Wild Kratts

It was amazing to speak with all the “space adventuers” working there and seeing what goes into getting astronauts like Karen to and from space safely.

Our day kicked off with viewing the fully restored Apollo Mission Operations Control Room which features the actual consoles that were used in the Apollo 11 mission that first landed man on the Moon. A true historic landmark. Next, we were taken to see the International Space Station Flight Control Room. This active control center coordinates and monitors all human spaceflight for the United States and currently directs American activities aboard the International Space Station.

We also got to see some of the facilities used to train astronauts to get them ready for going into space such as a space shuttle cockpit as well as the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. This is an enormous pool containing 6.2 million gallons of water which simulates zero-g conditions and allows astronauts to practice spacewalks. We even got to speak with some astronauts who were deep down in the pool training via a video link!

This whole trip was topped off by getting to watch the beautiful sunrise over Australia from space via the International Space Station live stream. A once in a lifetime adventure! Thank you, JSC! Who knows? One day maybe we’ll be taking creature adventures to other worlds. We already know that tardigrades can survive in space when in their tun state! Who knows what other kinds of creature powers we might discover out there?

– The Kratt Brothers