I visited the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and my experiences were wild! I got the opportunity to go into the building that has the actual Saturn V spacecraft, and I learned a lot from it. Here are a few things I learnt from my visit.
The Saturn V spacecraft has 5 massive tube-like things, called ignition chambers, and they provide the thrust to the rocket to take off once iginition happens.
After takeoff, the first stage of the spacecraft detaches from the other stages. Then, there is the second stage that detaches from the rest of the spacecraft while about to enter outer space. The back of the second stage also has ignition chambers, although the spacecraft is already cracking through the Earth’s atmosphere by then. The spacecraft needs some more thrust, just to get out of the Earth’s atmosphere. That’s when the third stage detaches from the rest of the spacecraft. Although it is already in outer space, it needs a minor amount of thrust to push the spacecraft in outer space. So, the third stage has only one ignition chamber for the push. After that comes off, there is only the space capsule holding the astronauts that’s left. It has no ignition chambers. For the capsule to head to the moon, it then turns 180 degrees, and moves to re-attach to the lunar module from the third stage. Since outer space has zero gravity, the capsule can just float towards the moon, without any further thrust.
Saturn V spacecraft was not the only thing I learned about, but I also learned much more, about other things at the NASA Johnson Space Center. I learned about the toilets that astronauts use, and the sleeping bags they sleep in. Here’s more about it.
Space Toilets – Waste Management System
The toilets that astronauts use look very small, and very different compared to the ones people have at their homes. When astronauts use the restroom, the urine goes through a system, called the Water Reclamation System. It purifies the urine into pure drinkable water! That’s how astronauts get water to drink to keep themselves hydrated.
How do astronauts sleep?
Astronauts sleep in sleeping bags, and they have a fabric kind of material, that has slots to keep their daily uses in, such as their toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, floss, and more. The way of operating the sleeping bag is just like any other sleeping bag – get into it, zip yourself up, and get a good space-night’s sleep. (Well, technically, there is no “night” in outer space)
James Webb Telescope
I also learned about the differences between the James Webb telescope, and the Hubble telescope.
The James Webb Telescope (JWT) can see a variety of different colors, while the Hubble can only see a few shades of gray. The James Webb is the most recent telescope made by NASA, so it is stronger than the Hubble.
The James Webb’s gold-colored hexagons on the front are made of beryllium, and they have a very thin layer of gold. How thin the layer of gold us? It’s as thin as 100 atoms! (Remember, 1 atom has a nucleus made of neutrons and protons, with the electrons circling around them)
Mass vs Gravity, on Mars vs Earth
I learned about the weight difference for stuff on Earth, and Mars.
If an object weighs 12 pounds on Earth, it weight only 4 pounds on Mars. It is the same exact object though! Since it’s the same object, the mass is the same. But, since Mars has less gravity than Earth, objects weigh less on Mars.
Oriented Meteorite
There is a certain type of meteorite, called the Oriented Meteorite.
The Oriented Meteorite is rare, and unlike 99.9% of other meteorites, Oriented Meteorites don’t tumble through outer space before hitting Earth. Instead, they face the same direction, and hit the Earth still facing the same way. The biggest Oriented Meteorite found on Earth is in the NASA Johnson Space Center, in Houston, Texas.
Astronauts Training Facility
I toured the Astronauts Training Facility.
The Astronauts Training Facility is where astronauts train to become professional astronauts and learn to handle outerspace. They also use Robonauts, to help them with training. Robonauts are robot – astronauts, that help the astronauts with whatever they want to do. People program the robonaut to to things that are useful for the astronauts.
If you are looking for a place to learn even more, I would recommend the NASA Johnson Space Center. There’s more to explore, and even with what you already know, you can go explore a lot more about it, and dig deeper into the topics you already know, and learn the topics you don’t know. NASA is very fun, and also very educational.
If you want even more information about my NASA visit, watch this playlist on my YouTube channel!
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