The marginally interesting only-go-if-you-are-really-bored sights of Mountain View: NASA Ames Exploration Center

We were listing the (very limited) set of things to do in the Mountain View area for someone who was visiting and the NASA Ames Exploration Center came up, but none of us had actually been there.  Since it was so close, I decided it was time to take a look.

It's a small exhibit space with a few interesting displays and a replica of part of a space station you can walk inside. A fair bit of the space is occupied by a theatre with some documentaries playing, which actually seemed pretty interesting.  I took young kids there, and it entertained them for all of 30 minutes (mostly running up and down a ramp).  It looks like you can (maybe?) drive around the Ames campus after you go through a intimidating security checkpoint, and that's probably more interesting than the Exploration Center itself.