Johnson Space Center

The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is <a href="/facts/NASA/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a>'s center for <a href="/facts/Human_spaceflight/VgVxsGmq">human spaceflight</a> in <a href="/facts/Houston/1v8AwQUN">Houston</a>, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and <a href="/facts/Flight_controller/qu44PG1U">flight control</a> are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U.S. president and Texas native, <a href="/facts/Lyndon_B._Johnson/PKNthHX1">Lyndon B. Johnson</a>, by an act of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Senate/VyzXHE01">United States Senate</a> on February 19, 1973.
JSC consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on 1,620 acres (660 ha) in <a href="/facts/Clear_Lake_(region)/rvtvGBN5">Clear Lake</a>. The center is home to <a href="/facts/NASA_Astronaut_Corps/KIrAUWHN">NASA's astronaut corps</a>, and is responsible for training astronauts from both the U.S. and its international partners. It also houses the <a href="/facts/Christopher_C._Kraft_Jr._Mission_Control_Center/8DxahkB2">Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center</a>, which has provided the <a href="/facts/Flight_controller/qu44PG1U">flight control</a> function for every NASA human spaceflight since <a href="/facts/Gemini_4/HGmV3h8e">Gemini 4</a> (including <a href="/facts/Apollo_program/IC1Ek1Ao">Apollo</a>, <a href="/facts/Skylab/h7v9LWKE">Skylab</a>, <a href="/facts/Apollo%E2%80%93Soyuz/PzMemSeQ">Apollo–Soyuz</a>, and <a href="/facts/Space_Shuttle_program/6Ikdvwsw">Space Shuttle</a>). It is popularly known by its <a href="/facts/Radio_call_sign/k3Y1upDl">radio call signs</a> "Mission Control" and "Houston".
The original Manned Spacecraft Center grew out of the <a href="/facts/Space_Task_Group/cM03CtkQ">Space Task Group</a> (STG) headed by <a href="/facts/Robert_R._Gilruth/1CPyCkda">Robert R. Gilruth</a> that was formed to coordinate the U.S. crewed spaceflight program. The STG was based at the <a href="/facts/Langley_Research_Center/UrNAPV7g">Langley Research Center</a> in <a href="/facts/Hampton,_Virginia/RHY9xDIC">Hampton, Virginia</a>, but reported organizationally to the <a href="/facts/Goddard_Space_Flight_Center/WfoEKknM">Goddard Space Flight Center</a> just outside <a href="/facts/Washington,_D.C./enXPK156">Washington, D.C.</a> To meet the growing needs of the US human spaceflight program, plans began in 1961 to expand its staff to its own organization, and move it to a new facility. This was constructed in 1962 and 1963 on land donated by the <a href="/facts/Humble_Oil/45WV5NPL">Humble Oil</a> company through <a href="/facts/Rice_University/YvEYoWMn">Rice University</a>, and officially opened its doors in September 1963. Today, JSC is one of ten major <a href="/facts/NASA_facilities/r9je3VFn">NASA field centers</a> and the city of Houston's primary cultural footprint, earning it the official <a href="/facts/Nicknames_of_Houston/epJfHIVu">nickname</a> "Space City" in 1967.

Johnson Space Center open-in-new

Johnson Space Center