Gemini for the first American spacewalk
and the first mission controlled from
NASA's new manned spacecraft Center
which was later renamed the Johnson
Space Center since then the johnson
space center or JSC has continued its
commitment to the challenges of
America's space flight program
with the Gemini program new techniques
such as rendezvous and docking were
developed the Apollo program landed men
on the moon there in skyline three
different crews lived and worked in
America's first space station for a
total of 171 day Lydia had also use test
project American astronauts and Russian
cosmonauts brought their spacecraft
together in Earth orbit recently the
development of a reusable space shuttle
open new avenues into space from
deploying and repairing satellites
conducting scientific investigations in
a broad range of disciplines to
assembling large structures shuttle
missions have expanded our capability to
work in space as the key component of
the space transportation system the
shuttle will provide the means to carry
men and women into space well into the
21st century
the shuttle is essential to the
construction and operation of a
permanently manned space station as an
orbiting laboratory space station
freedom will provide an opportunity for
long-duration research in areas such as
life sciences materials processing and
earth observations it will also serve as
a maintenance and repair facility for
spacecraft and as the checkout and
departure point for future manned
exploration of the solar system recently
a presidential initiative identified two
long-range goals for expanding
humanity's presence in space first
astronauts will return to the moon and
establish a lunar outpost this
experience will provide the necessary
groundwork for the next step a manned
mission to Mars each goal is part of an
evolutionary approach that continues to
strengthen the foundation that will lead
us beyond Earth's boundaries throughout
the years Mission Control has become
synonymous with spaceflight in the eyes
of the general public however Mission
Control is only one segment of this
center's program activities months of
careful planning are necessary before a
spacecraft ever clears the launch tower
each phase of the mission must be
planned in precise in-depth detail in
order to make the missions safe as well
as productive activities and procedures
must be evaluated tested and retested
before flight
okay it's pretty simple today flight
crew training is an important aspect of
any mission from classroom training to
full-scale mock-ups to high fidelity
mission simulators to simulated
weightlessness in an aircraft or in a
large water tank astronauts continually
work on developing and maintaining the
skills necessary for mission success in
addition to mission related activities
this Center is currently involved in the
development of medical scientific and
engineering experiments as well as in
the design and development of Space
Station freedom basic to the success of
any program are the resources and
talents of the people involved in each
project approximately 3,500 civil
service and over 11,000 contractor
personnel formed the JSC team a majority
of contractor support is located beyond
the center's fenced boundaries in some
cases program concepts and prototypes
are developed off-site by a specialized
team of contractors and civil servants
these new developments are then tested
in facilities located on site the
advancement of science and technology is
critical to the success of America's
space program the technology developed
today for one program will become part
of the foundation for the next program
in space the human body changes as it
adapts to the lack of gravity with
long-duration spaceflight new medical
challenges will have to be met a crew
healthcare system is currently being
developed to provide the total spectrum
of health care including environmental
monitoring exercise countermeasures and
the health maintenance facility
life-support system technology continues
to expand and be refined as we learn new
ways to live and work in space currently
engineers are working on a space station
suit with a higher operating pressure
than the existing shuttle spacesuit
the new suit would eliminate
time-consuming pre-breathing operations
while providing easier on orbit
maintenance greater mobility and
simplicity and operation historically
the development of computer technology
has been crucial to manned space flight
astronauts engineers and technicians use
a variety of computerized systems which
are unique to space flight from a
real-time mainframe computer complex
which provides Mission Control with
several functions including the
processing of command trajectory and
telemetry data to the shuttles five
identical general-purpose computers
which perform guidance navigation and
control functions systems management and
payload operations these systems are
constantly evaluated and improved
computer-aided graphics software
packages provide useful tools for
engineers to use in Mission Plan extra
vehicular simulations and Space Station
design the addition of artificial
intelligence provides engineers with a
smart computer program which has
decision-making abilities in the hybrid
vision laboratory an optical system is
being developed which uses artificial
intelligence to determine the identity
and location of an object eventually
this capability will allow the computer
to process the information and decide
the course of action another area which
has benefited from artificial
intelligence capabilities is the
advancement of robotics technology on
freedom astronauts will use robots for a
variety of jobs such as construction and
maintenance
retriever activate here a
voice-activated autonomous robot is
tested on the air bearing table this
demonstration is part of the crew and
equipment retrieval system currently
being designed as a joint project
involving five divisions the Johnson
Space Center provides an arena for
ongoing studies as scientists continue
to reap the benefits from the Apollo
program a specially designed lunar
curatorial facility provides storage
testing and distribution capabilities
for the soil and rock samples gathered
from the moon as well as for the study
of meteorites at the lunar planetary
institute scientists from around the
world combined their talents with the
resources of the Institute to study the
evolution of the solar system it's
particular detail notice we've got one
creator to crater three craters the
method of management is a basic
ingredient to the success of any of
these programs overseeing the financial
management of this multi-billion dollar
operation to providing basic necessities
for overall operations JSC has
instituted a management structure which
ensures direct involvement and quality
control in program activities the
Johnson Space Center has been a part of
the Houston community for over 25 years
during that time it has continued to be
a significant factor in the local
economy in 1988 JSC and its employees
provided the Houston area with
approximately eight hundred sixty
million dollars which amounts to about
3.3 million dollars for each working
however JSC's contributions to the
community go beyond any dollar amount a
mutual dedication to the space program
has resolved in a beneficial
relationship between JSC and Houston's
business and academic community also
when in direct sunlight if the Sun is
directly in your eyes this relationship
has led to the development of
educational programs which involve both
faculty and students solid center
sunshade the Johnson Space Center is
committed to communicating its programs
to the general public a visitor's
program provides an opportunity for
people from all over the world to view
exhibits of America's space program
project by project year by year NASA
space science effort will continue to
provide a wealth of new knowledge the
JSC team of government contractors and
academia forms a valuable national
resource which is ready to meet the
current and future challenges of
America's goals in space
you