Space Center Houston Admission Ticket

My 10 year old granddaughter went in skeptical and left with a greater appreciation for space travel. She had a lot more fun than she had expected.

Great Trip good job NASA.I really like the modern updated touch. The space vehicles look great and the exhibits are very interactive.

We really enjoyed the Saturn Tour and exhibits. Was worth the time we spent. However, we bought our tickets through Cool Destinations , not directly from the NASA website. Buying them through a third party you cannot change them, which on the NASA website they are changeable. We had an unexpected reason we needed to change them. Was difficult , but after finally finding an empathetic NASA employee, we were able to change the. My advice.. make sure you purchase your tickets directly from NAS, and not a third party.

Well worth doing especially when you do not have kids with you. Interesting and well organised . The astronaut training centre was really interesting as were going inside the space shuttle and touching moon rock.

A lovely day seeing history and the future of space exploration. We did the Mission Control tour, which was fascinating.

I had previously visited 7 years ago and knew that time would fly, plus this time I had booked the VIP Tour: Astronaut Training at 1pm. Please check the website for up to date opening hours, tours and other info to make most of your time at SCH. This is a hugely popular attraction, especially during school holidays, and you'll need to pre-book some activities and yes, expect queues. The food court offers the usual museum food court fare - please be realistic about the offering. I found all the staff I engaged with approachable, friendly and helpful.On thecday of my visit the center was open from 10am to 5pm and I visited by myself, midweek, outside school holidays. I arrived by around 25 minutes before opening time and used the time to take photos of the B747 / Independece orbiter, and the Falcon 9 rocket (across the fence, but with no people in the picture). In the meantime, several school buses had arrived so I knew there would be large groups about.My VIP Tour ticket included general admission and I entered at 10am, heading straight for the tram tour stop for a visit to the Saturn V Rocket Park. A staff member had mentioned that the first tram would leave at 10:15 and that I should head straight over as I would be able to get on at that time. I had not planned on visiting the Mission Control as I wouldn't have time - another staff member mentioned that all tours had sold out for the day anyway (cost: $15). The Saturn V is stunning and a real piece of history - the other two rockets outside the Saturn V building are replicas and this is mentioned.I hopped back onto the tram at 11am to return to the center and there was no wait / queue at this time (yet). We were dropped off right by the B747 / Orbiter, which was handy for me as it saved me going into the building and around the Space Gallery. The Independece is a 1:1 mockup of the Space Shuttle Orbiter and ideally laid out to give an idea of what it was like. If it was one of the real Orbiters I doubt NASA would allow thousands of visitors (and roving hands) to go inside - there's a reason the remaining "real" Orbiters on display do not offer access to visitors. The displays about the jumbo's history and role in the Space Shuttle's missions are very informative.Next I headed through the Space Gallery, giving to give most exhibits a miss due to time constraints and I visited Mission: Mars - and touched the rock sample from Mars.I made a quick stop at the gift shop before lunch in the food court, having brought my own snacks. Sitting outside was quieter than inside (busy lunchtime + many children = inevitably a little noisy).Shortly before 1pm I headed to the meeting point for my VIP TOUR: Astronaut Training (duration 3 hours, booked in advance online). The tour is limited to 10 guests and we were driven to the various locations in a mini van. The commentary by our tour guide Sasha (who was brilliant, the perfect mix of info, facts and figures and a little humour) was spit on and prepared up well for what we were about to see: the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory was first - the pool with the ISS mock up to train EVA's in simulated microgravity -, then the John Garn Mission Simulator and Training Facility - we checked out the T-38 Simulator and the Space Toilet trainer -, and Building 9 - the ultimate collection of 1:1 mock ups and training facilities including ISS modules, Soyuz, Starliner and so much more! We even encountered a real life astronaut, who will be blasting off to the ISS later this year! This tour is not the behind the glass, up on a walkway kind of tour (apart from the pool), but you're walking amongst the trainers and - as we saw - potentially astronauts. The small group size meant you could see and hear easily, ask questions and really get a feel for the place.After we returned to Space Center around 4pm I had to head back, although I would happily stayed longer / spent another day re-visiting the Space Gallery and listened to some of the presentations given.Having visited other NASA Space centers, including Kennedy, this generally has more of a "museum" feel about it, but in the 7 years since my previous visit it's clear that they are working to not only look back on history, but also on what's current and the future of Space missions, e.g. Mars. I love the Houston center for what it is - the heart of operations and training, where for me the launch history (and future) is the star of Florida's KSC. I loved every minute of my visit, can say with certainty that I'll be back some time as it's an amazing day out.

Just seeing the space shuttle mounted on top of the plane used to move it around made this visit worthwhile to me, but there are lots of other interesting pieces of space history and replicas that are similarly wonderful. We missed the Mission Control tour, which is one of the big attractions, but we came out really satisfied with our visit. It's quite a drive to get there and you should dedicate at least 3 hours to your visit. Even the gift shop is worth a browse.

Go on the free red tour early. It gets crowded as the day goes on. Book your Apollo tour in the middle of the day.

Brilliant place to go visit, the main indoor centre is laid out perfectly for families to see all the exhibits and there is a restaurant and shop fully stocked with everything NASA and Space X. Saturn 5 rocket was amazing, the Mission Control Centre incredible and the shuttle on the jumbo, that you can actually go inside, mind blowing. We loved the centre so much we went back twice and spent 2 whole days there. If you only have time to see 1 place in Houston, make sure its the Space Centre, even the entrance fee is very low, not to be missed

The free tram tour of the Space Center will take u to a space mock-up facility and the Saturn V rocket warehouse. The Mission Control tour is extra, will cost $15 more and it books out quick.