Johnson Space Center

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Aerial view of JSC in 1989
Agency overview
Formed November 1, 1961 (1961-11-01)[1]
Preceding agency
Jurisdiction U.S. federal government
Headquarters Houston, Texas, U.S.
Employees 3,200 civil service
Agency executive
Parent agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Website JSC home page

The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Manned Spacecraft Center, where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U.S. president and Texas native, Lyndon B. Johnson, by an act of the United States Senate on February 19, 1973.

It consists of a complex of one hundred buildings constructed on 1,620 acres (660 hectares) in the Clear Lake Area of Houston which acquired the official nickname "Space City" in 1967. The center is home to NASA's astronaut corps and is responsible for training astronauts from both the U.S. and its international partners. It has become popularly known for its flight control function, identified as "Mission Control" during the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo–Soyuz, and Space Shuttle program flights.

The Manned Spacecraft Center grew out of the Space Task Group (STG) headed by Robert Gilruth, formed soon after the creation of NASA to co-ordinate the US manned spaceflight program. The STG was based at the Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, but reported organizationally to the Goddard Space Flight Center. 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 Humble Oil company through Rice University, and officially opened its doors in September, 1963. Today, JSC is one of ten major NASA field centers.

History

Johnson Space Center has its origins in NASA's Space Task Group (STG), created on November 5, 1958 with Langley Research Center engineers under the direction of Robert Gilruth, to direct Project Mercury and follow-on manned space programs. The STG originally reported to the Goddard Space Flight Center organization, with a total staff of 45, including eight secretaries and "computers" (women who ran calculations on mechanical adding machines), and 37 engineers. This was expanded in 1959 by the addition of 32 Canadian engineers put out of work by the cancellation of the Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow project.[2] But by the time he left office on January 20, 1961, the first NASA administrator T. Keith Glennan realized that as the STG grew with the scope of America's space program, it would outgrow the Langley and Goddard centers and require its own location. Nineteen days earlier, he had written a memo to his yet-unnamed successor (who turned out to be James E. Webb), recommending a new site be chosen.[3] By the time President John F. Kennedy set the goal in 1961 to put a man 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 suitable to mount an expedition to the Moon.[4]

Site selection

In 1961, Congress held hearings and passed a $1.7 billion 1962 NASA appropriations bill which included $60 million for the new "manned spaceflight laboratory".[5] 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 1000 acres of land, and certain specified cost parameters.[5] In August 1961, Webb tasked Associate Director of the Ames Research Center John F. Parsons with heading a site selection team, which included Philip Miller, Wesley Hjornevik, and I. Edward Campagna, the construction engineer for the STG.[6] 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:

Another 14 sites were then added, including two additional Houston sites chosen because of proximity to the University of Houston and Rice University.[4] 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, went so far as to make separate presentations to Webb and the Headquarters staff, so Webb added these additional sites to the final review.[7]

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.[8] 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 headed the House Appropriations Committee, 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."[9]

The land for the new facility was 1,000 acres (400 hectares) donated to Rice by the Humble Oil company, situated in an undeveloped area 25 miles (40 km) southeast of Houston adjacent to Clear Lake near Galveston Bay.[10][11][12] At the time, the land was used to graze cattle.[8] Immediately after Webb's announcement, Gilruth and his staff began planning the move from Langley to Houston, using what would grow to 295,996 square feet (27,498.9 m2) of leased office and laboratory space in 11 scattered sites.[6] On November 1, the conversion of the Task Group to MSC became official.[1]

Construction and early operations

NASA purchased an additional 600 acres (240 hectares) so the property would face a highway, and the total included another 20 acres (8.1 hectares) reserve drilling site.[13] 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.[14] That month, Kennedy gave a speech at Rice University on the US space program. The speech is famous for highlighting the Apollo program, but Kennedy also made reference to the new Center:

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 million a year; to invest some $200 million in plant and laboratory facilities; and to direct or contract for new space efforts over $1 billion from this Center in this City.
— John F. Kennedy, Speech at Rice University, September 12, 1962[15]

The 1,620-acre (6.6 km2) facility was officially opened for business in September 1963.[16][17]

Mission Control Center

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 controllers 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.[18]

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 unmanned Gemini 2 flight in January 1965[19] and the first manned 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. manned space missions from Project Gemini forward.[11][12]

NASA named the center the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center on April 14, 2011.[20]

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 quarantined, and where the majority of lunar samples are stored. The center's Landing and Recovery Division operated MV Retriever in the Gulf of Mexico for Gemini and Apollo astronauts to practice water egress after splashdown.

On February 19, 1973, after Johnson's death, President Richard Nixon signed into law a Senate resolution renaming the Manned Spacecraft Center in honor of Johnson, who as Senate Majority Leader had sponsored the 1958 legislation which created NASA.[21][22] Dedication ceremonies under the new name were held on August 27 of that year.

