If you’re anything like me and fascinated by all things space, then a visit to the Houston Space Center is an unforgettable experience. We had the opportunity to explore this incredible facility and see some truly remarkable artifacts up close.
Planning Your Visit to Houston Space Center
- First time to Houston didn’t realize how large in terms of area Houston is. It took us about an hour driving across town to make it there, so make sure you plan travel time accordingly.
- You can buy tickets online or at the gate.
- Plan to spend 4-5 hours (or more) if you are a space nerd and love to read the signs.
Houston Space Center Attractions
Our first stop was inside, where we explored various interactive exhibits that provided a deeper look into space exploration. We got to see the Spacesuit Collection, showcasing suits worn by astronauts, and the International Space Station Gallery, offering an inside look at life aboard the ISS. It was an amazing way to learn, discover, and get inspired by the history and future of space travel!
Starship Gallery
The Starship Gallery features an incredible collection of artifacts that highlight the evolution of human space exploration. It’s fascinating to see how far we’ve come, and I’m especially thrilled with how my photos from this exhibit turned out!
This is one of my favorite photos and like to use it as my zoom background at work sometimes.
Moon lander
I also have used this photo for my background at work. I just love everything space!
Rocket Park and Astronaut Training Facility
Once we were done with the walk through exhibits we took the tram tour and visited Rocket Park, Astronaut Training Facility, and Historic Mission Control.
This is one of the historic Saturn V rockets on display, the total height is 363ft, longer then a football field long. There is only 3 on display in the world. I have also seen another one at at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The last one is located at U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL, which I hope to visit in the future.
Here is another view, you can see how long the rocket is, but in addition, how wide or tall in this photo. The engines are massive!
This is from the overview located within the Astronaut Training Facility.
Independence Plaza
We wrapped up our tram tour and headed back to the main facility. Up next we went outside to Independence Plaza and and visited the Space Shuttle Independence and a actual used Falcon 9 rocket.
This shuttle is a full scale, high fidelity replica of the other famous space shuttles (Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavor). You can take the stairs/elevator to the top and walk side the space shuttle and aircraft.
The space shuttles sitting on top of a Boeing 747, which was used to transport the space shuttles.
Here we were able to see a Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 rocket is on the modern side of space technology with its vertical landing. If you are tall enough, you can touch the rocket!
Final thoughts
If you are as passionate about space as I am, you will absolutely love this visit. We spent four to five hours exploring the facility, and that was without even watching any of the video presentations. There is so much to see and experience that time flies by. I hope you get a chance to visit Space Center Houston yourself.