Editing Johnson Space Center (section)

==History==
[[File:Robert_Gilruth_S87-26820.jpg|thumb|upright|Robert R. Gilruth, leader of the Space Task Group, became NASA's first director of the Manned Spacecraft Center in 1961.]]
Johnson Space Center has its origins in [[NASA]]'s [[Space Task Group]] (STG). Starting on November 5, 1958, Langley Research Center engineers under [[Robert R. Gilruth]] directed [[Project Mercury]] and follow-on crewed space programs. The STG originally reported to the [[Goddard Space Flight Center]] organization, with a total staff of 45, including 37 engineers, and eight secretaries and [[Human computer|human "computers"]] (women who ran calculations on mechanical adding machines). In 1959, the center added 32 Canadian engineers put out of work by the cancellation of the [[Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow]] project.{{sfnp|Murray|Bly Cox|1989|pp=33-35}} NASA's first administrator, [[T. Keith Glennan]], realized that the growth of the U.S. space program would cause the STG to outgrow the Langley and Goddard centers and require its own location. On January 1, 1961, he wrote a memo to his yet-unnamed successor (who turned out to be [[James E. Webb]]), recommending a new site be chosen.{{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|p=36}} Later that year, when President [[John F. Kennedy]] set the goal to put a person on the [[Moon]] by the end of the decade, it became clear Gilruth would need a larger organization to lead the [[Apollo Program]], with new test facilities and research laboratories.<ref name=JSC>{{Cite web
| title = JSC History
| access-date = 2008-03-25
| url = http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/jsc_history.htm
}}</ref>

===Site selection===

In 1961, Congress held hearings and passed a $1.7&nbsp;billion 1962 NASA appropriations bill which included $60&nbsp;million for the new crewed spaceflight laboratory.{{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|p=38}} A set of requirements for the new site was drawn up and released to the Congress and general public. These included: access to [[water transport]] by large barges, a moderate climate, availability of all-weather commercial jet service, a well-established industrial complex with supporting technical facilities and labor, close proximity to a culturally attractive community in the vicinity of an institution of higher education, a strong electric utility and water supply, at least {{cvt|1000|acre}} of land, and certain specified cost parameters.{{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|p=38}} In August 1961, Webb asked Associate Director of the [[Ames Research Center]] John F. Parsons to head a site-selection team, which included Philip Miller, Wesley Hjornevik, and I. Edward Campagna, the construction
engineer for the STG.<ref name="TNO 12">{{cite book
 | last1 = Swenson
 | first1 = Loyd S. Jr.
 | first2 = James M.
 | last2 = Grimwood
 | first3 = Charles C.
 | last3 = Alexander
 | title = This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury
 | publisher = [[NASA]]
 | series = Special Publication
 | volume = 4201
 | year = 1989
 | chapter = Chapter 12.3: Space Task Group Gets a New Home and Name
 | chapter-url = https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4201/ch12-3.htm
 | url = http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/toc.htm
 | access-date = June 1, 2011
 | archive-date = July 13, 2009
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090713233748/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4201/toc.htm
 | url-status = dead
 }}</ref> The team initially came up with a list of 22 cities based on the climate and water criteria, then cut this to a short list of nine with nearby federal facilities:
* Jacksonville, Florida ([[Green Cove Springs, Florida|Green Cove Springs]] [[Naval Air Station]])
* Tampa, Florida ([[MacDill Air Force Base]])
* [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana]]
* Shreveport, Louisiana ([[Barksdale Air Force Base]])
* Houston, Texas ([[San Jacinto Ordnance Depot]])
* Victoria, Texas ([[Victoria Regional Airport|FAA Airport; former Foster Air Force Base]])
* Corpus Christi, Texas ([[Naval Air Station Corpus Christi]])
* San Diego, California ([[Camp Elliott]])
* San Francisco, California ([[Benicia Arsenal]]){{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|p=39}}
 