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 command and service modules, intended to fly in the canceled Apollo 19 mission.

Space Shuttle program

Entrance to JSC on February 1, 2003, with a makeshift memorial to the victims of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

In the wake of the January 28, 1986 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.

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 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 Richard Cheney and his wife Lynne at Washington National Cathedral two days later.[23]

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.[24] The storm damaged the roofs of several hangars for the T-38 Talons at Ellington Field.[24]

Facilities

The Johnson Space Center is home to Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center (MCC-H), the NASA control center that coordinates and monitors all human spaceflight for the United States. MCC-H directed all Space Shuttle missions, and currently directs American activities aboard the International Space Station. The Apollo Mission Control Center, a National Historic Landmark, is in Building 30. From the moment a manned spacecraft clears its launch tower until it lands back on Earth, it is in the hands of Mission Control. The MCC houses several Flight Control Rooms, from which flight controllers coordinate and monitor the spaceflights. The rooms have many computer resources to monitor, command and communicate with spacecraft. When a mission is underway the rooms are staffed around the clock, usually in three shifts.

JSC handles most of the planning and training of the US astronaut corps and houses training facilities such as the Sonny Carter Training Facility and the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, a critical component in training astronauts for spacewalks. The Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory provides a controlled neutral buoyancy environment—a very large pool containing about 6.2 million US gallons (23,000 m³) of water where astronauts train to practice extra-vehicular activity tasks while simulating zero-g conditions.[25][26] The facility provides pre-flight training in becoming familiar with crew activities and with the dynamics of body motion under weightless conditions.[27]

Building 31-N houses the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility, which stores, analyzes, and processes most of the samples returned from the moon during the Apollo program.

The center is also responsible for direction of operations at White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, which served as a backup Shuttle landing site and would have been the coordinating facility for the Constellation program, which was planned to replace the Space Shuttle program after 2010 but was canceled in 2009.

The visitor center has been the adjacent Space Center Houston since 1994; JSC Building 2 previously housed the visitor center.

The Johnson Space Center Heliport (FAA LID: 72TX) is located on the campus.[28]

Personnel and training

Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong (left) and Buzz Aldrin train in Building 9 on April 18, 1969
A shuttle astronaut training in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory

Approximately 3,200 civil servants, including 110 astronauts, are employed at Johnson Space Center. The bulk of the workforce consists of over 15,000 contractors. Over 15 contracting firms work at JSC; the largest was United Space Alliance, which accounted for about 40 percent of the JSC employees. As of October 2014 Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies took over United Space Alliance's primary contract.[29] As of January 2013 the center's eleventh director is former astronaut Ellen Ochoa,[30] the first being Robert Gilruth.

NASA's astronaut training is conducted at the Johnson Space Center. Astronaut candidates receive training on shuttle systems and in the basic sciences which include mathematics, guidance and navigation, oceanography, orbital dynamics, astronomy, and physics.[27] Candidates are required to complete military water survival prior to beginning their flying instruction. Candidates are also required to become SCUBA qualified for extravehicular training and are required to pass a swimming test.[31][32] 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.[27] Candidates maintain their flying proficiency by flying 15 hours per month in NASA's fleet of T-38 jets based at nearby Ellington Field.

Additionally, candidates practice Orbiter landings in the Shuttle Training Aircraft.[27]

The astronauts begin their formal training program during their year of candidate training by reading manuals and by taking computer-based training lessons on the various Orbiter systems. The training process includes practice with the single systems trainer where the astronauts are trained to operate each Orbiter system and to recognize malfunctions and perform corrective actions.

Following SST training, the astronauts begin training in the Shuttle Mission Simulators (SMSs). The SMS provides training of shuttle vehicle operations and systems tasks associated with the major flight phases. Astronauts begin their training in the SMS using training software until they are assigned to a particular mission. Astronauts also train with the flight controllers in the Mission Control Center. The SMS and MCC are linked by computer in the same way the Orbiter and MCC are linked during an actual mission.

Research

Johnson Space Center leads NASA’s human spaceflight-related scientific and medical research programs. Technologies developed for spaceflight are now in use in many areas of medicine, energy, transportation, agriculture, communications and electronics.[33]

The Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) office performs the physical science research at the center. ARES directs and manages all functions and activities of the ARES scientists that perform basic research in earth, planetary, and space sciences. ARES scientists and engineers provide support to the human and robotic spaceflight programs. The responsibilities of ARES also include interaction with the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance and the Human Space Flight Programs.[34]

Johnson Space Center was granted a five-year, $120-million extension of its agreement with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute at Baylor College of Medicine to study the health risks related to long-duration space flight. The extension will allow a continuation of biomedical research in support of a long-term human presence in space started by the institute and NASA's Human Research Program through 2012.[35]

The Prebreathe Reduction Program is a research study program at the JSC that is currently being developed to improve the safety and efficiency of space walks from the International Space Station.[36]

The Overset Grid-Flow software was developed at Johnson Space Center in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center. The software simulates fluid flow around solid bodies using computational fluid dynamics.

