AMSAT has arranged for two special tours as part of this year’s Symposium.

On Sunday there will be a tour of the Battleship Texas BB-35, the only surviving US Navy warship that served in both World Wars.  It is currently opened to the public while undergoing extensive restoration to ready her for the 100th anniversary of her commissioning in 2014.  A special tour has been arranged for AMSAT Symposium participants. Transportation will depart the Marriott at 1030, and the formal tour will be completed at 1400. Transportation will be available directly to Houston Hobby airport from the ship.  There will be an optional lunch at a popular local restaurant followed by a return to the Marriott at 1600.  $20 per person.

On Monday there will be a tour of the Johnson Space Center.  The tour will include the Sonny Carter Neutral Buoyancy Lab and the Building 9 Training facility containing high fidelity full scale mockups of the International Space Station modules as well as the Soyuz spacecraft.  The ISS tour will include special emphasis of the amateur radio stations on the ISS. The tour will also include the Building 30 historic mission control room as well as the current International Space Station control room, and a special visit to the JSC ARC station W5RRR. Transportation will depart the Marriott at 0800, and will stop at Houston Hobby airport at 1415 before returning to the hotel at 1430.  $30 per person.

Detailed information and registration on the AMSAT Store for the Battleship Texas and the NASA JSC tours.  Please be aware that due to the requirement for additional information, primarily for foreign nationals, the JSC tour must be booked directly with the AMSAT-NA office. Information on the tour, and the registration procedure, are described in the item on the AMSAT Store.  Attempting to order it on the Store will result in an Out of Stock message.  We regret the inconvenience.  The Battleship Texas tour can be booked through the store, since there is no requirement for additional information.