Location: White Sands National Monument, New Mexico & Houston, Texas
Summary: Visiting the surreal gypsum dunes of White Sands before exploring Mission Control at the Houston Space Center.
White Sands National Monument
The next stop on our journey took us into the northern reaches of the Chihuahuan Desert, home to the shimmering white gypsum dunes of White Sands National Monument. The coach stopped first at the visitor centre, giving us a chance to learn a little about the geology and wildlife before we continued deeper into the dunes.
We made two stops inside the monument. At the first, a wooden boardwalk led us out over the desert floor, where hardy plants and animals survive in this bright, shifting environment. The second stop was far more physical, giving us the chance to climb one of the enormous dunes. The heat was intense and the sand felt like it was trying to swallow my feet with every step, but reaching the top was worth the effort. The view stretched out in rolling waves of white, like snowdrifts under a blazing sun.
Getting down was much easier. I belly-surfed the steep dune, which felt like a brilliant idea until I realised I would be discovering sand in unexpected places for the rest of the day.
Fun Fact
White Sands is the largest gypsum dune field on Earth, and the dunes are constantly moving. Some shift up to 30 feet a year, which means the dune you climb today might not be in the same place on your next visit.
Houston Space Center
From the desert, the tour continued to a very different kind of landmark: the Houston Space Center, the official visitor centre for NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. I have visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida many times, but this was my first time in Houston, and I found myself preferring the experience here, especially the chance to see Mission Control.
The control room was fully operational during our visit, with staff quietly working at their stations. We were allowed to ask a few questions, so I couldn’t resist asking what operating system they used. The answer made me laugh. They rely on their own proprietary system because, as they put it, Windows crashes too much. I immediately pictured a shuttle launch being delayed because a computer decided it was time for a forced update.
It was a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of human spaceflight and a reminder that even in the most advanced facilities, the small details matter.
Fun Fact
The famous phrase “Houston, we’ve had a problem” was first heard in Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center during the Apollo 13 mission. The original wording was slightly different from the movie version, but the drama was very real.
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