Space Centre, Houston.

We had a great visit at Houston's Space Centre today. Jim and I have been here before, so we took it easy and only did things Yvonne would be interested in. We saw another movie about the International Space Station that was awesome. It was different than the IMAX we saw in Cape Canaveral. The ISS is truly an amazing feat of engineering, international cooperation and imagination wrapped up into a functional station orbitting at speeds we can hardly imagine. The more we learn about it, the more fascinating it is.

Yvonne made us so proud today. She volunteered for a presentation of the living module for the ISS. She was up on stage for at least 20 minutes solid and helped demonstrate by: opening cupboards; answering questions in the microphone; climbing into a sleeping harness; exercising on a reclining bike thing; showing the parts to the toilet; looking into and reporting on her observations of the inner chamber of the toilet; climbing into a shower cubicle and showing the different nozzles; showing the special meal trays (above); and helping prepare a meal. WOW, she did so much and didn't freeze up or start crying. We were pretty impressed. She was an instant movie star today. She had a little girl come up to her to talk to her after the show. Jim heard a little kid say to her mom - hey, there's Yvonne's dad - when he went to the bathroom. Yvonne's just growing up so much on this trip. She would never volunteer, but then got the chance to do a few things, most notably be on stage with Belle as Mrs. Potts and now she knows she can do it.

Today during a show on the current operations on the ISS, they announced that anyone between the ages of 3 and 20 right now may be one of the people to go to Mars. WOW - might she be one of them????

Jim's thoughts. Nasa is always inspiring and the ISS is one of the few things on earth that brings people from other countries together to work, achieve, create and dream of the future, regardless of race , religion or politics. You cannot believe the advances in space and technology that have been achieved since the moon landing in 1969. The advances in every field of endeavor is truly amazing. The advances in medical reaserch as well robotics really amazes. If interested log on to www.nasa.gov . You will not be sorry. During the movie on the ISS today it was mentioned that the people that work at Nasa and on the ISS are able to think beyond themselves. That statement alone leaves most people off the list for employment at Nasa. I hope we can teach Yvonne to think beyond herself. Big job but worth the effort. Till next time.