In November 2002, Heather, Julie and I went to a Sigma Xi conference in Galveston, TX to represent the UCSB Physics Circus.
It was wicked fun and our hotel was something of an amusement park -- there was an aquarium and we got to see Star Wars:
Episode II in IMAX.  And since Galveston is right near Houston, Julie and I were able to go to the Johnson Space Center,
which was like a dream come true for me because I'm a dork.  So here are some pictures of our trip for your viewing pleasure.


This is the poster we presented at the conference.  It was called "Taking Science
To The Community: The UCSB Physics Circus."  The picture is a little too dark, but
it was a dark room, too.  The papers hanging off the bottom of the board are letters
written to the Physics Circus by little kids about how much they loved our show.
 


AAAAH!!!  It's a SHARK!!!
Just kidding, it's just me wearing a shark mask.
 


The Gemini  5 Capsule at Johnson Space Center.  That's a fake astronaut inside it.
 
 


The F1 Engines on the Saturn V Rocket (Johnson Space Center, Houston TX)
No, I don't know those people standing in front of it.
 
 


  The actual Apollo 8 Capsule.
 


Historical Mission Control, aka the Green Room.
If you look closely you can see my reflection in the glass -
I took this picture from the viewing gallery, since you're not allowed in the actual room.
The viewing gallery is where the press and families watched the action.
 


Another view of Historical Mission Control.
The seals on the wall are for each mission that was controlled from this
room.  There's also a small mirror on a plaque that was given to the JSC
Mission Control staff by the crew of Apollo 13.
 


These are the training modules for the International Space Station.  They're wicked big.
 


This is the view out the window of our hotel.  They had these pyramids:
the blue one was an aquarium, the pink one was the IMAX theater & a
restaurant, and the clear one was a rainforest.
 


These are King Penguins, which Julie and I saw at the Aquarium
at the hotel we stayed at - the blue pyramid.  Penguins are wicked cool.
 


This is a sea lion.  Sea lions are great, but penguins are even greater.
I would have taken a better picture, but my digital camera is kind of ghetto,
and sea lions move really really fast.






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