Another 14 sites were then added, including two additional Houston sites chosen because of proximity to [[Rice University]].<ref name=JSC/> The team visited all 23 sites between August 21 and September 7, 1961. During these visits, Massachusetts Governor [[John A. Volpe]] and Senator [[Margaret Chase Smith]] headed a delegation which exerted particularly strong political pressure, prompting a personal inquiry to Webb from President Kennedy. Senators and congressmen from sites in Missouri and California similarly lobbied the selection team. Proponents of sites in Boston, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Norfolk, Virginia,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Korsgaard |first1=Sean |title=Williamsburg recalls watching Apollo 11 and helping crew get there |url=https://www.vagazette.com/news/va-vg-moon-landing-anniversary-0717-story.html#nt=oft12aH-1gp5 |access-date=24 July 2019 |work=Virginia Gazette, Daily Press |agency=Tribune Media |date=20 July 2019 |archive-date=July 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724133658/https://www.vagazette.com/news/va-vg-moon-landing-anniversary-0717-story.html#nt=oft12aH-1gp5 |url-status=dead }}</ref> went so far as to make separate presentations to Webb and the headquarters staff, so Webb added these additional sites to the final review.{{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|p=39}}

Following its tour, the team identified MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa as its first choice, based on the fact the Air Force was planning to close down its Strategic Air Command operations there. The Houston Rice University site was second, and the Benicia Ordnance Depot in San Francisco was third. Before a decision could be made, however, the Air Force decided not to close MacDill, omitting it from consideration and moving the Rice University site to first place. Webb informed President Kennedy on September 14 of the decision made by him and deputy administrator [[Hugh Dryden]] in two separate memoranda, one reviewing the criteria and procedures, and the other stating: "Our decision is that this laboratory should be located in Houston, Texas, in close association with Rice University and the other educational institutions there and in that region." The Executive Office and NASA made advance notifications of the award, and the public announcement of the location followed on September 19, 1961.{{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|p=40}} According to [[Texas A&M University]] historian [[Henry C. Dethloff]], "Although the Houston site neatly fit the criteria required for the new center, Texas undoubtedly exerted an enormous political influence on such a decision. Lyndon B. Johnson was Vice President and head of the Space Council, [[Albert Thomas (American politician)|Albert Thomas]] headed the House Appropriations Committee, [[Robert R. Casey|Bob Casey]] and [[Olin E. Teague]] were members of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, and Teague headed the Subcommittee on Manned Space Flight. Finally, [[Sam Rayburn]] was Speaker of the House of Representatives."{{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|pp=41-42}}

The land for the new facility was {{cvt|1000|acre|ha}} donated to Rice by the [[Humble Oil]] company, situated in an undeveloped area {{cvt|25|mi|km}} southeast of Houston adjacent to [[Clear Lake (Galveston Bay)|Clear Lake]] near [[Galveston Bay]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.rice.edu/2009/07/16/houston-we-have-a-space-program/|title=Houston, we have a space program|access-date=October 12, 2015|archive-date=January 6, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106190610/http://news.rice.edu/2009/07/16/houston-we-have-a-space-program/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Schulman">{{cite book | author=Schulman, Bruce J. | title=From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt: Federal Policy, Economic Development, and the Transformation of the South 1938–1980 | publisher=Duke University Press | year=1994 | page=149 | isbn=978-0-8223-1537-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vwcGbPRuM9oC}}</ref>{{sfnp|Dumoulin|1988}} At the time, the land was used to graze cattle.{{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|p=40}} Immediately after Webb's announcement, Gilruth and his staff began planning the move from Langley to Houston, using what would grow to {{cvt|295996|ft2|m2}} of leased office and laboratory space in 11 scattered sites.<ref name="TNO 12"/> On November 1, the conversion of the Task Group to MSC became official.{{sfnp|Grimwood|1963|p=152}}

