Space Center Houston

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Space Center Houston is a science museum in Houston, Texas, and the official visitor center of NASA's Johnson Space Center, the home of Mission Control and astronaut training. It opened in 1992 and covers about 250,000 square feet. It shows more than 400 space artifacts.

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At a glance

Country: United States
Location: Houston, USA
Built: 1992
Type: Museum

Quick answers

Where is Space Center Houston?

Space Center Houston is in Houston, USA, United States.

When was Space Center Houston built?

Space Center Houston was built in 1992.

The visitor centre of NASA's Johnson Space Center, where a shuttle replica rides atop the original 747 carrier aircraft.

It is famous for letting visitors get close to real spaceflight history. You can see spacecraft that have really flown, touch a Moon rock, and walk inside a full-size space shuttle replica that sits on top of a real jumbo jet. It is run by a nonprofit foundation, not by NASA, and is a Smithsonian Affiliate museum.

Real spacecraft and Moon rocks

The Starship Gallery includes three flown capsules: Mercury 9 (Faith 7), flown by Gordon Cooper in 1963, Gemini 5, flown in 1965, and the Apollo 17 Command Module America, which orbited the Moon 75 times in 1972 during the last crewed Moon mission, with five mice on board. There is also a lunar rover trainer and a Moon rock that visitors can touch. It is one of only eight Moon rocks in the world that can be touched.

Shuttle on a jumbo jet

Independence Plaza holds a very detailed space shuttle replica named Independence, mounted on the back of a retired Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, NASA 905. Visitors can walk inside both. The replica was lifted on top of the plane in August 2014 in a heavy lift called The Rise of Independence. The museum also displays a Falcon 9 rocket booster near the plaza.

Fun facts

It is the visitor centre of NASA's Johnson Space Center, home of Mission Control.
The Apollo 17 capsule on display carried five mice around the Moon 75 times.
One Moon rock here can be touched, and only eight in the world can.
You can walk inside both the shuttle replica and the jumbo jet carrying it.