Trung tâm vũ trụ Johnson

Trung tâm vũ trụ mang tên Lyndon B. Johnson (Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center) (JSC) là một trung tâm của NASA cho các chuyến bay vào vũ trụ có người lái (Trước đây là Manned Spacecraft Center). Trung tâm đảm nhận việc huấn luyện phi hành gian, nghiên cứu và điều khiển bay. Trung tâm được xây dựng và bán cho NASA bởi Joseph L. Smith & Associates, Inc. Nó được đổi tên để vinh danh cố tổng thống Hoa Kỳ và người gốc Texas, Lyndon B. Johnson, theo một đạo luật của Thượng viện Hoa Kỳ vào ngày 19 tháng 2 năm 1973.

Trung tâm là một khu phức hợp bao gồm 100 tòa nhà được xây dựng trên một khu vực rộng  tại Clear Lake Area, Houston, năm 1967 nó còn có biệt danh là "Thành phố Không gian". Trung tâm là nơi đặt trung tâm chỉ huy sứ mệnh mang tên Christopher C. Kraft, chỉ huy và điều hành các sứ mệnh vũ trụ có người lái kể từ sau sứ mệnh Gemini 4 (bao gồm Apollo, Skylab, Apollo–Soyuz, and Space Shuttle). Trung tâm thường được gọi trong tín hiệu liên lạc radio là "Mission Control" hay "Houston".

Trung tâm vũ trụ có người lái-Manned Spacecraft Center tiền thân là Space Task Group (STG) đứng đầu là Robert Gilruth, được thành lập để điều phối chương trình tàu vũ trụ có người lái của Hoa Kỳ. STG là nhóm các kỹ sư thuộc Trung tâm nghiên cứu Langley tại Hampton, Virginia, nhưng được điều hành bởi Trung tâm vũ trụ Goddard ngay ngoại ô Washington, D.C. Để bắt kịp với sự phát triển của chương trình vũ trụ có người lái của Mỹ, năm 1961, trung tâm được mở rộng và di chuyển đến cơ sở mới. Cơ sở mới được xây dựng vào năm 1962 và 1963 trên đất do công ty dầu mỏ Humble Oil tài trợ, thông qua trường đại học Rice, và bắt đầu đi vào hoạt động từ tháng 9 năm 1963. Hiện nay, JSC là một trong số 10 cơ sở điều hành của NASA.

Lịch sử 

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. 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. 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.

Lựa chọn vị trí xây dựng trung tâm 
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. 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 . 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. 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:

 Jacksonville, Florida (Green Cove Springs Naval Air Station)
 Tampa, Florida (MacDill Air Force Base)
 Baton Rouge, Louisiana
 Shreveport, Louisiana (Barksdale Air Force Base)
 Houston, Texas (San Jacinto Ordnance Depot)
 Victoria, Texas (FAA Airport; former Foster Air Force Base)
 Corpus Christi, Texas (Naval Air Station Corpus Christi)
 San Diego, California (Camp Elliott)
 San Francisco, California (Benicia Arsenal)

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. 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, went so far as to make separate presentations to Webb and the headquarters staff, so Webb added these additional sites to the final review.

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. 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."

The land for the new facility was  donated to Rice by the Humble Oil company, situated in an undeveloped area  southeast of Houston adjacent to Clear Lake near Galveston Bay. At the time, the land was used to graze cattle. Immediately after Webb's announcement, Gilruth and his staff began planning the move from Langley to Houston, using what would grow to  of leased office and laboratory space in 11 scattered sites. On November 1, the conversion of the Task Group to MSC became official.

Construction and early operations 
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. NASA purchased an additional  so the property would face a highway, and the total included another  reserve drilling site. 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. 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:The  facility was officially opened for business in September 1963.

Mission Control Center 

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.

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 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.

NASA named the center the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center on ngày 14 tháng 4 năm 2011.

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 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. 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.

In June 2019, the restored Apollo Mission Control Center was opened for tourists.

Space Shuttle program 

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.

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.

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

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 crewed 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. The facility provides preflight training in becoming familiar with crew activities and with the dynamics of body motion under weightless conditions.

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 Space Shuttle landing site and would have been the coordinating facility for the Constellation program, which was planned to replace the 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  is located on the campus.

Personnel and training 

About 3,200 civil servants, including 110 astronauts, 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. As of May 2018, the center's 12th director is Mark S Geyer, the first being Robert Gilruth.

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. 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. 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.  Candidates maintain their flying proficiency by flying 15 hours per month in NASA's fleet of T-38 jets based at nearby Ellington Field.

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.

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 who 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.

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.

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.

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.

Memorial Grove 
Astronauts, center directors, and other NASA employees are memorialized in a Memorial Grove near the main entrance and visitor badging center (building 110).  Trees dedicated to the memory of astronauts and center directors are in a round cluster closest to the entrance, other employees are memorialized behind along a road on the facility leading to the main entrance.

Space Shuttle retirement 
JSC put in a bid to display one of the retired Space Shuttle orbiters, but was not selected.

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Lyndon B. Johnson