Day 9/10:

After 9 fantastic days in America, it was sadly time to come home. We woke up early to make sure that we were properly packed for the long journey home.

 

We picked up our first flight back to Houston at around 9:30am which was around a 2 hour flight. From there, we began the long 8 hour journey home.

 

When we finally arrived home, we said our goodbyes and got back into the taxi to take us back to school where our parents then picked us up.

 

Day 8:

Day 8 was possibly the most informative day of them all. We visited the Astronaut Walk of Fame Museum and received a tour from a man who had previously been part of the process of loading cargo onto shuttles before their mission. He provided us with a wealth of information about space missions past and present. He also gave us plenty of information on his field of expertise, the payload system, and told us over what timescale tasks were completed. It’s great to spend all day talking about rockets and shuttles; but it’s nice to hear of the complexity and skill required in some of the lesser appreciated (but still very important) tasks. Another awesome thing was that Gus, another of the men working there, actually built the additional piece from the Saturn V that we saw at Kennedy. It just showed how local many of these people stayed to where the used to work.

 

After saying our goodbyes there, we were taken on a walk around the monuments, which paid tribute to the men and women that help make the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Shuttle Missions possible. The number of names on that board really put it into perspective just how large and operation of this nature is and, most importantly, how many companies and nations have come together with the aim to make history.

 

After stopping for a cold subway sandwich and drink, we drove along to our final destination, the Astronaut Walk of Fame. Much like Space Centre Houston, this place housed a wealth of artefacts detailing the beginning of space travel to the potential it holds today.

 

Our final meal was at a Mexican which, up until a few years ago was the go-to restaurant for astronauts in the area; so much so that our seating area was a mass a mission patches and memorabilia. Here we exchanged gifts and had the opportunity to thank the staff for the fantastic and once in a lifetime experience they had provided us with.

 

After this, we went to bed and prepared for the long day of travel we had ahead of us.

 

Day 7:

Day 7 was a very early start, at least for some of us. For those that wanted to (myself included), we left the hotel at 6 am for a run along Cocoa Beach. The sky was incredibly to clear; so much so that we could even see constellations in the sky (convenient considering the purpose of the trip). After a shower and some breakfast, we left the hotel on-route to the Kennedy Space Centre.

 

The centre had some amazing attractions; but the two highlights were without a doubt the Saturn V rocket and the Atlantis shuttle. The Saturn V here differed slightly from the one in Houston because to feature an additional piece on the third stage that the other didn’t. Again, I could help but marvel at its scale and complexity.  Space Shuttle Atlantis was just as incredible. It was amazing to think that this shuttle had done 135 missions; and still looked in good enough shape to do 100 more.

 

For dinner we when to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet. But this wasn’t the end of the evening for us. From here, we were taken to a planetarium to what a presentation on stars and constellations; and the things you can identify just looking at the stars is mind blowing. We were also lucky enough to get to use their high powered telescope to view some amazing galaxies and stars; all of which being millions of light-years away. It’s just mental how much there is in space that we don’t even know about.

 

From there we returned to the hotel to get some much needed sleep.

Day 6:

On day 6, it was time to depart Houston for Florida. Thankfully, our interstate flight was only three hours so we weren’t stuck on the plane for too long. By the time we arrived at the hotel, we only had enough time to drop our stuff off in our hotel rooms before heading to dinner at the Shark Pit burger joint (which had tanks with actual sharks). I had a BBQ burger and it was exceptional!

 

We went to sleep much earlier that night because, for tomorrow would be a very busy day for us.

 

Day 5:

Today was the day I had really been looking forward to. It was the day of our behind the scenes guided tour of the Engineering and Astronaut training facilities at the Johnson Space Centre. We were greeted at the gates by two of the centre’s security guards (who were both fully qualified SWAT agents) who escorted us around the premises.

 

We got to some incredible things. The first and perhaps coolest thing that we saw was mission control. Both of them. We were first taken to the original mission control, the one that supported Apollo 11 as they landed on the moon. Everything was authentic, from the panels to the carpets; it was all intact from the famous 1969 mission. We could see all of the mission badges, including the Apollo 1 patch which, due to the astronauts’ deaths, is still considered an active mission. Furthermore, we also got to see the current mission control being used to monitor and communicate with astronauts on the International Space Station. We also found out what all of the toys and models on each console represented. For example, if a toy gremlin is sat on a console, it means that area of the space station is currently experiencing difficulties (it was sat on the station operating the robotic arm when we visited).

