Houston Space Center Earth Day Celebration

This year to celebrate Earth Day, we had the amazing opportunity to visit the Houston Space Center! For the first time ever, they were hosting special Earth Day celebrations from April 22-25, so we felt like we were visiting at the perfect time. We felt all the excitement of two kids going to Epcot- but something about this was even cooler because we were visiting the real thing. The Space Center is where real astronauts train to go to Space! We learned so much on our trip to the Space Center and feel so lucky to have this national treasure in our own backyard.

We loved learning about the missions to Mars- and how close we are to actually bringing humans to Mars! Do you know how long it takes to travel from Earth to Mars? Six months! And then once humans actually land on Mars, they will need to spend two years because of the rotation of the planet. It’s wild to wrap your brain around all that.

The Space Center does more than just talk about Space. There are also exhibits on living creatures and the conservation of Earth- perfect for Earth Day! They have a bird sanctuary where all sorts of animals thrive in protected land. We were also fascinated by the Neutral Buoyancy Lab, which is the space where astronauts learn how to live with zero gravity right here on Earth. It's an enormous tank- a 60 million gallon pool- that simulates life in space. The water in the tank is recycled, as is the case in the International Space Station and in all spaceships. Can you imagine recycling every single drop of water in your life? Every drop of saliva, sweat, even urine- all recycled, reused, and repurposed.

Other highlights include:

• The tram tour is where you get to see a mock-up of the International Space Station and all the other ships.
• Walking through the Saturn Five, which is humongous, and still operational since it was never sent to space.
• Exhibits highlighting the Space Program in chronological order starting with the 1960s and continuing through today.
• The Valkyrie robot is surprisingly human-looking!
• Photos of every single individual who has ever been to space. It was really moving to see these brave men and women standing alongside their crew members and to think about what an epic journey they embarked upon together.

We had the best time. And in this Covid era, it felt so nice to be around families also experiencing a big trip out of the house. We saw a little girl wearing an astronaut uniform and it just warmed our hearts to see what a big moment this was for her. The Houston Space Center also takes Covid safety seriously. There was hand sanitizer everywhere, masks were required, and we felt super safe the whole time. Oh, and did. Do we mention that their cafe was catered by Wolfgang Puck? What’s not to love? We got to see the stars and had the most amazing buffalo chicken sandwich. Altogether, an amazing day!

If you find yourself in Houston, do yourself a favor and check out the Houston Space Center. We can’t believe it has taken us this long to visit. And since they changed the exhibits all the time, we will definitely be back. Next time you’re in town, stop by! And in the meantime, take a look up at the stars and imagine yourself in Space!