Space Exploration December 2016 In this issue: Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center 1 NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston has existed for over 50 years. It has led the world on a continuing adventure of human exploration, discovery, and achievement. The center has played an important role in bringing the United States into the 21st century through technological inventions and scientific discoveries. The people who work at JSC have made advances in science, technology, engineering, and medicine. This has helped people explore our world and outer space and gain endless knowledge from that exploration. 2 The Johnson Space Center was established in 1961 as the Manned Spaceflight Center. It was the home and Mission Control Center for the U. S. human spaceflight program. In 1973, it was renamed in honor of the late President, and Texas native, Lyndon B. Johnson. The Johnson Center's complex occupies 1,620 acres of land southeast of downtown Houston. JSC presently serves as the home of mission control, lead for NASA's International Space Station operations and missions, home to the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, and base for many other advanced human exploration projects. 3 The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center holds several artifacts that are worth a visit. For example, several historic space capsules are on display at the space center. They include the Faith 7 Mercury capsule flown by Gordon Cooper; Gemini 5, flown by Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad; and the Apollo 17 Command Module, flown to the Moon and back by Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt. NASA's latest-generation space capsule, Orion, is also on display. 4 Along with the space capsules, the JSC holds the famous Lunar Module; it hangs from the ceiling. This spacecraft, named LTA-8, served as a test unit for astronaut training. The spacecraft from which six astronauts descended to the surface of the M