Editing Johnson Space Center (section)

===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>