NEW ORLEANS / INFINITY SCIENCE CENTER

My most recent 34-day adventure began on the morning of March 27^th with a flight to New Orleans.  My arrival into Louis Armstrong International Airport was 6:30 in the evening so an overnight near the airport seemed reasonable.  I opted for the Red Roof Inn on Loyola Drive.  The hotel provided a complimentary airport shuttle, free wi-fi, free parking and a continental breakfast at a total cost of only $81.32.   

The hotels complimentary shuttle service is “on call” and dispatched every hour on the hour from 5am-11pm.  Their mini vans are light grey with the Red Roof logo on the doors.  Once you collect your luggage, walk across the street toward the Transportation Center located to your far left .  Go behind the building to the parking area.  You will see signs indicating the hotel shuttle boarding area, along with the UBER and Lyft designated signs.  Call the hotel at 1-504-466-9666 and let them know you are ready for pickup.  I found the hotel to be very basic but adequate and provided everything I needed.   

The next morning I took the complimentary shuttle back to the airport at 8am and picked up my rental car.  Setting my sights for Biloxi, I opted to take highway 190 via Lake Pontchartrain Causeway and then hop onto I-12 E.  This eventually merges into I-10 E.  You will want to take exit 2 for MS-607.  This is the same exit you would take for the Mississippi Welcome Center in Pearlington.  Once you exit, stay right.  Take the first cross street which is Discovery Circle.  The Infinity Science Center sits a little over a mile off the road.  The drive from the New Orleans airport will take you an hour and 10 minutes.

Entrance to Infinity Science Center

The Infinity Science Center opened in 2012 and is one of the newest destinations for STEM education.  It is classified as a non-profit science center and was a fortunate recipient of $9.8M from the BP oil spill. Infinity offers a 35,000-square-foot science center blending space, earth science, engineering and technology and provides a fun and quality learning experience. 

Before you enter the facility you have opportunity to visit the outdoor exhibits that include an F-1 rocket engine, a tsunami buoy, and a U.S. Navy riverine training boat.

A view of the rocket engines from outside the building

Tsunami buoy outside the building

Infinity Science Center it is also NASA's official visitor center for the John C Stennis Space Center, which I will discuss later in this article.

Once inside the front entrance to Infinity Science Center you will see the Science Express Gallery.  Here you have the opportunity to learn of more than 200 species of carnivorous plants.  You will be able to take a journey in the Immersion Theater where you will be able to explore the tracks of hurricanes, the surface of the sun and Mars. 

In the Earth and Space Galleries, you will find simulators and artifacts, video theaters, Smithsonian-loaned artifacts, and a life-sized, walk-through mock-up of the International Space Station's Destiny Module.  

It also offers a glimpse into space suit technology.  

Photo opp with a Space Suit on display

The gallery features pre-Apollo history and a progression of NASA programs from Apollo and Gemini to the International Space Station and the new SLS program, designed to take the first humans to Mars. 

The Apollo 19 Saturn V first stage, is also viewable from the Space Gallery.  

Just last November the Apollo IV Command Module was transferred from storage to it’s  permanent location on the second floor of the Infinity Science Center.  

Apollo IV Command Module

Admission to the center is $15 for adults or $12 for Seniors and I would recommend that you allow 2.5-3 hours for your visit. 

As the official visitor center for NASA Stennis Space Center, guided bus tours depart the Center Monday thru Saturday at 11am, noon, 1pm, 2pm and 3pm. Guests older than 18 must present a valid photo ID and those younger than 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Foreign nationals must present a valid passport from their country of origin or a permanent residence card.  Backpacks and large bags are not permitted and all bags are subject to search.

The Stennis Space Center bus tour is included with your admission ticket to the Infinity Science Center but due to limited seating they are offered on a first-come, first-served basis only.  Sign-ups open 30 minutes prior to departures and closes 10 minutes before the hour. Tours last approximately forty minutes and offer a behind-the-scenes look at our nations largest rocket engine testing facility. 

Stennis Space Center

The narrated twenty-mile ride will pass through the restricted gates of the 13,800-acre research facility at the heart of the 125,000-acre Stennis buffer zone. Unless you work there, this is probably the only way you can get inside. An experienced guide explains the history of the site and provides numerous facts about the scientific work happening there on a daily basis. 

The Stennis Center was built in the 1960′s to test the history-making Saturn V rocket engines that carried men to the moon.  Nothing is actually launched from the Stennis Center however, it is for testing purposes only. 

