Since I was very little, I was always interested in the aerospace field. I remember watching Apollo 13 on the TV and feel connected to the story. Space somehow holds a special place in my heart. One of the nation that co-owns the ISS is the United States. From we are little, the name of NASA are very familiar to us. It represents the cool-ness of space explorations.

One of the operating space centre in the US is the Johnson Space Center located in Houston. Well, it is not entirely in Houston city, it was rather situated near to the coast. The space center has become one of the sought after attraction to visitors and even the locals.

I bought a Houston City pass which includes 5 attractions tickets for $50. The site also offered other city pass such as the San Francisco city pass. We move in one car and traffic was really bad near the exit to the space centre. From Spring, we move through I45 then taking the route to Galveston thru the downtown area.

Using the City Pass print out, the guy at the ticket counter exchange the printout to a booklet that holds all tickets. I understand that at the Space Centre there are 2 tram lines - Blue and Red that took to different area. If you are an adult, I strongly recommend you go to both of the tram tours.

Saturn V rocket inside the hangar

The Blue line took you to the rocket park, where you can see the Saturn V rocket inside the building. There are commentary provided in the tram. Then, they will took you to the Mission Control Center (yes, it is operating 24/7). Here, you can see actual NASA mission control staff working, monitoring the ISS. You can even see where is the ISS currently located in the World.

The actual Mission Control Center for the ISS

The Red line took you to the Astronaut Training Facility. Here, you can see different console of the ISS or mock-up in the huge garage as part of a practical training for the astronauts. The rocket park is the place of several rockets used by NASA in their lunar mission. In the main building, you can enter the Independence Space Shuttle and there are a theatre presenting the history of man space travel throughout the years.

ISS module mock-up for training

We have lunch at a nearby McDonald's and stop for prayer at the Clear Lake Islamic Society building. We then went to the Kemah Boardwalk situated about 15 minutes from the Space Center. It was a weekend, so everyone was out to Kemah that day. We choose to park at a $7 per entry parking space next to the Boardwalk Bullet.

McDonald's near NASA even acknowledge it's proximity to the Space Centre

I am a big fan for rides so I am very excited. The City Pass allows you to board all rides at the Kemah Boardwalk. Otherwise, you can pay per ride tickets at the counter near the entrance. All of us decided to ride the Boardwalk Bullet. This is one of the fastest wooden roller coaster in USA, fastest in Texas itself.

Kemah Boardwalk at sunset

Boardwalk Bullet

I underestimated this ride. It was really fast that I got tired screaming. When we were on the ride, it was sunset and since this is winter, it is really cold. I rode the swing ride and the Boardwalk Tower overlooking Kemah.

If you got the chance to go to the NASA Johnson Space Centre, make sure you go for both tram tours and head out to Kemah Boardwalk for a fun evening out.