The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed by the California Institute of Technology, is NASA's lead center for robotic exploration of the solar system. Our spacecraft have visited all the planets in our solar system except Pluto. JPL telescopes are observing distant galaxies in the universe to study how our solar system was formed. We also manage the worldwide Deep Space Network, which communicates with spacecraft and conducts scientific investigations from its complexes in California's Mojave Desert near Goldstone; near Madrid, Spain; and near Canberra, Australia. JPL cameras and sensors are aboard satellites circling Earth to study the ozone, oceans and other Earth sciences. To support our continued exploration, JPL is making advances in technology with new instruments and computer programs to help our spaceships travel further and our telescopes see farther than ever before.

Welcome to Space Center Houston, the Official Visitor center of NASA's Johnson Space Center. The Center is owned and operated by the Manned Space Flight Education Foundation, Inc., and is not federally funded.
Applaud the accomplishments of NASA and the American manned space flight program at Space Center Houston. You will relive the past achievements of the space program and witness today's history in the making.

Everything you see in the facility is realistic. Space Center Houston's creators kept in close contact with NASA to ensure the most accurate experience. Each attraction is self-guided so you can spend as much time, or as little time, in each areas as desired. Most guests spend four to six hours in the Center.

Tram tours take guests behind the scenes at JSC and are led by knowledgeable guides. The tours visit various sites at the Johnson Space Center, including the X-38 Assembly Building and the Shuttle Mock-up Facility.

Explore America's space heritage with an awe-inspiring tour of Kennedy Space Center. Since 1995, over $120 million has been expended to help enhance the tour experience, all from funds generated by admissions, souvenir and food sales. No tax dollars are used in the operation, maintenance and improvements of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Before your visit, be aware of operating hours and admission fees. Interested in souvenirs? There are tours and exhibits to satisfy every age and interest, from the early days of Mercury to the assembly of the International Space Station.

NASA Ames Research Center is located at Moffett Field, California in the heart of "Silicon Valley". Ames was founded December 20, 1939 as an aircraft research laboratory by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) and in 1958 became part of National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Ames specializes in research geared toward creating new knowledge and new technologies that span the spectrum of NASA interests.

Although not technically a factory tour we have included this tour because it offer a unique experience to see the evolution of the future of space travel. The tour details are below.

The unveiling of the Spaceport America brand shines light on a visionary project many years in the making. New Mexico?s weather and wide-open spaces have been ideal for the aerospace industry since Robert Goddard, the Father of Modern Rocketry, began conducting research in Roswell in the 1930s. He was followed by Wernher von Braun in the 1940s, and NASA in the 1980s.

By the early 1990s, a group of like-minded individuals called, the Southwest Space Task Force, felt the impetus to take New Mexico?s space industry to the next level: commercial space and reusable launch vehicles. Based on years of study, they zeroed in on 27 square-miles of state-owned land, 45 miles north of Las Cruces as a location for an inland spaceport. When Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Rick Homans took office in 2003, they went to him and pleaded their case.

Homans then picked up the torch, presenting the idea of a New Mexico spaceport to Governor Richardson, negotiating with the X Prize Foundation to locate the X Prize Cup in New Mexico, spearheading legislation to finance the spaceport, and most recently, recruiting four aerospace mavericks ? including Virgin Galactic ? to New Mexico.

The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) announced that they will begin offering paid public hardhat tours of the Spaceport America construction site beginning December 2009.

The tours will highlight New Mexico history spanning from Spanish conquistadors and pioneer rocket research to the new commercial space industry. Tour participants will receive an on-site tour of the construction site including the runway and vertical launch facility. Tour details and reservation forms will be available on the Spaceport America website (www.spaceportamerica.com) by mid- November.

Guests will tour the construction site and the 10,000-foot runway that is currently under construction, as well as current launch facilities.

