Bears Get Around: Houston, Texas

12 … 11 … 10 … 9 … 8 … Ignition sequence start … 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … 0 … All engines running … We have liftoff!

Wow – few things can be more impressive than watching the launch of a massive  rocket on a space mission!

My chum Bayou here knows a lot about NASA (the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and its missions of space exploration. After all, he comes from Houston, Texas.

Houston is a bustling modern city. Established in 1836, Houston has grown into the biggest city in the state of Texas, with over two million human inhabitants. Many people in Houston work for the oil and energy industries, in medical research, or in aerospace.

That’s where my ears perk up: aerospace means industries to do with aircraft, satellites, and spaceships!

The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC), is one of NASA’s important research and training centres.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was the 36^th president of the United States. He played a key role in the development of the American space program, over 50 years ago.

 

The Johnson Space Center is headquarters for NASA’s Mission Control Center, where a team of scientists and technicians guide the International Space Station.

You can still visit the original Mission Control at JSC, too, where scientists and engineers controlled the Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab missions during the 1960s and 1970s. 

Hey, ask around if anyone you know watched TV on July 20, 1969, when human beings first landed on Earth’s Moon during the Apollo 11 mission! I’m too young to have seen it myself, but Suzanne has told me all about it. Imagine yourself stepping onto the Moon … “That’s one small step for a bear – one giant leap for bearkind!”

This is a gigantic Saturn Five rocket on display at JSC. Rockets like this were used to launch spacecraft between 1967 and 1973.

The original Mission Control Center was last used in 1992, for the 53^rd Space Shuttle mission. The space shuttle program was retired on July 21, 2011 (about 42 years after the first Moon landing), after 135 missions.

Here are some training mock-ups of the space shuttle at JSC. Astronauts have to train and study really hard to get ready for missions.

This is a training mock-up of the Canadarm. Its full name is a mouthful: the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System. It’s a powerful robotic arm over 15 metres long.

The Canadarm is one of the Canadian Space Program’s important contributions to space exploration. It was developed by a Canadian company called SPAR Aerospace.

I was thrilled to see Bayou’s model of the beautiful and historic Space Shuttle Columbia. The Columbia carried the first Canadarm way back in 1981, on the second shuttle flight ever. The International Space Station now works with Canadarm2 (also called the Mobile Servicing System).

Did you know that nine Canadian astronauts have been into space? Canadians have served on 13 NASA missions into space, and two Soyuz missions. Soyuz is the Russian manned space program.

Like me, Suzanne would love to travel into space! Ah, we can dream :-)

The Johnson Space Center welcomes visitors from all over the world. You can spend hours and hours at Space Center Houston, JSC’s official visitor centre. It’s a blast!

Bayou is a great tour-guide, isn’t he? 

His name is perfect for such an easy-going teddy bear: bayou is the word for a slow-moving river. The city of Houston was built along the shores of Buffalo Bayou.

Bayou tells me that Texas is home to two kinds of wild bears: the Mexican black bear (Ursus americanus eremicus) and the New Mexico black bear (Ursus americanus amblyceps). Bears are protected on the state’s list of endangered species. They seem to be making a comeback, especially in western Texas.

Story © S. Clouthier

Photos © S. Clouthier and D. Wei