Fun for Kids: Houston and NASA’s Johnson Space Center

Named for President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, is the nucleus of NASA's space operations. JSC has helped coordinate such historic efforts as the Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab missions, and it is leading the design and construction of the International Space Station. Explore the Mission Control Center, which directs all shuttle missions, or meet the members of the astronaut corps, all of whom are trained at JSC, from the center's Web site.

Space Center Houston is the official visitor's hub for the Johnson Space Center. Guests to the Space Center Houston can enjoy a bigger-than-life movie about the risks, excitement and accomplishments related to space flight on a five-story IMAX screen, or check out such notable artifacts as the Apollo 17 Command Module and the Apollo-Soyuz Trainer.

Among the many notable operations led from Mission Control in Houston was Apollo 13, famously dubbed "The Successful Failure." Apollo 13 was to be NASA's third lunar landing, but an oxygen tank exploded, damaging another oxygen tank, threatening the crew's air supply, and ruining all hopes of returning to the moon on that trip. Astronauts James A. Lovell, Fred W. Haise, and Jack Swigert, along with astronauts and other crew on the ground, focused on making the flight a rescue mission instead. The "Successful Failure" title resulted from the fact that the astronauts returned home safely, but failed to land on the moon.

Just as NASA spends its time seeking the riches of space, another well-known form of exploration is quite popular in Houston: oil exploration. Houston's Offshore Energy Center teaches visitors about the potential of the energy resources underneath the ocean and tracks accomplishments in the energy industry. Learn about the history and accomplishments that led to offshore drilling, or take a virtual tour of the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum to see how real offshore drilling rigs operate.