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130-468: The community is adjacent to NASA 's Johnson Space Center , as well as other major aerospace companies—including Boeing and Lockheed-Martin . The community and its adjacent areas have a high concentration of engineers due to both NASA and the local petrochemical and biomedical industries. The first substantial development on the land Clear Lake City now occupies was accomplished by James Marion West , who came to Texas from Mississippi as

260-492: A boy in 1880. West became a wealthy businessman with interests in ranching , lumber , and oil . His main ranch property and the site of his home was around the shores of Clear Lake and Clear Creek . Humble Oil (now ExxonMobil ) purchased the property from West in 1938 after oil was discovered. Most of the property remained undeveloped until, following the decision to establish the Johnson Space Center in

390-628: A decade of reliance on the Russians. In 2019, NASA announced the Artemis program , intending to return to the Moon and establish a permanent human presence. This was paired with the Artemis Accords with partner nations to establish rules of behavior and norms of space commercialization on the Moon. In 2023, NASA established the Moon to Mars Program office. The office is designed to oversee

520-667: A full-scale occupation after the Battle of Galveston Harbor in October 1862. However, at the Battle of Galveston in January 1863, a small Confederate force managed to overwhelm the Union's naval forces in the bay and retake the island. Despite this victory, the Union continued to blockade the outlets of Galveston Bay until the end of the war. Reconstruction was swift in southeast Texas. Ranching interests were major economic drivers on

650-647: A month after the Soviet Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, executing a full orbital spaceflight. NASA's first orbital spaceflight was conducted by John Glenn on February 20, 1962, in the Friendship 7 , making three full orbits before reentering. Glenn had to fly parts of his final two orbits manually due to an autopilot malfunction. The sixth and final Mercury mission was flown by Gordon Cooper in May 1963, performing 22 orbits over 34 hours in

780-583: A permanently manned space station and to do it within a decade. In 1985, NASA proposed the Space Station Freedom , which both the agency and President Reagan intended to be an international program. While this would add legitimacy to the program, there were concerns within NASA that the international component would dilute its authority within the project, having never been willing to work with domestic or international partners as true equals. There

910-657: A popular destination in La Porte, has been severely eroded, and the once prominent Brownwood neighborhood of Baytown has been abandoned. Today, the bay is a major destination for recreational and tourist activities, including boating , ecotourism , and waterfowl hunting . Atlas Air Flight 3591 was a scheduled domestic cargo flight under the Amazon Air banner between Miami International Airport and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. On February 23, 2019,

1040-499: A portion of the bridge, causing a diesel fuel spill, and causing a temporary power outage on the island. Two people were knocked off of the barge or jumped off, but they were quickly rescued. As a result of the collision, the bridge was closed. The barge, which reportedly has a capacity of 30,000 U.S. gal (110,000 L), spilled between 1,000 U.S. gal (3,800 L) and 2,000 U.S. gal (7,600 L) of oil into Galveston Bay. Some spilled oil stayed on top of

1170-650: A possible source of antimatter at the center of the Milky Way and observing that the majority of gamma-ray bursts occur outside of the Milky Way galaxy. The Chandra X-ray Observatory was launched from the Columbia on STS-93 in 1999, observing black holes, quasars , supernova , and dark matter . It provided critical observations on the Sagittarius A* black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy and

1300-473: A price of $ 2,644,438. The police departments of Houston, Pasadena, and Taylor Lake Village serve sections of Clear Lake City. The Houston Police Department serves areas of Clear Lake City within the City of Houston limits. The Clear Lake Patrol Division serves the portion of Clear Lake City in Houston. Pasadena Police Department is the police department for Pasadena. The police department for Taylor Lake Village

