Happy 65 Years: NASA’s Johnson Space Center Then and Now

NASA 6 Min Read Happy 65 Years: NASA’s Johnson Space Center Then and Now View of the Manned Spacecraft Center during construction in 1963. Sixty-five years ago, a bold vision took root in Houston: a NASA center dedicated to human spaceflight. Since its founding, NASA’s Johnson Space Center has helped lead the nation’s human spaceflight program, supporting missions from Project Mercury through Artemis. Today, Johnson serves as NASA’s Center of Excellence for Human Spaceflight, and its workforce is helping to usher in a Golden Age of innovation and discovery. Johnson is home to America’s astronaut corps, the Mission Control Center, and the teams behind some of humanity’s greatest achievements in space. As NASA’s human spaceflight programs evolve, Johnson remains at the forefront of these efforts. Houston is home to NASA’s Low Earth Orbit Program, comprising International Space Station operations and commercial partnerships and destinations in low Earth orbit. For missions beyond low Earth orbit, Johnson houses the Moon Base Program⁠ and Orion Program⁠, while NASA’s Human Health and Performance Directorate⁠ and Human Research Program⁠ work to protect crew health and performance as missions extend farther from Earth. On May 25, 1961, the center’s story began when President John F. Kennedy gave a speech before a joint session of Congress, committing the nation to achieve the goal of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth before the end of the decade. NASA’s Space Task Group, in charge of America’s human spaceflight program, was already working on Project Mercury to put astronauts into Earth orbit, but with the additional task of a human lunar landing, it soon outgrew its facilities at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The agency decided it needed a dedicated field center for human spaceflight and on Sept. 19, 1961, after evaluating multiple sites around the country, NASA announced that the new Manned Spacecraft Center would be built near Houston, Texas. The agency established the center on Nov. 1, 1961, and construction began in 1962. In 1973, it officially became NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in honor of President Johnson for his ardent support of America’s space program from its foundation. Manned Spacecraft Center to Johnson Space Center The Manned Spacecraft Center officially opened on Nov. 1, 1961, and while construction continued on the Clear Lake site, employees worked in 13 leased buildings in southeast Houston. The design phase took six months and construction of the first buildings took 18 months, with the first employees moving onto the new site in late 1963. Over the decades, the number of buildings grew, and continues to grow, to meet the demands of new spaceflight programs. View of the Manned Spacecraft Center during construction in 1963. Aerial view of NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Space Center Houston in 2025. NASA/James Blair Project Management Building Construction of the nine-story Project Management Building began on Dec. 5, 1962, and concluded on March 15, 1964. Robert Gilruth, the center’s first director, moved into his office on March 5, 1964, on the top floor of the edifice then known as Building 2. The building swapped numbers with the Public Affairs Building, originally known as Building 1, on June 30, 1974. The main administration building, called Building 2 until 1974, during President Richard Nixon’s visit in 1974. Employees pose for a group photo in front of Building 1 in 2024.NASA/Robert Markowitz Photo taken in 1964 from the main administration building toward the city of Nassau Bay. The same view from roughly the same vantage point in 2026, showing the mature oak trees and the extensive development outside the center’s gates. Neutral buoyancy spacewalk training The use of neutral buoyancy for spacewalk training began with the Gemini XII mission in 1966. In 1967, workers installed an above-ground circular pool called the Water Immersion Facility for astronaut training that supported Apollo and pre-Shuttle spacewalk training.. To accommodate the larger size of the space shuttle payload bay, spacewalk training moved to the Weightless Environment Training Facility iin 1980. Astronauts used it for nearly all shuttle spacewalk training until 1997, when the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory in the Sonny Carter Training Center entered operations for both shuttle and space station training, as well as testing future space suits and lunar surface activities.  Astronaut candidate Anna L. Fisher trains at the Water Immersion Facility in Houston in 1979. Exploration geologists and Artemis science officers Trevor Graff, left, and Angela Garcia carry out a lunar training development run at NASA’s Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL) in Houston. This testing run marked the first time in the Artemis program that two geologists were suited up simultaneously for lunar geology training in the NBL. Lunar Receiving Laboratory (Building 37) To prevent any back contamination from any possible lunar microorganisms, NASA designed the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in Building 37. Construction began in August 1966, with the first employees moving into their offices in June 1967. The astronauts from Apollo 11, 12, and 14 completed their three-week postflight quarantine in the lab, and scientists in the various laboratories studied the lunar samples all the Apollo missions returned. Following the Apollo program, Life Sciences division and laboratories moved into the building