The July 20, , moon landing changed the world and forever changed Houston. Kennedy's goal of reaching the lunar surface by , NASA's bold missions — and crippling tragedies — since that historic day, the future of space exploration and the fate of Houston as America's "Space City. Read our entire series here. Cattle grazed the land, nestled between old farming and fishing communities and a body of water known as Clear Lake.
Johnson, beat out 22 other locations to host the greatest minds of the generation. In this file photo, H. Smith was manager of the Clear Lake ranch, owned by Humble Oil Company, which gave the 1,acre site to Rice University on condition it be used for a space center. Rice donated the land to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Space City was born. The Houston area quickly embraced the fervor of the space race, developing an Astrodomain that included the Astrodome and nearby Astroworld.
Businesses proudly endorsed the space program, adopting space-related names that to this day evoke images of grand adventures and boundless opportunity. Schools, streets and buildings adopted the space moniker, hailing a time when easily recognizable astronauts and their families settled in the area. And for the last five decades, the region has thrived, holding firmly onto its role as home to the nation's astronaut corps and as a hub for human spaceflight research and training.
It was home to Space Shuttle operations from the s to when the program was shuttered. And it remains the base of operations for the International Space Station. Even the Orion program — billed to take humans back to the moon for the first time in 50 years — is managed from Johnson Space Center. These out-of-state visitors account for in-state purchases such as museum tickets, hotel stays, food and beverage items as well as gifts at the Space Center Houston gift shop. Tours of the restored facility began on July 1, On Sept.
Kennedy addressed the nation from the Rice University stadium, urging Americans to embrace space exploration by sending man to the moon. The department would go through many transitions over the years, becoming the Space Physics Department in and, in , merging with the Physics Department to become the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
According to Dr. NASA personnel serve as instructors, mentors and board members. Rice currently employs two astronauts as adjunct professors. NASA also provides important research grants to Rice. JSC operations supports women-owned and small businesses in Texas. For this reason we created Cities at Night, a platform with different apps with which anyone can help while enjoying beautiful pictures taken from space. Lost at Night is our current working app.
Help recogniting cities from several given options. Currently, the best available map of the earth at night is the Black Marble Map. The images used to build the map, have a scale of about metres per pixel. The Samuel P.
Then known as the Langley Aeronautical Memorial Laboratory, the facility opened its first wind tunnel test center in These airfoil series are still used by aircraft designers today. Research at Langley improved the performance and capabilities of civil and military aircraft. After the war, NACA researchers focused on issues relating to high-speed flight. A difference was noted between conventional wind tunnel data and aircraft performance during high-speed maneuvers.
To remedy this situation, engineer John Stack developed a concept for a slotted-throat wind tunnel design that enabled testing at high-speed conditions more closely matching actual flight conditions.
The slotted-throat tunnel design was awarded a Collier Trophy and opened a pathway to supersonic aircraft development. Langley engineers designed many high-speed test airplanes. These historic aircraft included the sound barrier breaking X-1, and the X, the first winged aircraft to fly into space.
Later, X research would pave the way for the space shuttle era. When Langley was absorbed into NASA its engineers, research labs and historic aerospace data became the building blocks of the new federal space agency.
Currently the center is led by Lesa B. Prior to the move, the original seven Mercury astronauts trained and lived at Langley. Langley also played key roles in Gemini, Apollo and Skylab programs. Langley engineers refined and developed the feasibility of rendezvous and docking while in orbit around the moon. Langley designed and operated simulators that allowed astronauts to learn techniques for piloting the Lunar Module.
Other unmanned space probes that involved Langley researchers include the Echo, Explorer and PAGEOS Earth satellites, which carried experiments for scientific research and telecommunications. Langley has also played a key role in space transportation for small payloads and satellites. In the mids, Langley researchers began developing a concept that became known as Scout. After Apollo, Langley led the development of the Viking missions to Mars. Other Langley space transportation work included design and tests of space plane configurations.
These included development of the X rocket plane and the space shuttle. Shuttle designs were subjected to more than 60, hours of wind tunnel testing before the final shape of the winged craft was selected. Langley engineers designed a small lifting body called the HL as a possible ferry craft to and from the planned Space Station Freedom.
Recent commercial interest has been shown in possibly developing the HL as a taxi for private spaceflights into Earth orbit. The huge satellite carried 57 space experiments and was orbited for six years before its return to Earth, also aboard the shuttle. Data obtained from LDEF has been used in designing future spacecraft. True to its aeronautics roots, Langley engineers continue to shape and improve the way planes fly.
Langley researchers are working to make aircraft quieter, safer and more efficient. Current work builds on years of innovation successes. High-speed aircraft feature narrowed fuselages pinched in near the wings and supercritical wings for increased efficiency, thanks to Langley researcher Richard Whitcomb. Airliners are now equipped with airborne predictive radar, developed and tested by Langley, that significantly reduces the possibility of deadly wind shear accidents.
