Manned Spacecraft Center established as the first U.S. center devoted to human spaceflight

NASA announced the selection of Houston for the Manned Spacecraft Center in 1961 and the facility opened in 1963 to centralize astronaut training, spacecraft development support, and mission operations. The center-renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in 1973-was created specifically to support human spaceflight programs, marking NASA's first purpose-built center dedicated to those activities. Since its opening, JSC has been the primary hub for U.S. human spaceflight mission control and astronaut training.