Space Center Houston

            Houston, Texas is the home of the Johnson Space Center (JSC), the headquarters of NASA’s astronaut training. While much of the facility is off-limits to the public, Space Center Houston, the facility’s visitor center, offers the general public tours into the history and future of manned space flight.

The New Mission Control Center 

            In the early 1960s, NASA’s ambitious goals, like placing a man on the moon by the end of the decade, meant that they would need a new facility for training the growing astronaut corps. NASA administrator James Webb recognized that NASA’s other two centers, Langley and Goddard, were incapable of handling the increased workload. So he set out to find a suitable location for a newer and more streamlined facility. NASA created a list of essential requirements for the new site. These included water access (to transport rockets and other essential equipment), a moderate climate (no one wanted to deal with ice or snow), accessibility to higher education institutions (for research collaboration), and a suitable infrastructure to support the thousands of employees and new buildings that would be required. NASA whittled its list of sites down to nine. These locations included locations in Florida, Louisiana, Texas, and California. Initially, NASA settled on Tampa since the Air Force was considering closing MacDill Air Force Base. Using MacDill would allow NASA to use and adapt pre-existing facilities rather than construct new ones from scratch. When the Air Force decided to keep MacDill open, NASA turned to its second choice: Houston.

            Once construction began, Houston became the heart and soul of NASA. While space launches still occurred at Cape Canaveral, Houston housed all of NASA’s training and operational facilities. Astronauts settled in Houston with their families. Thousands of NASA employees and contractors flocked to the city. The area surrounding the Space Center became known locally as “Space City.” Importantly, Johnson Space Center housed Mission Control and the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. From Mission Control in Houston, flight controllers monitored and conducted the Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle missions. Today, they still oversee American operations on the International Space Station. The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory contains a mammoth-sized pool that allows astronauts to simulate a zero-gravity environment and practice performing tasks in outer space. Currently, there are about 110 astronauts assigned to the JSC along with thousands of civilian NASA employees and independent contractors.

A Saturn V Rocket

            Space Center Houston, the visitor’s center, sits on the campus of the JSC. The highlight of Space Center Houston is the Tram Tour and Rocket Park. The Tram Tours leave every fifteen minutes to half hour. Led by a tour guide, the tram travels past a herd of cattle that remain at the JSC as an ode to the area’s history of cattle grazing. The first part of the tour takes visitors to Mission Control where they show off the new Mission Control Center that will be used for the upcoming Mars missions. The next part of the tour includes a visit to the Rocket Park that features a complete Saturn V rocket. Other highlights of the Space Center include Independence Park, a mock-up of the Space Shuttle Independence perched upon NASA’s shuttle carrier aircraft. Besides the Tram Tour, which runs from 60-90 minutes, there’s a more expensive Level 9 tour, which runs about five hours. It includes lunch in the NASA commissary, a trip to the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a look at the spacecraft for the upcoming Mars missions, and a visit to the old Apollo Mission Control Center as well as a peak at current operations.

            Space Center Houston is a must-visit for anyone interested in NASA, space, and exploration.