Space Shuttle retirement

JSC put in a bid to display one of the retired Space Shuttle orbiters but was not selected, much to the disappointment of the city of Houston.[37]

Gallery

2010 photo of JSC from the International Space Station 
Shuttle Challenger atop its Shuttle Carrier Aircraft over JSC in 1983 
Mission Control Center in 2004 
Shuttle simulator in Building 9 in 2006 

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Grimwood (1963), p. 152.
  2. ↑ Murray & Cox (1989), pp. 33-35.
  3. ↑ Dethloff (1993), p. 36.
  4. 1 2 "JSC History". Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  5. 1 2 Dethloff (1993), p. 38.
  6. 1 2 Swenson Jr., Loyd S.; Grimwood, James M.; Alexander, Charles C. (1989). "Chapter 12.3: Space Task Group Gets a New Home and Name". This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury. Special Publication 4201. NASA.
  7. 1 2 Dethloff (1993), p. 39.
  8. 1 2 Dethloff (1993), p. 40.
  9. ↑ Dethloff (1993), pp. 41-42.
  10. ↑ Houston, we have a space program (LBJ, Albert Thomas and George R. Brown's role in bringing NASA to Houston)
  11. 1 2 Schulman, Bruce J. (1994). From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt: Federal Policy, Economic Development, and the Transformation of the South 1938–1980. Duke University Press. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-8223-1537-7.
  12. 1 2 Dumoulin (1988).
  13. ↑ Dethloff (1993), p. 48.
  14. ↑ Swenson; Grimwood; Alexander (1989). "Appendix C: Organization Charts". This New Ocean: A History of Project Mercury. Special Publication 4201. NASA.
  15. ↑ John F. Kennedy,"Address at Rice University on the Nation's Space Effort"
  16. ↑ "Charles Luckman Biography". 1 LMU Drive, MS 8200, Los Angeles, CA 90045: Loyola Marymount University. 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center". NASAFacts. JSC 04264 Rev D.
  18. ↑ Dethloff (1993), pp. 85-86.
  19. ↑ Dethloff (1993), p. 85.
  20. ↑ NASA - NASA Names Mission Control for Legendary Flight Director Christopher Kraft. Nasa.gov (2011-04-14). Retrieved on 2013-09-06.
  21. ↑ Nixon (1973).
  22. ↑ New York Times (1973).
  23. ↑ Woodruff, Judy (February 6, 2003). "CNN LIVE EVENT/SPECIAL: Remembering the Columbia 7: Washington National Cathedral Memorial for Astronauts". CNN. Retrieved September 15, 2011.
  24. 1 2 Frank Morring, Jr. (2008-09-16). "Ike Damage To NASA-JSC Light". Aviation Week. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  25. ↑ Strauss S (July 2008). "Space medicine at the NASA-JSC, neutral buoyancy laboratory". Aviat Space Environ Med 79 (7): 732–3. PMID 18619137.
  26. ↑ Strauss S, Krog RL, Feiveson AH (May 2005). "Extravehicular mobility unit training and astronaut injuries". Aviat Space Environ Med 76 (5): 469–74. PMID 15892545. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
  27. 1 2 3 4 NASA. "Astronaut Selection and Training". Retrieved 2008-08-27.
  28. ↑ AirNav: 72TX – Johnson Space Center Heliport
  29. ↑ "NASA Awards Mission Operations Support Contract". NASA.gov. NASA. 14 July 2014.
  30. ↑ NASA. "Ochoa Named Johnson Space Center Director; Coats To Retire". Retrieved 2013-01-29.
  31. ↑ Fitzpatrick DT, Conkin J (2003). "Improved pulmonary function in working divers breathing nitrox at shallow depths". Undersea Hyperb Med abstract 30 (Supplement). Retrieved 2008-08-27.
  32. ↑ Fitzpatrick DT, Conkin J (July 2003). "Improved pulmonary function in working divers breathing nitrox at shallow depths". Aviat Space Environ Med 74 (7): 763–7. PMID 12862332. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
  33. ↑ NASA. "Johnson Space Center: Exploring the science of space for the future of Earth" (PDF). NASA. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
  34. ↑ "Astromaterials Research Office". Johnson Space Center. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  35. ↑ "Johnson Space Center to continue biomedical research". Houston Business Journal. 2007-10-02. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  36. ↑ "Comparison of V-4 and V-5 Exercise/Oxygen Prebreathe Protocols to Support Extravehicular Activity in Microgravity". NASA Technical Reports. Retrieved 2009-10-18.
  37. ↑ Berger, Eric. "Houston we've had a problem: 'Space City' snubbed in bid for retired space shuttle". Houston Chronicle.

Bibliography

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