How Can I Visit NASA's Laboratories?

For one glorious year between 2007 and 2008 I lived in Houston. It was fun to explore the subdivisions where the astronauts lived and  try to identify their old houses. I'd heard that Jan Armstrong met Betty White in her driveway the day that Ed White died in the Apollo 1 fire. What I didn't know was that the Armstrongs lived just next door to the Whites. The houses were on Woodland Drive in El Lago, Texas.

My favorite NASA experience that year was the Ballunar weekend. Ballunar is a curious portmanteau word conveying the idea of lunar exploration coupled with hot air balloons. For a short space of time each year the Johnson Space Center (JSC) generously throws open its doors to a festival of flight, old and new. I didn't pay any attention to the balloons but I did take full advantage of the opportunity to wander, solo, around the JSC campus and visit the labs and talk to NASA engineers.

They're extremely eager to meet the public. "It's great to meet someone who loves space flight. People think this is just a very expensive airport," one engineer complained to me.

Visit the 2010 Ballunar page here.

Book your tickets now. It's well worth the trip.