1430-568: A significant recreation and tourism industry, especially as a result of its proximity to major population centers. Over 40% of Greater Houston residents participate annually in hiking and swimming along the bay, while 20% go fishing and 15% go boating. The five counties surrounding the bay are home to 88,000 registered pleasure crafts . Fishing expenditures (such as the purchase of fishing bait or lodging ) along Galveston Bay and Sabine Lake generate approximately $ 650 million annually. The recreational fishing industry supports over 3,000 jobs in

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1560-490: A significant role in the history of Texas . Galveston Island is home to the city of Galveston , the earliest major settlement in southeast Texas and the state's largest city toward the end of the nineteenth century. While a devastating hurricane in 1900 hastened Galveston's decline, the subsequent rise of Houston as a major trade center, facilitated by the dredging of the Houston Ship Channel across

1690-540: A space station since the agency was created. In 1973, following the end of the Apollo lunar missions, NASA launched its first space station, Skylab , on the final launch of the Saturn   V. Skylab reused a significant amount of Apollo and Saturn hardware, with a repurposed Saturn   V third stage serving as the primary module for the space station. Damage to Skylab during its launch required spacewalks to be performed by

1820-596: A steep descent from which the crew did not recover in time from. On May 15, 2024, a tugboat leaving Texas International Terminals, a container terminal next to the Pelican Island causeway, the only bridge connecting Pelican Island to the rest of Galveston, lost control of two barges it was pushing. One of the barges, operated by Martin Operating Partnership, then hit the bridge and two telephone poles at approximately 10:00 CDT (3:00 GMT) collapsing

1950-667: A storm detention area and a dog park for the former property. A number of cultural events occur in and near the community. The Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre group stages ballet and American musical theater performances. The Clear Lake Symphony offer performances each year from classical to "pops". The Arts Alliance at Clear Lake, a group of 50 area arts organizations, regularly schedules arts exhibits, musical performances, and other arts programs. The Gulf Coast Film Festival annually showcases independent films from local, regional and international artists in various categories ranging from short films to documentaries. The Ballunar Festival

2080-408: A substantial fishing industry . The deeper navigation channels of the bay provide suitable habitats for bottlenose dolphins , which feed on the abundant fish varieties. Additionally, the bayous, rivers, and marshes that ring the bay support their own collection of ecosystems , containing diverse wildlife and enabling freshwater farming of crawfish . The wetlands that surround the bay support

2210-582: A variety of fauna. Notable terrestrial species include the American alligator and the bobcat , while bird species include the roseate spoonbill , great and snowy egret , white-faced ibis , and mottled duck . In the early 1990s, the Houston Ship Channel had the fifth highest level of toxic chemicals in the nation due to industrial discharge, with over 18.2 million pounds (8,300,000 kg) discharged between 1990 and 1994. However,

2340-694: Is Ben Taub General Hospital in the Texas Medical Center . The area was served from 1963 until sometime in the mid- to late-1990s by the Clear Lake City Volunteer Fire Department (CLCVFD). The CLCCA funded the CLCVFD and the CLCWA provided the fire station and surrounding land. When the CLCVFD ceased operations due to reduced funding as a result of Houston's annexation of the majority of CLCVFD's service area,

2470-562: Is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the civil space program , aeronautics research, and space research. Established in 1958 , it succeeded the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) to give the U.S. space development effort a distinct civilian orientation, emphasizing peaceful applications in space science . It has since led most of America's space exploration programs, including Project Mercury , Project Gemini ,

2600-487: Is an annual hot-air balloon spectacular. The Wings over Houston Air Fest at Ellington Field offers air acrobatics by military and civilian pilots. See also: List of companies in Houston See: List of colleges and universities in Houston [REDACTED] Category [REDACTED] Texas portal NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA / ˈ n æ s ə / )

2730-619: Is bordered by three counties: Chambers , Harris , and Galveston . Significant communities around the bay include Houston , Pasadena , League City , Baytown , Texas City , Galveston , La Porte , Seabrook , and Anahuac . Galveston Bay has three outlets to the Gulf of Mexico: Bolivar Roads between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula, San Luis Pass at the west end of Galveston Island, and Rollover Pass across Bolivar Peninsula. Many smaller bays and lakes are connected to

