When I was traveling to Galveston I saw the NASA exit in south Houston, so I had to visit while I was in the area. This is mission control, at least it has been since 1965 when it moved from the Kennedy space center in Florida, for the Apollo missions. The Houston tour is 1/2 the size, 1/2 the cost and takes 1/2 the time compared to the Kennedy Space Center tour.
There is some duplication, mainly promoting Mars and all the activity today with Space X. Now, Houston had more on the Space Station, actual pieces that you can walk through. Another pretty cool thing was the 747 that transported the space shuttle, can actually tour the plain and the space shuttle on top of the plane. Kennedy space center had the control room from the Gemini and Mercury missions. The control room for the Apollo missions is in Houston, they have preserved the actual room and everything in it. It is a registered Historical Site.
