Space Center Houston Tours and Attractions • 05.12.09
What is the Biggest Houston Texas Area Attraction?
Ever wondered what the second biggest tourist attraction in Texas is?
Space Center (NASA) Houston!
Take a trip to Space Center Houston, sometimes known by the aliases of NASA and Johnson Space Center (JSC). Give yourself at least 4 hours at the Space Center; 5 hours is better. There is just too much to do. Visitors to Houston often ask me if I can take them to Space Center Houston as part of a Houston city tour. I frequently disappoint them by being honest. I let them know that the JSC is at least 30 minutes from downtown Houston and 45 minutes from the Galleria area IF there is no traffic congestion or construction, so plan on 45 minutes and 60 minutes each way to get there. Then they express their desire to see all of it in an hour. I point out to them that the tram ride that takes tourists to the historic or current misison control, the astronauts’ training facility, and to Rocket Park, where a Saturn V rocket is stored is advertised as a 90 minute trip, but more often than not takes 120 minutes or 2 hours.
What To See and Do At Space Center Houston
For many tourists, the tram ride’s attractions are the highlight of the tour. At mission control, you may be sit in a chair where a US president once occupied. If you ever saw the movie “Apollo 13,” you will recognize where history has been made and you are not part of it. The astronauts’ training facility holds some welcome surprises. For example, foreigners can see how many different countries are participating in building the International Space Station (ISS) by seeing their own nation’s nameplate on different pieces of equipment, the shuttle, or the ISS. One might even see an astronaut training or technicians experimenting with the Canadian arm to pickup something. The Saturn V is over one American football field long with 5 boosters that are each more than 2 stories tall. It is gigantic! You cannot fathom its size until you see it up close.
Beyond the tram ride awaits movies of 5, 15, and 25 minutes including an IMAX film. Attending a 20 minutes JSC space briefing about what is ongoing and the future of the space program is not to be missed. After all of this who does not want to touch a moon rock? Brought back from Apollo 17 in 1972, this is a rare opportunity. Give yourself 30 minutes to go through the museum where the moon rock is located and where you can walk through a mockup of Skylab, the precursor to the ISS. I still have to take you through a Space Transportation System (STS) AKA shuttle. Perhaps, during the course of the day, you want to take out 45 mintues to eat at the fine cafeteria that SCH operates. The Zero G cafeteria offers about five different types of food to try to please every palate. Last, but not least, we want to give you time to shop and buy souvenirs. Of course, you may not want to purchase a momento of your time here for a keepsake or for your friends and family back home, but we have seen some people spend 30 minutes in the Space Trader gift shop.
Why Take a Space Center Houston Guided Tour?
We are the only tour company that provides you will a guide to ensure that you can see everything possible rather than wandering aimlessly, not knowing what to see, when the shows begin, or where to go to find the attractions. We pride ourselves on providing you with a user friendly service. Please call or write to us so that we can get you on your way to having a great time at Texas’s second biggest attraction.
We even provide pickup and dropoff service in the Houston Area! Contact us with the form, or learn more about our Space Center Houston Tours! You can choose to combine the Kemah boardwalk and Space Center Houston Tour too!
Are you wondering what the #1 Houston, Texas attraction is now? : - )
