Nat~onal Aeronautics and Space Adminlstratlon

Facts

Lyndon 6. Johnson Space Center

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

This booklet tells you about the NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, the heart of America's manned space flight programs. JSC, as it's called, is homebase for the astronauts. The scene from Mission Control Center of flight controllers monitoring our men and women in space is a familiar one to television viewers. Besides these visible personnel of the manned space flight programs, there are thousands of others dedicated to the space operations, research and engineering, and support segments of the JSC mission. At JSC, your space center, many of the facilities and operations are unique. For example, astronauts train in simulators designed to give them the experience of functioning in zero gravity. Scientists and technicians in special laboratories work on the precious lunar samples brought back from the Moon during the Apollo missions. JSC is one of nine National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) field installations. Currently, we are assigned a major role in the development of the Nation's first permanently manned Space Station. We at JSC take pride in our continuing contributions to America's space exploration programs. We are enthusiastically committed to the NASA team that is guaranteeing our Nation's preeminence in space.

Aaron Cohen Director NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Front Cover
Astronaut Bruce McCandless takes a historic spacewalk during Space Shuttle mission 41-B, February 7, 1984. Flight cohtrollers in the flight control room at Johnson Space Center monitor extravehicular activity during Space Shuttle mission 41-8. Aerial view of the Johnson Space Center.

BACKGROUND
In May 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged the Nation to an ambitious space program that would put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. NASA's Space Task Group at Langley Research Center, Virginia, needed more room to do the job of turning the dream into reality. By July, NASA had drawn up the criteria for a new space center. The site had to provide these essentials: availability to water transport, a convenient military base, a commercial jet airport, an established university specializing in science and space-related research, a major telecommunications network, a pool of contractor and industrial support, adequate water and energy supplies, a mild climate year round, a culturally active community, and at least four square kilometers to build on. After an investigation of many prospective locations around the United States, a 1620-acre site near Houston, Texas, was selected. In September 1961, it was announced that the Manned Spacecraft Center would be built on prairie land 25 miles southeast of downtown Houston, Texas, near Ellington Air Force Base, and on the shore of Clear Lake, an inlet of Galveston Bay. Much of the land had been donated to NASA by Rice University. Personnel of the Space Task Group began moving to the Houston area where they worked in temporary facilities while construction of the new center progressed. On July 4, 1962, Houston threw the biggest parade and barbecue in its history to honor the arrival of the seven original astronauts. The Manned Spacecraft Center officially opened in September 1963, and was renamed in honor of the late President Lyndon B. Johnson in February 1973. The facilities are designed and built to house the wide variety of technical and scientific disciplines required
In the winter of 1962, the land donated by Rice University for the Manned Spacecraft Center was still being used for grazing.

for the Center's mission. JSC is organizationally divided into several directorates, with each directorate responsible for a specific function-spacecraft development, astronaut training, or space flight planning, for example. The system is flexible and thedirectorates are frequently realigned to keep pace with the changing directions and dimensions of manned space flight. Some of the original JSC directorates have reorganized, merged, or split into separate groups; new directorates are created as needed. Directorates are responsible to the Center Director who, jn turn, is responsible to the Office of Space Flight at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. Today, more than 80 astronauts are among the 3250 Federal employees at JSC. Another 9650 contractor personnel work at or near JSC to support Center operations.

ASTRONAUT SELECTION AND TRAINING

Since 1959, when the names of the first seven American astronauts were known by every school child, our space age pioneers have inspired and fascinated many people. Every year, the space center receives hundreds of letters from students asking, "How do I become an astronaut?" NASA reviews annually its expected workload and the size of the astronaut corps to determine if a new recruitment program is needed. Current regulations require that United States citizens be given first preference for appointment to Astronaut Candidate positions. NASA anticipates that there will be an adequate source of such qualified citizens for the indefinite future. In the Space Shuttle era there are three classifications of space flight crewmembers: pilots, mission specialists, and payload specialists. The latter are selected by the payload developer who trains them in the technical and scientific objectives of their mission. Payload specialists come to JSC for a short course to make them familiar with the Space Shuttle vehicle, crew operations, housekeeping, and emergency procedures for their specific flight.
Space flight preparation includes experiencing a brief period of weightlessness in the KC-135 aircraft.