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2860-686: Is funded in part by the Houston Public Library . The Freeman Branch Library, named after Theodore C. Freeman , opened in 1964. It moved to the Harris County multipurpose annex in 1976. The current city-county facility opened in 2004. The Friends of the Freeman Library raises $ 80,000 annually to fund the library. The City of Houston operates the Sylvan Rodriguez Park on Clear Lake City Boulevard. In 1991

2990-683: Is served by the Clear Creek Independent School District . The community is divided between CCISD Board of Trustees Districts 2 and 3. As of 2008, they are represented by Win Weber and Ken Baliker, respectively. Five high schools in the district, Clear Lake High School , Clear Creek High School , Clear Springs High School , Clear View High School and Clear Brook High School , serve the community. Clear Lake Intermediate School and Space Center Intermediate School serve sections of Clear Lake City. Clear Lake Intermediate

3120-580: Is the fifth largest metropolitan area in the United ;States , and home to one of the nation's most significant shipping centers. Houston, the nation's fourth largest city , is the economic and cultural center of the region. Important ports served by the bay include the Port of Houston , the Port of Texas City , and the Port of Galveston . The Houston Ship Channel , which connects the Port of Houston to

3250-840: Is the Lakeview Police Department, formed in January 1987 by a merger of the police departments of Taylor Lake Village and El Lago . Police protection is also provided by the Harris County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) and the Harris County Precinct 8 Constable's Office (HCCO Pct 8). Harris County operates the County Courthouse Bay Area Annex, including a tax office, on Buccaneer Lane in Clear Lake City, Houston. The United States Postal Service operates

3380-590: The Faith 7 . The Mercury Program was wildly recognized as a resounding success, achieving its objectives to orbit a human in space, develop tracking and control systems, and identify other issues associated with human spaceflight. While much of NASA's attention turned to space, it did not put aside its aeronautics mission. Early aeronautics research attempted to build upon the X-1's supersonic flight to build an aircraft capable of hypersonic flight . The North American X-15

3510-709: The Albert Thomas Post Office on El Camino Real Drive in Houston and the Nassau Bay Post Office on Upper Bay Road in Nassau Bay , near Clear Lake City. Clear Lake City is itself subdivided into various neighborhoods. These include Bay Forest , Bay Glen , Bay Knoll, Bay Oaks, Bay Pointe, Brook Forest, Brookwood, Clear Lake Forest, Camino South, Meadowgreen, Middlebrook, Northfork, Oakbrook, Oakbrook West, Pipers Meadow, and Pinebrook. The growth of

3640-756: The Army Ballistic Missile Agency would launch Explorer 1 , America's first satellite, on February 1, 1958. The Eisenhower Administration decided to split the United States' military and civil spaceflight programs, which were organized together under the Defense Department 's Advanced Research Projects Agency . NASA was established on July 29, 1958, with the signing of the National Aeronautics and Space Act and it began operations on October 1, 1958. As

3770-803: The Bell X-1 in a joint program with the U.S. Air Force . NACA's interest in space grew out of its rocketry program at the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division. The Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 ushered in the Space Age and kicked off the Space Race . Despite NACA's early rocketry program, the responsibility for launching the first American satellite fell to the Naval Research Laboratory 's Project Vanguard , whose operational issues ensured

3900-677: The Big Bang . The James Webb Space Telescope , named after the NASA administrator who lead the Apollo program, is an infrared observatory launched in 2021. The James Webb Space Telescope is a direct successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, intended to observe the formation of the first galaxies. Other space telescopes include the Kepler space telescope , launched in 2009 to identify planets orbiting extrasolar stars that may be Terran and possibly harbor life. The first exoplanet that