 

From there, we were shown the vehicle mock-up assembly area. This is where prototypes of capsules and, back when the programme was still active, shuttles are built. We were even given the chance to sit inside of an original shuttle cockpit (with an astronomical amount of switches in it) and the most recent mock up of the Orion capsule. To be able to sit inside the capsule that your dinner guests have worked on and now get an appreciation for Dustin’s design philosophy was a real treat. They also took us to see the robotics area of the complex where we had a chance to look at the development of the buggies that will transport astronauts along the surface of Mars. Finally we saw the Neutral Buoyancy Lab where astronauts train to complex their designated tasks. They do this under water because it’s to closest thing we have to zero-gravity we have. It was amazing seeing these huge structures sat under water (what astronauts would be lowered down to and told to complete work) and just showed how ingenious people can be when solving problems.

 

Dinner was fantastic as always; but this one in particular was very special. We went to a traditional family run Italian and, once again, got to speak to a plethora of people. On our table was sat Mike (a software engineer currently working on the operating system of the Orion capsule), Daniel (a robotics engineer who worked on the International Space Station’s robotic arm) and one the two aforementioned SWAT men. Not only did I have detailed conversations with them; but we were also visited by David Saint-Jaques, a trainee astronaut. He gave an amazing speech about how he got to where he was today. In addition, he showed that no matter what we decide to do in life, we should follow our dreams and do what makes us happy.

 

This was a great end to our amazing time in Houston.

Day 4:

Day 4:

 

On day 4, we woke up to news that Texas had been hit with a tropical storm and, as a result, the path to today’s agenda was flooded!

 

Not to leave us bored, we did multiple space related activities at the hotel. Along with a quiz, we also began working on the diary you are reading now.

 

Thankfully, we weren’t inside all day. We were taken to the cinema to watch The Martian. This was not only a good film to watch; but the fact that it was made in partnership with NASA meant it featured a large amount of accuracy as to how missions on Mars would be conducted. This gave us a small glimpse into what missions to Mars may entail.

 

For dinner, we returned to the safety of the hotel and ordered in pizza. This was really enjoyable, because we all eat together like one big family. Furthermore, since we had now gotten to know each other better, we were much more confident around one another. It also helped that we now had plenty to talk about.

Day 3:

Much like the day before, we had another early start. By 7:30 am we were already in the mini-buses heading for Space Centre Houston. It was a massive museum that followed the journey of manned spaceflight; from the Mercury and Gemini projects all the way through to the Orion Capsule (the capsule that will one day put men on Mars). For me, this was one extreme history lesson and, with Mike playing the tour guide, I learnt more than I could from any textbook or web page.

 

Perhaps my favourite part of the tour was been able to walk though a full scale replica of SkyLab, which was a first habitable structure in low earth orbit. It was here that you really began to appreciate the mastery of engineering and construct that when into to sending something into space that was, in reality, no smaller than me house!  Another great moment on the trip was seeing the full scale replica of the Orion I mentioned earlier, not just because of the groundbreaking technology involved, but because it was at that point that it hit me “I had dinner with the man that built that”! It just tied everything together in a really satisfying way.

 

I took so many laps of that museum; and every time, I found something new to ponder over. From the moon rock samples collected on the Apollo 14 mission to the sections of cockpit controls from the shuttle missions; it was just amazing from start to finish.

 

Before we left, we made a quick visit to the nearby rocket park. Inside this large building was one of the three remaining Saturn V rockets, the rocket that took the Apollo 11 crew to moon. The rocket was divided into its separate parts or ‘stages’; which really showed you how intricate and complex every single piece was. It was just fantastic to be alongside the piece of equipment that helped create perhaps human’s greatest achievement.

 

It was now that the inevitable shopping could begin. We were given an hour to go around the gift shops (where I bought plenty of presents for family) and to grab lunch for which we had, surprise, a burger and chips.

 

Later in the day, we were taken to a Wal-Mart. This was much more interesting than it might initially sound because it was our first true taste of how average Americans lived their day-to -day lives. The place was huge and you could genuinely buy anything! It made ASDA look more like a corner shop.

 

Along with this, we got to visit Baybrook Mall, a massive shopping centre full of designer retailers. This was, again, a great chance to see how Americans spent their time.

 

For dinner, we switched things up a little bit. This time, we went for an authentic Mexican restaurant where we could choose from some great fajitas, enchiladas and tacos! We were also lucky enough to be greeted by more guests. I got to speak to Michelle, an employee at Lockheed Martin (a contractor working with NASA) we oversees the projects the company works on; including the Orion! It was interesting to find out about how NASA is structured and to what extent politics factor into to how projects get green lit and cancelled (which help me understand what led to the cancellation of the Constellation project) and, as well, just how strict deadlines are in an industry expensive as this.

 

After hours of chatting, we returned to our hotel for some sleep.