NASA Johnson Space Center

NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is NASA's center to human spaceflight. Originally called the Manned Spacecraft Center, it houses human spaceflight training, research and flight control. Joseph L. Smith & Associates, Inc. built it and leased it to NASA. It was renamed in 1973 by the United States Senate to honor Lyndon B. Johnson (the late US president, and Texas native),

It is composed of 100 buildings on 1,620 acres (660ha) in the Clear Lake Area in Houston. The area was given the official name "Space City" by NASA in 1967. It houses NASA's astronaut corps and is responsible for training astronauts from the US and international partners. It is home to the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. mission control center, which has been responsible for the flight control function of every NASA human spaceflight (including Apollo, Skylab and Apollo-Soyuz) since Gemini 4. It is commonly known by its radio call sign "Mission Control" or "Houston".

JSC submitted a bid to display one the retired Space Shuttle orbiters but was turned down.

Space Shuttle Challenger, atop its Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, over JSC in 1983

Johnson Space Center and NASA Ames Research Center developed the Overset Grid-Flow software. The software simulates fluid flow around solid objects using computational fluid dynamics.

Near the main entrance and visitor badge center (building 110), a Memorial Grove is dedicated to astronauts, center directors and other NASA employees. The memorial trees to astronauts and center directors are located in the round cluster nearest the entrance. Other employees are remembered along the road leading to the main entrance.

Johnson Space Center received a $120-million extension to its agreement with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute Baylor College of Medicine for five years to study the health effects of long-duration space flight. This extension will allow for continued biomedical research to support a long-term human presence on the moon, which was initiated by NASA's Human Research Program and Johnson Space Center.

The Prebreathe Reduction Program, a program of research at the JSC, is currently being developed to improve safety and efficiency for space walks from the International Space Station.

NASA's human spaceflight-related scientific research programs are led by Johnson Space Center. Spaceflight technologies are used in many areas of medicine and energy, transport, agriculture, communications, as well as electronics.

The center's physical science research is carried out by the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science office (ARES). ARES oversees and manages all activities and functions of ARES scientists involved in basic research in space, planetary, or earth sciences. ARES engineers and scientists provide support for the human and robotic spaceflight programmes. ARES's responsibilities also include interaction with both the Office of Safety and Mission Assurance and Human Space Flight Programs.

Johnson Space Center employs approximately 3,200 civil servants, 110 astronauts included. Over 11,000 contractors make up the bulk of the workforce. Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies has taken over United Space Alliance's primary contract as of October 2014. As of 2021, Vanessa E. Wyche was the center's 13th dirctor. The first was Robert R. Gilruth.

The Johnson Space Center is where NASA's astronaut training takes place. Candidates for astronaut training receive instruction in spacecraft systems as well as basic sciences such mathematics, navigation, oceanography and orbital dynamics. Before beginning their flying instruction, candidates must complete military water survival. Candidates must also become scuba-qualified for extravehicular instruction and pass a swimming test. The Sonny Carter Training Facility is where EVA training takes place. Candidates are also trained to handle emergencies involving hyperbaric or hypobaric atmospheric pressures. They are also exposed to the microgravity associated with space flight. Candidates can maintain their flying proficiency by flying 15 hours per months in NASA's fleet T-38 jets, based at Ellington Field.