4030-676: The Boeing 767-375ER(BCF) crashed into Trinity Bay near Anahuac, Texas , killing both crew members and a passenger, at approximately 12:45  CST (18:45  UTC ). Shortly before impact the aircraft made a sharp turn south before going into a rapid descent. Witnesses described the plane as going into a nosedive and thunderous sounds before it crashed. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were deployed to

Clear Lake City (Greater Houston) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4160-698: The Earth Observing System ; advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate 's Heliophysics Research Program; exploring bodies throughout the Solar System with advanced robotic spacecraft such as New Horizons and planetary rovers such as Perseverance ; and researching astrophysics topics, such as the Big Bang , through the James Webb Space Telescope ,

4290-797: The Environmental Science Services Administration on a series of weather satellites and the agency launched its experimental Applications Technology Satellites into geosynchronous orbit. NASA's first dedicated Earth observation satellite, Landsat , was launched in 1972. This led to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration jointly developing the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite and discovering Ozone depletion . NASA had been pursuing spaceplane development since

4420-691: The Europa and observed that the moon may hold ice or liquid water. A joint NASA- European Space Agency - Italian Space Agency mission, Cassini–Huygens , was sent to Saturn 's moon Titan , which, along with Mars and Europa, are the only celestial bodies in the Solar System suspected of being capable of harboring life. Cassini discovered three new moons of Saturn and the Huygens probe entered Titan's atmosphere. The mission discovered evidence of liquid hydrocarbon lakes on Titan and subsurface water oceans on

4550-650: The Gulf Coast region. Though several Spanish expeditions charted the Gulf Coast, it was explorer José Antonio de Evia who in 1785 gave the bay and the island the name Gálvezton in honor of Spanish viceroy Bernardo de Gálvez . Louis Aury established a naval base at the harbor in 1816 to support the Mexican War of Independence . When he abandoned the base, it was then taken over by pirate Jean Lafitte , who temporarily transformed Galveston Island and

4680-713: The Johnson Space Center as the lead center for the design, development, and manufacturing of the Space Shuttle orbiter , while the Marshall Space Flight Center would lead the development of the launch system. NASA's series of lifting body aircraft, culminating in the joint NASA-U.S. Air Force Martin Marietta X-24 , directly informed the development of the Space Shuttle and future hypersonic flight aircraft. Official development of

4810-664: The Mars Global Surveyor orbiter and Mars Pathfinder , deploying the first Mars rover, Sojourner . During the early 2000s, the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter reached the planet and in 2004 the Sprit and Opportunity rovers landed on the Red Planet. This was followed in 2005 by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and 2007 Phoenix Mars lander. The 2012 landing of Curiosity discovered that

4940-614: The Orbiting Geophysical Observatory in the 1960s and 1970s to look down at Earth and observe its interactions with the Sun. The Uhuru satellite was the first dedicated x-ray telescope, mapping 85% of the sky and discovering a large number of black holes . Launched in the 1990s and early 2000s, the Great Observatories program are among NASA's most powerful telescopes. The Hubble Space Telescope

5070-526: The Port of Galveston . With its diverse marine life, Galveston Bay also produces more seafood than any estuary in the United States except the Chesapeake . The Gulf Coast gained its present configuration during the most recent glacial period approximately 18 ka (thousands of years ago). Low global sea levels allowed the Texas mainland to extend significantly farther south than it does presently, and

5200-658: The STS-1 mission, designed to serve as a flight test for the new spaceplane. NASA intended for the Space Shuttle to replace expendable launch systems like the Air Force's Atlas , Delta , and Titan and the European Space Agency 's Ariane . The Space Shuttle's Spacelab payload, developed by the European Space Agency, increased the scientific capabilities of shuttle missions over anything NASA

5330-415: The STS-60 mission in 1994 and the Discovery rendezvoused, but did not dock with, the Russian Mir in the STS-63 mission. This was followed by Atlantis' STS-71 mission where it accomplished the initial intended mission for the Space Shuttle, docking with a space station and transferring supplies and personnel. The Shuttle- Mir program would continue until 1998, when a series of orbital accidents on

