Galveston has many places to explore, however, we gravitate to senior’s days whenever possible. Tuesday is such a day at Moody Gardens which has 3 pyramids with each pyramid $5 instead of $20. One pyramid houses aquariums, another plants and the third one is IMAX movies which we did not watch. The four of us wandered and soaked up a vivid array of fish, birds, animals and plants and gained a greater understanding of the earth’s oceans and tropics.
These bat sea stars are very different from the ones we see around White Rock.
The giant Pacific octopus turns red when excited or threatened. He was excited about something because his colour changed and he moved quickly.
Look carefully and you will see two white seahorses and one brown one.
I had to copy the following info from the signage. Seahorses are fascinating.
All potbelly seahorses look fat, but if you see one that’s really big, you’re looking at a male who is showing off in courtship or is pregnant. In his rounded pouch, he may carry 400 embryos. The male carries his brood for weeks, then endures hours of contractions to expel his tiny, half inch long offspring. But there’s no time to rest; within a day or two, he may become pregnant again.
This bird calmly sat on the railing as everyone walked past.
The parrots were having a private moment.
The ocelot paced continuously around the same path.
These monkeys were entertaining themselves beside the pathway for a while then we saw them in the trees. They looked more natural there but were not as easy to photograph.
The komodo dragon was quietly watching something we couldn’t see.
This chameleon was intent on his destination.
The tropical rainforest had so many birds, animals and flowers I just enjoyed them without the camera, however, I couldn't resist the orchids.
The Gulf of Mexico has many wintering birds that we don’t recognize but the sandhill cranes in a field near the RV park were easy to spot.
The next day Al and Gail were not feeling well so Ralph and I went to the Houston Space Center on our own. We missed their company as it’s always fun to compare what we saw.
The Houston Space Center is adjacent to the Lyndon B Johnson Space Center where NASA does much of the research and development and testing for the space program. The tram tour departs from the Houston Space Center and travels into restricted space in the Johnson Space Center. It goes into buildings and areas where work is currently being carried out.
The exhibits provide insight into how much detail and planning goes into the space flights that have occured over more than 50 years.
When the Apollo missions were finished each space shuttle was given a place of honour around the US. The shuttle Independence is displayed here atop a 747 that carried the shuttles to earthbound locations.
The challenges of everyday life in space are illustrated.
This is the lunar rover. Three of them were left on the moon after the last three Apollo missions.
Various personal mobility vehicle prototypes were displayed.
This vehicle is part of the Orion project for manned spaceflight to Mars. That project will be a collaboration between NASA and various other agencies.
The Rocket Garden displays actual spacecraft that have been used.
This building houses a Saturn 5 rocket. The image on the outside is the only way to convey the size of the rocket designed to fly three Apollo astronauts to the moon and back. Notice the size of the tram in front of the building.
Oh, how very cool! I actually feel sorry though, for creatures in captivity, though I know many of them are rescues. They are beautiful.
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