Guides to the Kid Stuff - Future Astronaut

At San Diego Air & Space Museum, the exhibits are out of this world. No literally. It has spaceships. REAL ones.

I stood next to the Apollo 9 command module—one of only two on display in the West Coast. Safe to say I was a little starstruck.

On top of that, there are jets that break the sound barrier, rocket engines, and even a Space Shuttle cockpit you can sit in.

Then I zoomed out—like, way out—at Palomar Observatory.

Picture this: one of the biggest telescopes in the world, and it’s just sitting there in the mountains outside San Diego. It’s called the Hale Telescope, and it can see all the way across the observable universe.

I saw where scientists discovered a bunch of dwarf planets, including Quaoar. Also, fun

Every astronaut needs to train—so I hit Belmont Park.

I know it’s an amusement park, but I call it “Gravity School” because the rides here are basically space simulators.

My go-to’s are Belmont Blaster and Zero Gravity. I hit them back-to-back — for training purposes, of course.

Between sims, I stopped at the sweet shop and got a giant ice cream to refuel. Plus, there’s laser tag, bumper cars, and an arcade, which is great for reflex training.

And to top it off — it’s right on the beach, so after all the action, you can chill by the ocean and look up at the stars.