For pilot and mission specialist astronauts, it's back to the classroom for courses in mathematics, meteorology, guidance and navigation, astronomy, physics, and computers. They must keep up with current design, development, and modifications of spacecraft, payloads, and launch vehicles, and they attend engineering coilferences and reviews at JSC, other NASA centers, and at contractor facilities. Astroilauts train for space flight through simulation activities. Periods of ~~~eightlessness simulated for are up to a half-minute in a modified KC-735 aircraft. During this zero-gravity, the astronaut practices drinking, eating, and using various types of equipment. Longer periods of weightlessness are simulated under conditions of "neutral bouyancy" in a speciallydesigned water tank large enough to hold full-scale rnockups of spacecraft components and equipment. Sharp flying skills are maintained through regular use of highperformance aircraft assigned to JSC.
Astronaut John Creighton trains in the cockpit of the simulator in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory.

MISSION
As the focal point for America's manned space flight programs, the JSC mission includes design, development, and testing of spacecraft and associated systems for manned space flights a major role in the development of a permanently manned space station selection and training of astronauts and mission specialists and training of payload specialists participation in the areas of medical, scientific, and engineering experiments As part of its responsibility for the Space Transportation System, JSC operates a Customer Integration Office for managing the integration of the customer's payl'oad into the STS. The customer may be NASA, the Department of Defense, or commercial organizations. A payload integration manager is assigned to each customer to serve as a single point of contact between the customer and the STS for technical integration. JSC maintains aircraft at nearby Ellington Field for astronaut training, research programs, and administrative travel. The space center also operates the White Sands Test Facilities at Las Cruces, New Mexico, where propulsion systems tests are conducted. The scope of the Space Shuttle program is a worldwide project. Hundreds of contractor and subcontractor firms throughout the United States and Canada provide Space Shuttle hardware and software. Space agencies in Europe develop certain experiments and equipment. Other NASA centers with Space Shuttle responsibilities include the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida lau rich and recovery and Marshall 'pace Flight Center in Alabama for main engines, booster rockets, and external tank.

The solid rocket boosters fire and Space Shuttle Columbia lifts off from Launch Pad 39Aat Kennedy s p i c e Center, Florida, on mission STS-4.

This insignia was designed for the Spacelab 1 mission STS-9. The flight, which included experiments from many nations, was a joint maneuver of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

Commander Vance S. Brand and pilot Robert F. Overmyer on the flight deck of Space Shuttle Columbia during mission STS-5.

FACILITIES
Of the 100 buildings that comprise JSC, many contain equipment unique to spacecraft and manned space flight programs. The following are usually open to the public.

Visitor Center
Actual and replica rockets, spacecraft, space suits, and memorabilia from every facet of the Nation's space program fill the Visitor Center where films are shown daily. The Center is open every day of the year, except Christmas Day, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mission Control Center

From this control center all manned space flights are controlled after lift-off. The rows of consoles in the room are manned by flight controllers, specialists in all phases of manned spacecraft systems. They study data, monitor progress, and provide information and advice during a mission. When missions are not in progress, simulations of mission configurations and events are run to train the controllers and astronauts for flight conditions.

Visitors view the LTA-8, a trainer version of the Lunar Module. During the Apollo Program, the LTA-8 was, in every respect but propulsion, a working Lunar Module.

Lunar Sample Building

The major portion of the 800 pounds of lunar material collected on the Moon during thesix Apollo missions is stored and tested here. Visitors can view types of lunar samples gathered and the processing procedures used at JSC. Several Iunarsamples can beseen in thesterile cabinets of the laboratory.

