HOUSTON — Johnson Space Center is celebrating NASA’s 60th anniversary this weekend with a free open house.
It’s the first time in years the public will been allowed in certain areas.
“We’re opening our doors for the first time since 2012,” said Johnson Space Center Director Mark Geyer. “It’s a great opportunity for folks to see what NASA’s doing in their own backyard.”
Thousands visit Space Center Houston and JSC annually, but public tours are normally limited to certain areas where some things are only seen from confined walkways.
Photos: An inside look at NASA's Johnson Space Center
The open house will offer visitors a more up-close-and-personal experience like the ability to look inside a mock-up of the International Space Station. That’s where astronauts learn how to live in space before leaving Earth.
“It’s basically the same thing in outer space,” Geyer said.
Buildings that have opened since the last open house will be part of the experience, too, like a lab where researchers study the impact of space travel on humans.
“We’re going to be training the brain to become a faster adapter,” one researcher said.
Various flight command centers, like the one where shuttle programs were monitored, will be on view. Experts in a variety of areas will answer questions about NASA’s past accomplishments and upcoming missions.
“I give a speech early, and then we’ll have speakers on our space station plan, commercial crew plans, Orion plans,” Geyer said. “Not everybody knows, but Johnson is actually the curation facility for all samples we bring back from outer space.”
Find out more about the Johnson Space Center open house here.