The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: August thirtieth, enjoying a high-flying, high-tech, show-and-tell. 

Visitors to Mission Control at NASA's huge Johnson Space Center near Houston are in for a hands-on, space age experience.

Its new visitor complex offers films, a space museum and lunar laboratory. Visitors can climb aboard the space shuttle's training module. There's a full- scale model of the Space Shuttle, with its tiny module in which astronauts are launched into space in relative comfort. Visitors can get a sense of zero gravity in a maneuvering unit that floats on a cushion of air. At the controls of a computer simulator, they can sense what it's like to launch a rocket or land a shuttle.    

In addition to the fascinating exhibits and simulations, once off-limit areas are now open to the public. There's the huge swimming pool where astronauts train for weightlessness. And if there's no actual shuttle launch scheduled, visitors are also invited to tour the mission flight control room itself. The huge, historic command center is open for visitors except for the day before any shuttle lifts off until two hours after the craft touches down.

In fact, tomorrow's a special day. The huge NASA complex across the street from Johnson Space Center holds its annual open house. Themed "Pathway to the Future," the event admits visitors to inner sanctums normally off-limits to the public, including the actual flight control rooms for both Space Shuttles and International Space Station. All day long, special multi-media presentations and interactive educational activities will be offered. NASA's open house is a treat for any traveler with dreams of space.

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