Texas

Marine Life and Mission Control: Sea & Sky With Your Grandchild

Program No. 21489RJ
From space travel to sharks, discover all things sea and sky with your grandchild at NASA, an indoor rainforest, an aquarium and around Galveston Island!

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At a Glance

Do you and your grandchild love the ocean and marine mammals? Have you ever dreamed of flying through space? On an adventure on the Texas Gulf Coast, stir your fascination with both sea and sky. Wave to your favorite aquatic creatures at an aquarium pyramid, and trek through an indoor rainforest to learn about tropical plants and animals like the rare Saki Monkeys. Then head over to NASA to meet a real astronaut or member of Mission Control to find out more about space travel is really like. Go on a ferry ride and try to spot friendly dolphins racing with the boat, find out about sea turtles on a field trip to the beach and more!
Activity Level
Keep the Pace
Walk and stand for several hours, mostly indoors. All venues visited are air conditioned and have benches and opportunities to sit when needed. Participants should be comfortable walking 1-3 miles over the course of the day.

What You'll Learn

  • Visit Space Center Houston and learn about NASA's future explorations to Mars.
  • Go seining in Galveston Bay for a close-up encounter with the marine life that thrives in the area.
  • Visit the giant pyramids of Moody Gardens to meet monkeys, macaws, penguins, seals and more as you stroll through a tropical rainforest and an aquarium.

General Notes

Program is for grandchildren ages 9-13.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
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Katy Webb
Katy Webb has been living in Texas since 1992 and claims to be a Texan. A science teacher in Elementary and Junior High School, she is always looking for new ways to inspire her students to excel in science — from Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama to pursuing technology grants to improve her classroom. She currently lives in Houston with her husband, Glenn, an engineer who writes software to support the International Space Station robotic arms.

Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.

Profile Image of Katy Webb
Katy Webb View biography
Katy Webb has been living in Texas since 1992 and claims to be a Texan. A science teacher in Elementary and Junior High School, she is always looking for new ways to inspire her students to excel in science — from Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama to pursuing technology grants to improve her classroom. She currently lives in Houston with her husband, Glenn, an engineer who writes software to support the International Space Station robotic arms.
Profile Image of Andrzej Stewart
Andrzej Matthew Stewart View biography
Andrzej Stewart is a spacecraft operator for a variety of NASA missions. He earned degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and aspires to be a NASA astronaut. In pursuing that, he has served as the flight engineer of HERA C2M2, a two-week asteroid mission simulation at the Johnson Space Center, and as chief engineering officer of HI-SEAS IV, a year-long Mars simulation in Hawaii.
Profile Image of Maureen Nolan-Wilde
Maureen Nolan-Wilde View biography
Maureen Nolan-Wilde is a Galveston area resident who serves the community as a master naturalist and a volunteer with the NOAA sea turtle facility located at Fort Crockett. She is a member of the Galveston Bay Area Chapter of the Texas Master Naturalist Organization, which just won first place in the 2017 Gulf Guardian Awards for civic/non-profit organizations. The chapter took a creative approach to a “Confront Plastic Pollution” program to remove plastic trash from local highways and waterways.
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