Lunch With an Astronaut at Space Center Houston is an extra part of Astronaut Fridays. For an additional fee, you get the same access everyone else gets, plus lunch while an astronaut answers your questions and tells stories. What a bargain!
It was retired astronaut Clay Anderson’s first time as the Astronaut of the Day, and he seemed more baffled by the procedures than nervous. For the first hour, he gave a slide show in the theatre open to everyone at Space Center.
At noon, in the Saturn Room above the main floor of the museum, only two of the six tables were filled with guests. While we ate, Anderson told more stories about his six space walks and visits to the space station. The small luncheon was more like a casual conversation. Anderson paid particular attention to the few kids who had skipped school to attend with their parents.
Astronaut Fridays and Lunch With an Astronaut are part of the center’s education program that continues through 2014, with nearly a dozen former and current astronauts participating. For anyone even mildly interested in America’s space program, Space Center Houston is a must-see. It includes a museum of moon rocks and spaceships, flight simulators, movies, games, and the popular tram tour of NASA. Tickets are cheaper if ordered online, and lunch tickets must be purchased in advance at www.spacecenter.org.
1,177th in a series. Collect them all. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of “Day Trips,” is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.
This article appears in February 21 • 2014.
