Often abbreviated to "JSC", NASA's Johnson Space Center is located in Houston, TX, and is the place astronauts are referring to when they say things like "Houston, we've had a problem."

In 1961, NASA's Space Task Group was looking for a new home and Houston was selected. The Space Task Group (and its new facility) was renamed the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) and moved to Houston in 1962. The first permanent facilities were not available until 1964.

In 1973, the MSC was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

It currently houses NASA's mission control for manned missions and is the home of NASA's astronaut's corps; much of their training takes place here.

There is a vistor's center at 1601 NASA Road, Houston, TX. About once a year JSC itself has an open day for the public.

The final selection for the location of this facility (the Manned Spacecraft Center) came down to a choice between Cambridge, Massachusetts and Houston, Texas. The former had several advantages, including ready access to space-related lab and research facilities (MIT, Draper Laboratory, Lincoln Labs, USAF ESC, etc) and a high availability of technical personnel. The latter had lots of space, access to open training areas, cheap land, and (some say most important) was in the home state of VP Lyndon Baines Johnson, a prominent space program champion looking to bolster Texas home-state support for a campaign in 1964.

Needless to say, the astronauts all got good barbecue, and if you use the phrase "Uh, Cambridge, we have a problem," people look at you funny.

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