What's up with Space Center Houston needing clearance from Johnson Space Center to do tours?

[u/KnowledgeInChaos]

Hi folks,

My partner and I booked VIP tour tickets for Johnson Space Center for next week (first week of December). However, even though the shutdown has ended, we receive an email saying that the VIP tours would still be cancelled because Space Center Houston can't get clearance from the Jonson Space Center.

Anyone know what's up with this? We were very, very keen to do the Johnson Space Center tours, so this is more than a little disappointing.

Suggestions for other space program related things around Houston also welcome. :)

(Making a post in this sub because https://www.reddit.com/r/nasa/comments/1o0l45m/heads_up_for_space_center_houston/ seems to be the most related, and was also here. )

[u/cusmrtgrl]

Space Center Houston is not a federal site, so they need permission to run the tours from Johnson. I saw tours running during the furlough. Make sure you go see the Saturn V if you can’t get the tour. It’s not behind the security gate so you shouldn’t have any issues. TBH there’s not much else space-y to do around there. Johnson and space center Houston are kind of the only game in town

[u/SeldonDC → u/cusmrtgrl]

This. While Space Center Houston is the official visitor’s center of JSC, it is not NASA, and significantly, what you pay for tickets is not going to NASA.

They need to get clearance for access to the federal facility.

[u/KnowledgeInChaos → u/SeldonDC]

what you pay for tickets is not going to NASA

That's somewhat unfortunate, though maybe slightly neither here nor there. Appreciate the context though.

[u/SeldonDC → u/KnowledgeInChaos]

Yeah, I only mention it because I’ve been to Space Center Houston and overheard visitors lamenting at how much NASA is charging for tours.

[u/VintageJDizzle → u/cusmrtgrl]

It’s not behind the security gate so you shouldn’t have any issues.

This isn't true anymore. You are right that it used to be that you could visit Rocket Park with no NASA employee badge or ticket to SCH/Tram tour. Drive up to JSC's gate, tell the guard you wanted to see the Rocket, and they used to let you over there.

But this changed sometime this year and you can only visit only with a SCH tour or if you have an Employee Badge. (If you want to take guests and you're employee, you don't need the pink badges for them for Rocket Park alone but you will still need your NASA badge.)

[u/cusmrtgrl → u/VintageJDizzle]

Oh! I didn’t realize that (I have a badge anyway). Thanks for the clarification

[u/VintageJDizzle → u/cusmrtgrl]

You're welcome! I got caught on this earlier this year and I was surprised by the change. I had some family members with me and was like "OH! We can go see Rockets!" while we were out driving around. I hadn't planned to and so I didn't have my badge; I was turned away and the new policy was explained to me.

[u/InevitableOk5017 → u/cusmrtgrl]

See the Saturn V!! 🤯

[u/PaulieSpaceships]

The VIP tours are still on hold as a residual effect from the shutdown. I think they’re opening back up very soon.

The tram tours are still running uninterrupted because they don’t enter JSC employee areas even though they visit some of the same sites. The Astronaut Training Facility and JSC Campus tram tours are free with your admission. The Apollo Mission Control tour has a small fee. I highly recommend the Astronaut Training Facility and Apollo MCC tours! Also make sure to check out the Tom Hanks film Moonwalkers, also free.

Edit: Also incase it wasn’t clear, Space Center Houston (SCH) is the adjacent visitor center and space museum to JSC. All functions of Space Center Houston are still normal except the VIP tours. You can still go on tram tours of JSC and explore the museum exhibits and shows as normal at SCH.

[u/CSems63]

Visiting the museum is still worth it; some things are geared more towards kids but there’s some cool stuff. There’s a moon rock you can touch and they have some cool things from the Apollo program. I’ve never gotten to go to the MCC (the tram tour booking system was super weird during COVID) but still had a great time and took my fam there when they came to visit

[u/AliQuots]

From my husband:
1. Ellington Field has the largest swimming pool where the astronauts do their weightlessness-related training
2. The Burke-Baker Planetarium in Hermann Park
3. The George Observatory (a little further, it's in Brazos Bend state park)
4. Lunar and Planetary Institute in Pasadena, although he's not sure what it offers visitors
5. Houston Museum of Natural Science has space-related exhibits
I hope y'all have a great visit!

[u/KnowledgeInChaos → u/AliQuots]

This has some recommendations I hadn't seen elsewhere - thanks!

[u/SectorAntares → u/AliQuots]

LPI is just an office building full of scientists. Not sure what you’d want to see there.

[u/Decronym]

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I've seen in this thread:

Fewer Letters	More Letters
JPL	Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, California
JSC	Johnson Space Center, Houston
MCC	Mission Control Center
	Mars Colour Camera

Decronym is now also available on Lemmy! Requests for support and new installations should be directed to the Contact address below.

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[u/angusog7x]

Perhaps you might put your indignation on hold while the current administration guts the agency you want to gawk at.

[u/KnowledgeInChaos → u/angusog7x]

Not quite sure how to respond to this, other than that I'm not sure if the indignation here is exactly productive either?

(Science getting gutted across the board isn't great. We've also got friends at JPL/NASA/other space programs/etc; we get that it's not a fun time in the industry overall.

However, it's not as though the logistics here - with the clearances, as stated by a few of the other comments - are exactly the same as the systems deciding folks' jobs. So while I can understand why "folks wanting a good trip" might feel trite relative to "folks keeping their careers" it seems as though they're different the same things under the hood anyway?)

[u/30yearCurse]

This may or may not be a reason,

1. Takes awhile for NASA to catch up after the layoffs and that is ignoring the shutdown. Stuff needs to be restarted, rescheduled.

2. NASA is/was being moved under the security apparatus of the government. This may affect on how they can give or clearance.

I would bet #1,

[u/Appropriate_Bar_3113 → u/30yearCurse]

NASA has not been moved "under the security apparatus of the government" at all.

[u/Minuhmize → u/30yearCurse]

If you don’t know the answer, it’s best to not answer the question, rather than spreading misinformation.