===Construction and early operations===

Tracts of land in the vicinity of the Manned Spacecraft Center were either owned or being under exclusive control of Joseph L. Smith & Associates, Inc.<ref name="AW-1963">[https://archive.org/stream/Aviation_Week_1963-06-17#page/n63/mode/1up "Space" is our product]. // ''Aviation Week & Space Technology'', June 17, 1963, v. 78, no. 24, p. 127.</ref>
NASA purchased an additional {{cvt|600|acre|ha}} so the property would face a highway, and the total included another {{cvt|20|acre|ha}} reserve drilling site.{{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|p=48}} Construction of the center, designed by [[Charles Luckman]], began in April 1962, and Gilruth's new organization was formed and moved to the temporary locations by September.<ref name="TNO AppC">{{cite book
 | last1 = Swenson | last2 = Grimwood
 | last3 = Alexander
 | title = This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury
 | publisher=[[NASA]]
 | series = Special Publication
 | volume = 4201
 | year= 1989
 | chapter = Appendix C: Organization Charts
 | chapter-url = https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4201/ch12-3.htm
}}</ref> That month, Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University on the U.S. space program. The speech is famous for highlighting the Apollo program, but Kennedy also made reference to the new Center:

{{Quote|What was once the furthest outpost on the old frontier of the West will be the furthest outpost on the new frontier of science and space. Houston, ... with its Manned Spacecraft Center, will become the heart of a large scientific and engineering community. During the next 5 years the National Aeronautics and Space Administration expects to double the number of scientists and engineers in this area, to increase its outlays for salaries and expenses to $60&nbsp;million a year; to invest some $200&nbsp;million in plant and laboratory facilities; and to direct or contract for new space efforts over $1&nbsp;billion from this Center in this City.|John F. Kennedy|Speech at Rice University, September 12, 1962<ref name="Rice Speech">[[John F. Kennedy]], [http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03SpaceEffort09121962.htm "Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506113709/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical%2BResources/Archives/Reference%2BDesk/Speeches/JFK/003POF03SpaceEffort09121962.htm |date=May 6, 2010 }}</ref>}}

The {{cvt|1620|acre|km2|adj=on}} facility was officially opened for business in September 1963.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lmu.edu/Page42430.aspx|title=Charles Luckman Biography|year=2007|publisher=Loyola Marymount University|access-date=July 6, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013050429/http://www.lmu.edu/Page42430.aspx|archive-date=October 13, 2008|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>"Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center". ''NASAFacts''. JSC 04264 Rev D.</ref>

====Mission Control Center====
{{Main|Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center}}
[[File:Mission Operations Control Room at the conclusion of Apollo 11.jpg|thumb|right|Mission Operations Control Room 2 at the conclusion of [[Apollo 11]] in 1969]]
In 1961, as plans for [[Project Gemini]] began, it became increasingly clear that the [[Mercury Control Center]] located at the [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]] launch center would become inadequate to control missions with maneuverable spacecraft such as Gemini and Apollo. [[Christopher Kraft]] and three other [[flight controller]]s began studying what was needed for an improved control center, and directed a study contract awarded to [[Philco]]'s Western Development Laboratory. Philco bid on and won the contract to build the electronic equipment for the new Mission Control Center, which would be located in Building 30 of MSC rather than Canaveral or the [[Goddard Space Flight Center]] in Maryland. Construction began in 1963.{{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|pp=85-86}}

The new center had two Mission Operations Control Rooms, allowing training and preparation for a later mission to be carried out while a live mission is in progress. It was brought online for testing purposes during the uncrewed [[Gemini 2]] flight in January 1965{{sfnp|Dethloff|1993|p=85}} and the first crewed Gemini flight, [[Gemini 3]] in March 1965, though the Mercury Control Center still retained primary responsibility for control of these flights. It became fully operational for the flight of [[Gemini 4]] the following June, and has been the primary flight control center for all subsequent U.S. [[crewed space mission]]s from Project Gemini forward.<ref name="Schulman"/>{{sfnp|Dumoulin|1988}}

NASA named the center the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center on April 14, 2011.<ref name="nasa.gov">[http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/kraft_mcc.html NASA - NASA Names Mission Control for Legendary Flight Director Christopher Kraft] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200413090145/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/kraft_mcc.html |date=April 13, 2020 }}. Nasa.gov (2011-04-14). Retrieved on 2013-09-06.</ref>