Airport runways, as well as highways, are grooved to help reduce hydroplaning accidents during rainy weather, thanks to Langley studies.
Today, Langley engineers are developing technology for more fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly aircraft and rotorcraft. Langley research also is focusing on technologies that will allow airliners and other aircraft to fly faster and higher -- at supersonic and even hypersonic speeds. Langley researchers continue to work on ways to better diagnose and predict aircraft and mechanical failures, especially in older planes that remain in service.
Langley aeronautics also plays a role in supporting space research, studying supersonic and hypersonic speed challenges that are faced by spacecraft during planetary entry, descent and landing. Langley will have responsibility for flight test and pathfinder articles production for crew module, launch abort system and separation hardware. Langley also will provide independent analysis and systems engineering and integration support for Orion and other elements to be yet developed as part of the Constellation Program.
Langley has major roles in the Ares I crew launch vehicle. These include aerodynamic design of the entire launch vehicle, compiling an aerodynamic database and developing aeroelasticity tests and analysis.
Langley also will participate in trajectory analyses for the Ares rockets. Marshall Space Flight Center in When President Kennedy called in for NASA to place a man on the moon, the agency turned to Marshall Space Flight Center to create the incredibly powerful rocket needed to make that possible. Today, NASA is working to return to the moon, and has once again turned to Marshall, for an even more powerful rocket that will enable the establishment of an outpost on the lunar surface.
Since its beginning in , Marshall has provided the agency with mission critical design, development and integration of the launch and space systems required for space operations, exploration and scientific missions. Marshall provided the rockets that powered Americans to the moon, developed the space shuttle propulsion system, and managed the development of Skylab, Spacelab, space station nodes, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory and many other scientific instruments.
The center has a rich history of integrating space systems and hardware from conception to operation. The center is named for former Army chief of staff, secretary of state and Nobel Peace Prize winner Gen. George C. Marshall and is located on the U. Wernher von Braun and his German rocket engineering team headed the new organization, which was staffed by hundreds of U. Many facilities, buildings, test equipment and laboratories used in the Army missile and rocket programs were also transferred to NASA.
During the s, Marshall engineers developed and tested the stages and engines that powered the Saturn V launch vehicle to the moon. Test firings of the giant Saturn stages and rocket engines sometimes could be heard from as far as miles away. Marshall provided NASA with a total of 32 Saturn rockets, including the six vehicles that lifted astronauts to the lunar surface.
Marshall also developed the Lunar Roving Vehicle, the innovative two-seat vehicle driven by the Apollo 15, 16 and 17 astronauts. The foot-long rovers, which traveled across the lunar surface at nine miles per hour, allowed the astronauts to transport tools and equipment to the most geologically interesting sites near their landing base. When their treks were complete, each rover could return as much as pounds of rock and soil samples back to the Lunar Modules for return to Earth.
Three crews of astronauts lived onboard Skylab during and in rotations as long as 84 days. Important elements of the space shuttle were designed and developed at Marshall, including the main engines, external fuel tank and solid rocket boosters. The external tank and solid boosters are integral to the design of the new Ares crew launch vehicle. During the s and s, Marshall was also responsible for several shuttle payloads, including Spacelab.
Beyond its rocket heritage, Marshall has also been involved in the development and execution of challenging scientific missions. International Space Station operations depend heavily on support from Marshall. Marshall also continues to develop, integrate, and test major space station components including the Environmental Control and Life Support System, which provides a safe and comfortable environment for the crew and ensures their supply of water and air are pure. Today, under the leadership of center director David A.
King, Marshall is spearheading the development of essential hardware, technologies and capabilities to ensure the success of human missions to the moon. Ares I will transport the Orion crew exploration vehicle to the International Space Station and deliver uncrewed cargo payloads to space.
Ares V will carry heavy-lift payloads to space for use by exploration missions, including those that will return humans to the moon. These vehicles will serve the dual purpose of establishing a permanent lunar outpost and extending our human presence beyond Earth orbit. The Marshall center occupies more than 1, acres on Redstone Arsenal and is home to more than buildings and specialized facilities dedicated to supporting current and future missions.
The Michoud site, previously operated by the U. Not only did the site provide the space needed to manufacture the The location was also convenient to the Mississippi engine test stands at what is now Stennis Space Center. In December , the facility completed its first Saturn I rocket. The assembly required the creation of new fixtures more than half the length of a football field, and several stories high.
Work supporting the Constellation Program began recently at Michoud. Not only will the facility manufacture the upper stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the core stage of the Ares V cargo launch vehicle, it will also produce major pieces of the Orion crew spacecraft.
The center provides consistent, high-quality support services in the areas of financial management, human resources, information technology and procurement to the agency. Richard E.
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