until they relocated in 2017. Following demolition of Building 37, the Lunar Receiving Park, dedicated in 2026, honors the history of the laboratory. Building 37 that housed the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in May 1969, two months before the first Moon landing. Aerial view of the Lunar Receiving Park built on the site of Building 37 in 2026. NASA/Robert Markowitz A scientist views an Apollo 11 Moon rock at the Lunar Receiving Laboratory in 1969. Spacecraft mockup training facilities (Building 9) Construction of Building 9 began in December 1965 and finished in March 1967. The building initially housed the Technical Services Facility. In April 1969, workers converted a portion of the building to include a mock lunar surface scene, complete with a mockup of a Lunar Module, used by Apollo 11 astronauts. To support the space shuttle program, workers completed an addition that housed the Mockup and Integration Laboratory in September 1974. Astronauts for all 135 shuttle missions used the mockups for training. An extension on the northwest side of thebuilding begun in 1986 and completed in 1988. It received mockups of Space Station Freedom and later of the International Space Station, and the building was renamed the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility. Today, the facility also houses training mockups of NASA’s Orion spacecraft, commercial mockups, and the Active Response Gravity Offload System, known as ARGOS.  Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, left, and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin train for their lunar spacewalk in Building 9 in April 1969. The Space Vehicle Mockup Facility in Building 9 in 2026NASA/Robert Markowitz Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise trains for his lunar spacewalk in Building 29 using the six-degrees of freedom simulator in January 1970. In the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility in Building 9 in 2026, NASA astronaut Nicole Mann evaluates a new spacesuit design using the Active Response Gravity Offload System, or ARGOS.NASA/David DeHoyos Mission Simulation and Training Facility (Building 5) Construction of Building 5, the Mission Simulation and Training Facility completed inApril 1965 and began supporting missions beginning with Gemini IV in June 1965. The building originally contained the Gemini spacecraft simulator and a Gemini translation and docking simulator. Apollo program simulators, including a command module and lunar module simulator, began arriving in December 1965. From 1967 and 1978, astronauts used the Water Immersion Facility for spacewalk training. In the early 1970s, the building also housed full-scale, high-fidelity trainers and simulators of Skylab’s components, which all nine Skylab astronauts used for mission training. In the late 1970s, the facility underwent major renovations to support the space shuttle program, with the addition of fixed base and motion base simulators. The Space Station Training Facility addition, completed in 1991, supported first Space Station Freedom and now International Space Station crew training, and also contains Orion and Starliner simulators.   The Gemini Translation and Docking Simulator in Building 5 in March 1965 used for astronauts to train on docking with Agena target vehicles. NASA astronauts Stephanie Wilson, left, Jonny Kim, and Randy Bresnik inspect the Orion spacecraft simulator in Building 5 in 2022.NASA/Radislav Sinyak Mission Control Center Construction of Building 30 housing the Mission Control Center began in June 1963 and finished in November 1964, with technicians installing the real-time computer in April 1964 and the first employees moving in two months later. The center initially housed two mission operations control rooms to support Gemini and Apollo missions and simulations. By January 1965, the center monitored the uncrewed Gemini 2 mission and the crewed Gemini 3 mission in a flight following mode.   In June 1965, Houston had full control of Gemini IV and has controlled each of NASA’s human space flight missions ever since. The control center received a major upgrade to its computer systems in the mid-1970s to support upcoming space shuttle flights. On April 4, 2011, the building was renamed the Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. Mission Control Center, in honor of the man who created the concepts still in use today in human spaceflight control. The control center continues to support the space station around the clock as well as Artemis missions taking humans back to the Moon.  The exterior of Building 30 that houses the Mission Control Center during final stages of construction in September 1964. Building 30 in 2026, showing the space station building expansion at left and the plaque naming the facility after Christopher Kraft. NASA/Sumer Loggins Flight Control Room 1 at the Mission Control Center during the Gemini IV mission in June 1965, the first mission control from Houston. NASA’s Artemis II flight control team works on console in the White Flight Control Room in the Mission Control Center during the mission’s lunar flyby on April 6, 2026.NASA/Robert Markowitz About the AuthorJohn UriJohnson Space Center Share Details Last Updated Nov 02, 2026 Related TermsJohnson Space CenterGeneral Explore More 1 min read Halloween Aboard the International Space Station  Article 4 days ago 5 min read NASA-funded Study Details One of Oldest Mars Meteorites Ever Found Article 4 days ago 2 min read NIH–NASA QuSAFE Challenge Article 4 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Missions Humans in Space Climate Change Solar System