S P A C E C E N T E R H O U S T O N
Houston, Texas

Back at the Visitor Center, I'm rearing and ready to go. I'll first start with the Starship Gallery.

The world's first liquid-fueled rocket, thanks to Dr. Robert H. Goddard. You must be as smart as a rocket scientist to do such a thing. Oh, wait, he -was- a rocket scientist.

Here's a full-scale replica of Explorer 1, the first American satellite sent into orbit in 1958. Personally, I think the Soviet Union's Sputnik satellite looked more interesting; a chrome basketball with spikes.

Here is the actual Mercury spacecraft piloted by astronaut Gordon Cooper in 1963. Faith 7 propelled Cooper longer and farther into space than any American had experienced up to that point.

Another real-deal spacecraft, this one was used on the Gemini 5 Mission. Its claim to fame was sending two astronauts (Gordon Cooper and Charles Conrad) together into space. Travel is always better with company, no? No doubt, together Cooper and Conrad ooohed and ahhhed in chorus at the Earth and the surrounding stars.