Mission Simulation and Training Facility Mockup and Integration Laboratory

Visitors can view the full-scale trainers used by astronauts and engineers to prepare for the three Skylab missions flown in 1973-74. Featured are the command module, Apollo telescope mount, multiple docking adapter, airlock, and orbital workshop trainers. These are high-fidelity trainers made more realistic with suited manikins placed throughout. Audio tapes explaining the functions of each trainer are located in the respective areas. Astronauts use thisfacilityfrequentlyto become familiar with the flight deck and middeck of the Orbiter. The hi-fidelity Orbiter forward compartment can be pivoted vertically into launch position orcan remain horizontal in the landing position. Engineers use this trainer for stowage fit-check and refitting for various missions. The payload bay section is used to fit-check payload mockups.

The Shuttle Mockupand Integration Laboratory is a facility frequently used by astronauts in training and by planners of inspace activity. The plywood fullscale rnockup of the Orbiter's cabin and cargo bay section, with vertical stabilizer a n d thruster mockups, is on view to the public.

Space Shuttle simulators are realistic flight trainers used by astronauts, engineers, and technicians to prepare for flights on the Space Shuttle. The motion base simulator is a duplicate of the flight compartment of the Orbiter and simulates in great detail the sights, sounds, and feel of the cockpit during the launch and re-entry phases of a flight. The fixed base simulator primarily depicts the on-orbit operations sights and sounds experienced b y the missions specialists controlling payload operations. As a service to educators, JSC has established a Teachers' Resource Center to serve teachers in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico. The purpose of the center is to provide educators with an accessible source of aerospace materials suitable for use in classrooms and for other educational or instructional applications. Facilities include a slide library and duplication equipment; video tape programs with equipment for viewing and duplication; lesson plans that can be duplicated, and NASA publications and lithographs relative to the space program. The Lunar Sample Education Program is available to educators after they are properly certified.
A father and son view two Moon rocks on display in the Visitor Center. The samples were obtained during the Apollo 12 and Apollo 15 expeditions to the Moon. In all, astronauts brought back more than 800 pounds of lunar material.

Other special-purpose buildings are not open to the public. The Space Environment Simulation Laboratory contains vacuum tanks in which hardware can be subjected to space-like vacuum and to temperature extremes. In the Vibration and Acoustic Test Facility hardware is buffeted by devices that simulate the shakes and sounds of launch and landing; in contrast, the Anechoic Chamber Test Facility is completely silent. Thick foam baffles covering walls, floor, and ceiling absorb stray signals during spacecraft communication tests. The Weightless Environment Training Facility, known as the WET-F, consists of a water tank that simulates zero gravity. A full-scale mockup of the Orbiter payload bay can be placed in the tank. The WET-F is an essential tool in the design, testing, and development of spacecraft and crew equipment, and in determination of extravehicular capabilities and workload limits. For astronauts, training in the WET-F provides familiarity with planned crew activities and dynamics of body motion under weightless conditions.

Astronaut George D. Nelson, mission specialist on mission 41-C, rehearses in the WET-F for an extravehicular task. He is equipped in this underwater simulation with a mockup of the manned maneuvering unit, a gaseous-nitrogen-propelled backpack device.

THE FUTURE
As NASA scientists, engineers, and technicians develop the Nation's first permanently manned space station, their vision boldly stretches to new frontiers. In 1986, the National Commission on Space issued a report proposing a step-by-step effort for America's future space activities. The Commission wants the United States to open the inner solar system for scientific inquiry, exploration, and enterprise leading to human outposts on the Moon by 2005 and on Mars by 2015.

Dr. Thomas 0 . Paine, former NASA Administrator and Commission Chairman, declared when issuing the report ". . .the power of technology is so great, not only today, but as we see it advancing over the next 20 years, that it will be the decision of America, and the leadership that we provide to the rest of the world, that will determine what the world of the 21st century will be like. We're not predicting it, we aresimply trying tosay what we can make happen."

An artist's concept of the Space Station.

NASA- JSC