One of the Stennis testing sites

The complex now hosts over 40 federal, state and educational agencies, as well as private high tech companies and corporations like Rolls Royce.  It’s also home to the largest concentration of oceanographers in the world, most of whom work at the U.S. Navy's Meteorology and Oceanography Command. With the largest concentration of Oceanographers in the world, the Stennis facility houses one of the worlds largest computers containing a collection of maps and charts of the worlds oceans.  It is currently used by the US Navy for navigational purposes and also weather forecasters around the world.  

Once I arrived back at the Infinity Center, I headed out to the self-paced Biome Boardwalk.  This takes you over 1400 feet of swamps and bogs and provides an excellent view of the Saturn V first stage booster, along with its five giant F-1 engines.  You explore four diverse habitats found in the region - Bayhead Swamps, Lowland Pines, Pitcher Plant bogs and an Upland Savannah.

Part of the Biome Boardwalk

During my visit to the Infinity Center I was honored to meet Ken Foster from Flight Avionics.  Ken was working on final touches of the new Apollo 11 Ultimate Virtual Reality Experience slated to open later that day. 

Apollo 11 UVR Experience

Flight Avionics built the first hydraulically controlled Virtual Reality Theater for the entertainment industry in 1980 starting mainly with military museums specializing in F-18 launches off of aircraft carriers.  Their products are on all 5 aircraft carriers – The Hornet, The Midway, The Yorktown, The Lexington and the Intrepid and are also on 5 of the 8 battleships.   

F-18 UVR on the Midway    Photo: Flight Avionics

They expanded their original vision to encompass science centers and now include the Infinity Science Center, Museum of Flight in Kansas and the Boeing plant. They specialize in motion theaters and anything motion generated with video. 
 
Before the ride opened to it’s first patron, Ken allowed me to take a ‘test ride’.  The experience presents the story of the greatest journey ever taken by human kind. During the 5.5 minute ride you will find yourself climbing aboard the Apollo 11 rocket. Then experience the historic launch through the eyes of those who lived through it. Flight Avionics utilizes both 3 axis and 6 axis motion seats.  This will cause you to shake, pitch, and roll as you are hurled into space. Commanding a 360 degree view you will be able to look around and witness the earth getting smaller and the stars becoming brighter as you travel through space towards the moon. Feel the thud of your capsule as it lands on the moons. Then witness your fellow astronaut as he plants the American flag on the surface of the moon. Then it’s back into your capsule for a quick lift off.  You will endure the heat, vibrations and shaking as you re-enter the earth’s atmosphere, ultimately landing safely back on earth. Check out this 38 second Apollo 11 Virtual Reality preview.

This was truly an entertaining, educational and a fun experience.  Admission to this attraction will run an additional $7.  

Lastly, I took the Possum Walk Trail Tram.  It starts in front of the Infinity Science Center and ends at the Logtown Cemetery near the Pearl River. Markers along the way present the history of Possum Walk,  a now deserted African-American community, as well as Logtown, an old logging community relocated in the wake of the 1960s Space Program. 

Trams used for the Possum Walk Trail Tram Ride

The tours operate from February to October but are closed October to February due to hunting season.  Interpretive signs along the trail point out some of the plants and animals native to the area.  The trail is actually owned by Hancock county but it is managed by the Infinity Science Center.  During the 40 minute tram tour you will travel approximately 4 miles round trip. The tram itself is open air and there is no air-conditioning.  Admission to this attraction will run an additional $3.

Mary Douglas is the current Director of Communications and has been with Infinity Science Center since August 2016.   She explained to me that the Center is currently undergoing renovations to include a new 90-seat immersive theater that will be showing 3-D movies highlighting earth, space and oceans.   The Earth Gallery is also undergoing construction with the goal to simulate an underwater ocean dive in a deep submergense vehicle. 

When you first enter the Center you may think it is geared to youth with all of the exhibits and hands on interactive activities, but Mary was quick to assure me that it is geared to all ages and has something for everyone.   

As I left the Center I made a quick stop at a ‘boiled peanuts’ roadside stand.  Talking with the elderly woman working inside the trailer, I discovered that the small trailer has been operating from this exact location for 20 years. 

Boiled peanuts trailer located just outside main entrance

Boiled peanuts are often referred to as ‘goober peas’ in the deep south. A tradition copied from the central and south African Bantu ethnic groups. The term ‘goober’ actually means peanut. I was offered original or spicy cajun flavored.  I purchased a small bag of the original flavor at a cost of $5.  I found the texture to be quite different, very unique and not one that I enjoyed.  Aquired taste I guess.