHOWS THE LOCATION OF THE SPACE STATION ABOVE THE EARTH…WHEN I WAS THERE IT WAS OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND EUROPE

Mission Control is manned 24 hours, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  The mission controllers work nine hour shifts.  One hour of their shift overlaps with the previous shift.  The Flight Director is the person who is in charge and is responsible for the safey of the spacecraft.   The CAPCOM mission controller is the person who is the main communicator with the astronauts.  A physician is a part of the team also.  Doctors play a critical role during space walks and other extra vehicular activity, monitoring vital signs of the astronauts.

You can’t see it from the pictures I took, but astronauts get around the space station like they are Super Man flying and grabbing bars to propel themselves forward.  Dr. Lane made me chuckle.  She recounted that every astronaut has told her that when back to earth, he or she inevitably tries to continue floating.

Adam and I have had the thrill of seeing the International Space Station orbit above our Huntsville home.  If you want to find out when the space station will be visible from your home town, you can go to www.spotthespacestation.nasa.gov or www.isstracker.com

I was a fan of space flight before visiting the NASA-Johnson Space Flight Center.  My tour here made me fall even more in love with human space flight.  I will close with a funny comment by my husband, who works at the NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.  Helen Lane said because the space flight facility is on federal government land, it has multiple uses, and  longhorn cattle serenely graze on the land here.  When I told my husband about the longhorn cattle at NASA, he remarked, “Hmmm, I did not know NASA was in the Space Rodeo business too!

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