what it is today. “Let’s hope we can do that again,” he said. “It would be nice to keep and maintain the Johnson Space Center as a large chunk of what we do in space.” Johnson Space Center has created a sense of pride among Bay Area resi- dents, so much so that even streets and businesses have space-related names, Mitchell said. “That’s just how Texans are,” he said. “Everybody’s proud to be a part of it.”
here and not be the energy capital of the world?” Mitchell said. “That innovation has come from the space industry.” Mitchell said the Johnson Space Cen- ter accounts for about %-% of the Bay Area’s workforce today, though it was once much higher. Despite the decline, the space center is still largely the reason why the Bay Area is the way it is today, Mitchell said. “The Johnson Space Center is still the heart and soul of this region and still makes it tick,” he said. “If it weren’t for Johnson Space Center, all these small businesses wouldn’t exist.” Anderson agreed the Johnson Space Center played a huge role in making the Bay Area
Shuttle program, the Johnson Space Center’s budget was about . billion, Mitchell said. When the program ended, several Johnson Space Center employees were let go. Many wondered what would become of the Bay Area considering the Johnson Space Center’s importance to the economy, Mitchell said. BAHEP partnered with the state to cross-train the space center’s skilled employees. Of the about , laid-o workers BAHEP was able to account for, % went into petrochemical, medical and related industries, and those industries have ourished as a result, he said. “Without NASA, would we have a medical center the way it is today? Would we just have oil and gas
Johnson Space Center’s annual bud- get is about . billion, . billion of which is for salaries, Mitchell said. NASA’s funding has uxed over the years, but its existing budget is about billion. When adjusted for ination, it is the highest budget NASA has seen in several years but equals less than .% of all annual federal spending, Mitchell said. “We’re not going to gripe about the funding because we’re at the highest level of funding since the Apollo pro- gram, but you gotta put it in perspec- tive,” Mitchell said. SKILLEDWORKFORCE NASA’s Space Shuttle program ran from to and included shut- tles such as Columbia, Challenger and Endeavor. Crews aboard these cras helped repair satellites and construct the ISS. At the height of the Space
Tell us what you think. Comment at communityimpact.com .
S O U T H P O L E DESTINATION A landing spot for the Nova-C lunar lander has not been determined, but one possibility is the south pole near the Shackleton crater, which is as big as Houston’s 610 loop. SOURCES: NASA, INTUITIVEMACHINES/ COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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COMPOSITE PHOTO FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY. PHOTOCOURTESY NASA/©GOOGLE EARTH PRO
A N I N T U I T I V E MACHINE
Liquid oxygen and liquidmethane engine
Soft touchdown with a descent of about 1 meter per second
Being developed and tested at the Houston Spaceport
Can land anywhere on the lunar surface
Capable of delivering 220-pound payload to the moon
A E R O S PA C E FOCUSED AEROSPACE COMPANY LOCATIONS The Bay Area is home to about 40 aerospace companies working to help NASA return to the moon. SOURCE: BAY AREA HOUSTON ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
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Nova-C will gather data for one lunar day, or 13.5 Earth days, and die in the coldness of the lunar night.
Nova-C will eject a camera to photograph itself landing, something never done before.
About six days later, Nova-C will enter the moon’s orbit and use about 400 seconds of thrust to descend.
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SOURCE: INTUITIVEMACHINES/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER RENDERING COURTESY INTUITIVE MACHINES
July21, 2011: The Space Shuttle programends. Thousands of Johnson Space Center employees are laid off.
Dec. 11, 2017: Pres- ident Donald Trump directs NASA to return to themoon.
July16, 2021: Intuitive Machines launches its lunar lander, Nova-C, to themoon to gather data for NASA.
2024: NASA astro- nauts return to the moon.
2030: Astronauts fly toMars.
May31, 2019: IntuitiveMa- chineswins aNASA contract to build a lunar lander.
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