===Apollo program===
In addition to housing NASA's astronaut operations, JSC is also the site of the former [[Lunar Receiving Laboratory]], where the first astronauts returning from the Moon were [[quarantine]]d, and where the majority of [[lunar sample]]s are stored. The center's Landing and Recovery Division operated [[MV Retriever|MV ''Retriever'']] in the Gulf of Mexico for Gemini and Apollo astronauts to practice water egress after [[Splashdown (spacecraft landing)|splashdown]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

On February 19, 1973, four weeks after Johnson's death, President [[Richard Nixon]] signed into law a Senate resolution renaming the Manned Spacecraft Center in his honor. As&nbsp;[[Party leaders of the United States Senate|Senate Majority Leader]], Johnson had sponsored the [[National Aeronautics and Space Act|1958 legislation which created NASA]];{{sfnp|Nixon|1973}}{{sfnp|New York Times|1973}} dedication ceremonies were held six months later on August 27.<!--{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}--><ref name=scdehel>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wCNIAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LYEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2820%2C4503091 |work=Victoria Advocate |location=(Texas) |agency=Associated Press |title=Space center dedication held |date=August 28, 1973 |page=1A}}</ref>

One of the artifacts displayed at Johnson Space Center is the [[Saturn V]] rocket. It is whole, except for the ring between the [[S-IC]] and S-II stages, and the fairing between the S-II and [[S-IVB]] stages, and made of actual surplus flight-ready articles. It also has real (though incomplete) [[Apollo (spacecraft)|Apollo]] command and service modules, intended to fly in the [[canceled Apollo missions|canceled Apollo 19 mission]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In June 2019, the restored Apollo Mission Control Center was opened for tourists.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/29/science/apollo-11-mission-control-nasa.html|title=NASA Reopens Apollo Mission Control Room That Once Landed Men on Moon|last=Brown|first=David W.|date=2019-06-29|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-07-01|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

===Space Shuttle program===
[[Image:Columbia makeshift memorial.jpg|thumb|Entrance to JSC on February 1, 2003, with a makeshift memorial to the victims of the [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster]]]]
In the wake of the January 28, 1986, [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster]], President [[Ronald Reagan]] and First Lady [[Nancy Reagan]] traveled to JSC on January 31 to speak at a memorial service honoring the astronauts. It was attended by 6,000 NASA employees and 4,000 guests, as well as by the families of the crew. During the ceremony, an Air Force band led the singing of "God Bless America" as NASA [[T-38 Talon]] supersonic jets flew directly over the scene in the traditional [[missing-man formation]]. All activities were broadcast live by the national television and radio networks.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

A similar memorial service was held at the Johnson Space Center on February 4, 2003, for the astronauts who perished in the [[Space Shuttle Columbia disaster|Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster]] three days before, which was attended by President [[George W. Bush]] and First Lady [[Laura Bush]]. Although that service was broadcast live by the national television and radio networks, it was geared mainly to NASA employees and the families of the astronauts. A second service for the nation was led by Vice-President [[Dick Cheney]] and his wife [[Lynne Cheney|Lynne]] at [[Washington National Cathedral]] two days later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0302/06/se.03.html|title=CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL: Remembering the Columbia 7: Washington National Cathedral Memorial for Astronauts|date=February 6, 2003|access-date=September 15, 2011|publisher=CNN |first=Judy|last=Woodruff|author-link=Judy Woodruff}}</ref>

On September 13, 2008, [[Hurricane Ike]] hit [[Galveston]] as a category 2 hurricane and caused minor damage to the Mission Control Center and other buildings at JSC.<ref name="IkeDamage">{{Cite web | title = Ike Damage To NASA-JSC Light | work = Aviation Week | author = Frank Morring Jr. | date = 2008-09-16 | access-date = 2009-10-18 | url = http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/Hurri091608.xml&headline=Ike%20Damage%20To%20NASA-JSC%20Light%20&channel=space }}{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The storm damaged the roofs of several hangars for the T-38 Talons at [[Ellington Field]].<ref name="IkeDamage"/>