This past weekend, I took my eldest son, C., to Houston with 25 other Boy Scouts and 6 or 7 other adult chaperones. We went to participate in a Boy Scout Camp-in at SpaceCenter Houston. The program is designed to meet the essential elements of the Space Exploration Merit Badge.

In order to make the most out of the 10-hour round-trip drive, we left Plano early and visited the USS Texas and San Jacinto Monument.

(More in the extended entry).
The USS Texas was the last of the Battleships that were explicitly patterned after the HMS Dreadnought. Commissioned in 1914, the Battleship had a long and distinguished career with action in both World Wars of the 20th Century.

A nice view from the starboard side of the ship:

My scout, number-one son, operating the elevation of an AA gun:

Said AA gun:

The San Jacinto Monument as seen from the USS Texas:

This memorial to Texas Independence (can't really say freedom, since we were unfortunately a slaveholding republic), stands, as any proud Texan will inform you, taller than the Washington Monument. Twelve feet taller, to be exact. Tall enough, in any case, to take two pictures to capture it up close:

Remember that April 21 is San Jacinto Day!

Building exploration rovers with LEGOs:

PVC space stations:

And construction-paper rockets (launched with compressed air):

We toured the original mission control building (which guided all of the Gemini and Apollo missions):

And saw the [cancelled] X-38 program's lifting bodies and frames,

...Which were built, in part, by a surprising contractor:

Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Posted by: JohnL at 11:33 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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