The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) welcomed media teams to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, providing a rare look inside the massive, high-security facility where research and astronaut training take place, according to TVA Nouvelles.
Spanning a sprawling campus with a workforce exceeding 12,000 people, the Houston center serves as the most important center for managing American space missions. For over six decades, historic figures including American astronaut Neil Armstrong and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield have trained at the site, with their portraits lining the corridors of the complex.
Inside the International Space Station Control Room
The first major stop for visiting media was the Space Station Control Room, where flight controllers maintain round-the-clock surveillance of astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) flying over 400 kilometers above Earth, as reported by TVA Nouvelles. Approximately ten controllers occupy specialized consoles dedicated to critical systems such as communications, computing, and robotics.
“The vast majority of robotic operations are controlled from the ground, either from Houston or even from the Canadian Space Agency in Saint-Hubert,” Mathieu Caron, director at the Canadian Space Agency, told TVA Nouvelles. Caron noted that astronauts remain vital for complex maneuvers, including capturing resupply capsules and conducting spacewalks.
Hangar 9 and International Crew Training
At Hangar 9 within the Johnson Space Center, full-scale mockups replicate the modules of international partner agencies to prepare spacefarers for orbital environments, according to TVA Nouvelles. Because ISS training is distributed globally, crew members travel extensively. Canadian astronaut Joshua Kutryk—assigned to the upcoming SpaceX Crew-13 mission—completed training rotations across Russia, Europe, and Japan.
For specialized Canadian hardware, training returns to home soil. “Astronauts who are going to operate Canadarm2 must all come to the Canadian Space Agency to receive advanced robotics training in order to use Canadian robotic systems,” Caron explained to TVA Nouvelles. Canadarm2, a 17-meter robotic arm built by the Canadian Space Agency, has operated on the ISS since 2001. On orbit, crews rely on English and Russian as their primary working languages.
The facility allows astronauts to simulate the weightlessness of spacewalks, known as extravehicular activities, through meticulous six-and-a-half-hour underwater sessions.
Surface controllers monitor every movement from a nearby control room, evaluating procedures and timing tasks down to the minute. Teams adjust protocols based on underwater testing to ensure absolute safety and efficiency before launch. “Astronauts in the pool acquire a fluency in executing exterior operations,” Caron stated to TVA Nouvelles.
Worth a look