Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The place behind the detail.
Mission Control, flown spacecraft and a shuttle on its carrier aircraft offer several ways into the story of human spaceflight in Houston.
On this page
Mission Control in Houston
NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center opened in Houston in 1963, and from June 1965 its Mission Control guided American crewed flights. The centre was renamed for President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973.
The Apollo-era Mission Control room was restored and reopened to visitors in 2019; it can be seen on a separately booked tram tour.
Spacecraft that flew
Space Center Houston’s galleries hold spacecraft from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programmes, including Faith 7 and the Apollo 17 command module America, as well as Moon rocks.
At Rocket Park on the tram tour, a Saturn V rocket lies on its side under cover. From 1977 to 2004 it was displayed outdoors at the entrance to the Johnson Space Center.
The shuttle era
Independence Plaza pairs the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft NASA 905 with a full-size shuttle replica, open to visitors since January 2016.
This history belongs to NASA and to the many people who built and flew these spacecraft. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
