Editing Johnson Space Center (section)

==Personnel and training==
[[File:Apollo 11 training in Houston.jpg|thumb|[[Apollo 11]] astronauts Neil Armstrong (left) and Buzz Aldrin train in Building 9 on April 18, 1969.]]
[[File:NASA Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory Astronaut Training.jpg|thumb|left|A shuttle astronaut training in the [[Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory]]]]

About 3,200 civil servants, including 110 [[astronaut]]s, are employed at Johnson Space Center. The bulk of the workforce consists of over 11,000 contractors. As of October 2014, Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies took over [[United Space Alliance]]'s primary contract.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.nasa.gov/press/2014/july/nasa-awards-mission-operations-support-contract|title = NASA Awards Mission Operations Support Contract|date = 14 July 2014|website = NASA.gov|publisher = NASA}}</ref> Deputy director Stephen Koerner was appointed the center's acting director in February 2025.<ref name="Koerner acting"/>

NASA's astronaut training is conducted at the Johnson Space Center. Astronaut candidates receive training on spacecraft systems and in basic sciences including mathematics, guidance and navigation, oceanography, orbital dynamics, astronomy, and physics.<ref name=history>{{cite web |url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/factsheets/asseltrn.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990427184715/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/factsheets/asseltrn.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=1999-04-27 |title= Astronaut Selection and Training |author=NASA |access-date=2008-08-27}}</ref> Candidates are required to complete military water survival prior to beginning their flying instruction. Candidates are also required to become [[Scuba diving|scuba]]-qualified for extravehicular training and are required to pass a swimming test.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Fitzpatrick DT, Conkin J |title=Improved pulmonary function in working divers breathing nitrox at shallow depths |journal=Undersea Hyperb Med Abstract |volume=30 |issue=Supplement |pages=763–7 |year=2003 |pmid= 12862332|url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/1273 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811173841/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/1273 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |access-date=2008-08-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Fitzpatrick DT, Conkin J |title=Improved pulmonary function in working divers breathing nitrox at shallow depths |journal=Aviat Space Environ Med |volume=74 |issue=7 |pages=763–7 |date=July 2003 |pmid=12862332 |url=http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/asma/asem/2003/00000074/00000007/art00011 |access-date=2008-08-27}}</ref> EVA training is conducted at the [[Sonny Carter Training Facility]]. Candidates are also trained to deal with emergencies associated with [[hyperbaric]] and [[hypobaric]] atmospheric pressures and are given exposure to the microgravity of space flight.<ref name=history/> Candidates maintain their flying proficiency by flying 15 hours per month in NASA's fleet of T-38 jets based at nearby Ellington Field.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/t38flyout.html|title=T-38s Soar as Spaceflight Trainers|date=20 April 2011|publisher=NASA|first=Steven|last=Siceloff|access-date=August 10, 2021|archive-date=April 27, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427090258/https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/t38flyout.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>