Spaceport America is the world's first purpose-built commercial space facility. Spaceport America has been working closely with leading aerospace firms such as Virgin Galactic, Lockheed Martin, Moog-FTS, UP Aerospace, and Armadillo Aerospace to develop commercial spaceflight. Spaceport America's 10,000-foot long runway is now under construction and is expected to be complete by late summer 2010 with the Terminal Hangar Facility projected to be complete by early 2011.

From the Launch Pad board a shuttle for a 25-minute narrated tour through the 125,000-acre acoustical buffer zone to America's largest rocket test complex where Space Shuttle Main Engines are tested! Every astronaut rides on engines tested at Stennis Space Center.

Featuring 14,000 square feet of exciting displays:

? Real rocket engines and scale models of spacecraft
? Exhibits on NASA's mission and spacecraft for the 21st century
? A Navy exhibit that lets you forecast the weather in your hometown or take a walk under the sea
? Unique presentations designed to educate and entertain
? Exhibits on caring for the Gulf of Mexico
? RocKeTeria Diner closed on Saturdays

StenniSphere?s outdoor exhibits give visitors the rare opportunity to see real rocket engines used in America?s space program. See a Space Shuttle Main Engine used to get the shuttle into orbit! Get close up to a J2 engine used on the second stage of the Saturn V rocket! Touch a real F1 engine, designed as a booster engine for the first stage of the Saturn V vehicle for the Apollo program! See a model of the Saturn V rocket! Walk up to a real Learjet, used in NASA?s remote sensing program! ?And more!

StenniSphere?s Swamp to Space exhibit pays tribute to the history of the
land Stennis Space Center now occupies and to the families who made
way for America?s journey into space. Learn about the ecology of coastal
Mississippi and Stennis? commitment to preserving the environment.

Try your hand at landing a Space Shuttle! You?re in the pilot?s seat in a replica of the Space Shuttle cockpit. Observe your fellow crew members at work in the payload bay.

The public may view test firings of a Space Shuttle Main Engine when they occur during the Visitors Center's hours of operation and at scheduled public test fire viewings that will be announced through local media and on the Stennis Web site. To find out if a test will occur on a day when you would like to visit, call the Visitors Center at 1-800-237-1821 in Mississippi and Louisiana, or (228) 688-2370.

The VLA is located 50 miles west of Socorro on U.S. Highway 60. From U.S. 60, turn South on NM 52, then West on the VLA access road, which is well marked. Signs will point you to the Visitor Center.

What You Will See
The Visitor Center is open every day from 8:30 a.m. to dusk. As you enter, a sign will point you toward the theater, a good place to begin your tour. The 9-minute video presentation was produced in 2002. It provides an understandable overview of radio astronomy, interferometry, and the VLA itself. You will then want to explore our exhibits, to learn more about radio astronomy and the role the Very Large Array and other NRAO telescopes play in current research. A 5-minute silent video will show you how we move antennas. Another video slide show describes the Very Long Baseline Array and how it works. A Small Radio Telescope located just outside the back window tracks the Sun and produces a crude image.

Near the back door you will find a brochure to guide you in the walking tour that will take you past our Whisper Gallery to the base of one of the 230-ton antennas. From there you will climb up to the observation deck for a view of the array itself, as well as a look at the new prototype antenna we are testing for the ALMA project. The walk returns you to the Visitor Center where you are welcome to browse through our gift shop to take home some souvenirs. The gift shop opens almost every day at 9:00 a.m. and closes at 4:00. If it is closed during your visit you may shop online.

We suggest you make a right-hand turn as you leave the parking lot and head for the tall building, following the AAB (Antenna Assembly Building) Tour signs. As you cross the railroad track there is a parking lot on your left. From there you can view our 28th antenna that is undergoing routine maintenance. You will also (most of the time!) get to see one of the transporters that is used to move the antennas.

You are welcome to take photographs of everything you see, but PLEASE KEEP YOUR CELL PHONE TURNED OFF! (It interferes with our observing)