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Trung_tâm_vũ_trụ_Johnson
Tiền thân của Trung tâm vũ trụ Johnson là nhóm Space Task Group (STG) của NASA. Từ ngày 5 tháng 11 năm 1958, các kỹ sư của Trung tâm nghiên cứu Langley, đứng đầu là Robert Gilruth, đã trực tiếp thực hiện sứ mệnh Mercury và các chương trình không gian có người lái sau này. Nhóm STG chịu trách nhiệm báo cáo cho Trung tâm vũ trụ Goddard, nhóm có tổng cộng 45 nhân viên, bao gồm 37 kỹ sư, và tám thư ký và những nữ nhân viên phụ trách tính toán. Năm 1959, nhóm nghiên cứu được bổ sung 32 kỹ sư người Canada từ dự án Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow bị hủy bỏ.[3] Giám đốc đầu tiên của NASA, T. Keith Glennan, nhận ra rằng việc phát triển chương trình vũ trụ của Mỹ sẽ làm cho nhóm STG ngày một lớn mạnh hơn về tổ chức, và cần mở một trung tâm nghiên cứu riêng dành cho nhóm. Ngày 1 tháng 1 năm 1961, ông viết một bản ghi nhớ cho người kế nhiệm (James E. Webb), đề cập đến việc này.[4] Cuối năm đó, Tổng thống Mỹ John F. Kennedy đặt ra mục tiêu đưa người lên Mặt trăng vào cuối thập niên 60, và rõ ràng rằng để thực hiện được mục tiêu này Gilruth cần có một tổ chức nghiên cứu lớn hơn, để lãnh đạo chương trình Apollo, cùng với đó là một cơ sở mới, và các phòng thí nghiệm nghiên cứu.[5]
Năm 1961, quốc hội Mỹ đã thông qua khoản tiền 1,7 tỉ Đôla dành cho NASA trong đó có 60 triệu Đôla là dành cho phòng thí nghiệm cho các chuyến bay vũ trụ có người lái.[6] Một bản yêu cầu về cơ sở mới đã được trình lên Quốc hội Mỹ. Trong đó đề xuất cơ sở mới phải có kết nối giao thông bằng đường thủy, khí hậu ôn hòa, có cơ sở vật chất và nguồn lao động hỗ trợ, gần các trường đại học, có hệ thống điện và cung cấp nước, có diện tích tối thiểu là 1.000 mẫu Anh (400 ha).[6] Vào tháng 8 năm 1961, Webb yêu cầu Phó Giám đốc của Trung tâm Nghiên cứu Ames John F. Parsons đứng đầu một nhóm khảo sát bao gồm Philip Miller, Wesley Hjornevik và I. Edward Campagna, kỹ sư xây dựng của STG.[7] Ban đầu, nhóm nghiên cứu đưa ra danh sách 22 thành phố dựa trên các tiêu chí về khí hậu và nước, sau đó cắt thành danh sách ngắn gồm 9 thành phố với các cơ sở liên bang gần đó:
14 địa điểm khác sau đó đã được bổ sung, trong đó có hai địa điểm ở Houston được chọn vì gần Đại học Houston và Đại học Rice.[5] The team visited all 23 sites between August 21 and ngày 7 tháng 9 năm 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,[9] went so far as to make separate presentations to Webb and the headquarters staff, so Webb added these additional sites to the final review.[8]
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 ngày 19 tháng 9 năm 1961.[10] 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."[11]
The land for the new facility was 1.000 mẫu Anh (400 hécta) donated to Rice by the Humble Oil company, situated in an undeveloped area 25 dặm (40 km) southeast of Houston adjacent to Clear Lake near Galveston Bay.[12][13][14] At the time, the land was used to graze cattle.[10] Immediately after Webb's announcement, Gilruth and his staff began planning the move from Langley to Houston, using what would grow to 295.996 foot vuông (27.498,9 m2) of leased office and laboratory space in 11 scattered sites.[7] On November 1, the conversion of the Task Group to MSC became official.[1]
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.[2] NASA purchased an additional 600 mẫu Anh (240 hécta) so the property would face a highway, and the total included another 20 mẫu Anh (8,1 hécta) reserve drilling site.[15] 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.[16] 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, ngày 12 tháng 9 năm 1962[17]
The 1.620 mẫu Anh (6,6 km2) facility was officially opened for business in September 1963.[18][19]
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.[20]
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[21] 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 US crewed space missions from Project Gemini forward.[13][14]
NASA named the center the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center on ngày 14 tháng 4 năm 2011.[22]
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.[cần dẫn nguồn]
On ngày 19 tháng 2 năm 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.[23][24] Dedication ceremonies under the new name were held on August 27 of that year.[cần dẫn nguồn]
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.[cần dẫn nguồn]
In June 2019, the restored Apollo Mission Control Center was opened for tourists.[25]
In the wake of the ngày 28 tháng 1 năm 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.[cần dẫn nguồn]
A similar memorial service was held at the Johnson Space Center on ngày 4 tháng 2 năm 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 Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne at Washington National Cathedral two days later.[26]
On ngày 13 tháng 9 năm 2008, Hurricane Ike hit Galveston as a category 2 hurricane and caused minor damage to the Mission Control Center and other buildings at JSC.[27] The storm damaged the roofs of several hangars for the T-38 Talons at Ellington Field.[27]
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