We only had one full day in Houston and the only thing we really wanted to see was the International Space Centre. The night we arrived we went to get some food at a local sports bar. We were entertained by a range of locals playing dodge ball in the gardens and beer pong on lilos floating in paddling pools. The following morning we caught the bus from town to the Johnson Space Centre. The first part we explored was the space centre itself which we accessed via tram tours. The first shuttle took us to look inside the training centre where astronauts practice for missions. It was a huge warehouse full of equipment that was identical to what they would be using in space. We saw some 'cockpits' that tilted so astronauts could practice take off and landing. There were also mechanical arms and robots being built and worked on. We were also shown two crafts that are in the process of being built and will be sent to Mars in 2030. We hopped back onto the shuttle and were taken to look at some rockets and fuel packs which were enormous. The second shuttle took us to the historic Apollo mission control base. We sat in the viewing area and could see all the controls and screens in the control room behind the glass window. Despite everything looking so dated, it was easy to imagine the atmosphere back in the day. We were told about the communications man and the guys who work with the MOD to ensure that parts returning back to earth do so safely. We could see the new control rooms being used on tv screens. The next stop was the star ship gallery which showed a short film about the numerous space launches. We exited into a room which was set up to show how moon rocks are sorted. We were then able to touch a piece of rock that had come from the moon! We looked around an old space shuttle used for training purposes and we were able to see a space toilet which astronauts have to pin themselves down to when doing their business. There were numerous set-ups showing the internal parts of the shuttle which were all really interesting and very detailed. We even got to try on a helmet which was mega heavy! The last part we went to was a discussion about current astronauts and their mission. There will only be three more shuttles that go to the international space station, after which NASA may begin to look at commercial flights or heading to Mars (we put our names down).