Clear Lake City (Greater Houston) - Misplaced Pages Continue

5460-417: The Space Race when the Soviet Union gave up its lunar ambitions. As the first human to step on the surface of the Moon, Neil Armstrong uttered the now famous words: That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. NASA would conduct six total lunar landings as part of the Apollo program, with Apollo   17 concluding the program in 1972. Wernher von Braun had advocated for NASA to develop

5590-507: The Space Shuttle began in 1972, with Rockwell International contracted to design the orbiter and engines, Martin Marietta for the external fuel tank , and Morton Thiokol for the solid rocket boosters . NASA acquired six orbiters: the Enterprise , Columbia , Challenger , Discovery , Atlantis , and Endeavour The Space Shuttle program also allowed NASA to make major changes to its Astronaut Corps . While almost all previous astronauts were Air Force or Naval test pilots,

5720-436: The Trinity River had carved a 170-foot (52 m) deep canyon through present-day Bolivar Roads (the exit of the Houston Ship Channel) on its way to the coast. As the glacial period came to a close, rising sea levels initially filled this narrow canyon, followed by the broad lowlands of present-day Trinity Bay. Rapid sea level rise between 7.7 and 5.5 ka shifted the Gulf coastline northward to its contemporary latitude. This

5850-480: The United States Congress created the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1914 and established NACA in 1915 to foster aeronautical research and development. Over the next forty years, NACA would conduct aeronautical research in support of the U.S. Air Force , U.S. Army , U.S. Navy , and the civil aviation sector. After the end of World War II , NACA became interested in the possibilities of guided missiles and supersonic aircraft, developing and testing

5980-405: The inner planets . Despite these successes, Congress was unwilling to fund further interplanetary missions and NASA Administrator James Webb suspended all future interplanetary probes to focus resources on the Apollo program. Following the conclusion of the Apollo program, NASA resumed launching interplanetary probes and expanded its space science program. The first planet tagged for exploration

6110-420: The 1960s, blending the administration's dual aeronautics and space missions. NASA viewed a spaceplane as part of a larger program, providing routine and economical logistical support to a space station in Earth orbit that would be used as a hub for lunar and Mars missions. A reusable launch vehicle would then have ended the need for expensive and expendable boosters like the Saturn V . In 1969, NASA designated

6240-400: The 1968–1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle . Currently, NASA supports the International Space Station (ISS) along with the Commercial Crew Program , and oversees the development of the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System for the lunar Artemis program . NASA's science division is focused on better understanding Earth through

6370-437: The 44 commercial companies that contracted with NASA to deploy their satellites to return to expendable launch vehicles. When the Space Shuttle returned to flight with the STS-26 mission, it had undergone significant modifications to improve its reliability and safety. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation and United States initiated the Shuttle- Mir program . The first Russian cosmonaut flew on

6500-428: The 520-acre (2.1 km) UHCL campus lies in the corporate limits of Pasadena, while the part of campus south of Horsepen Bayou lies in the city of Houston). Residents of the Harris County part of Clear Creek ISD (and therefore Clear Lake City) are zoned to San Jacinto College . From 1961 until 1992, the Lunar and Planetary Institute was housed in the mansion until it moved to a bigger, more modern building. In 2013

6630-538: The 58th Legislature of Texas. When it was created the authority had 12,269 acres (49.65 km; 19.170 sq mi) of land in its jurisdiction. Due to annexations, as of 2009 the authority now has 16,098 acres (65.15 km; 25.153 sq mi) of land in its jurisdiction. Houston City Council District E serves portions of Clear Lake City within Houston. Harris Health System (formerly Harris County Hospital District) designated Strawberry Health Center in Pasadena for ZIP code 77058. The nearest public hospital

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6760-450: The Air Force as the military space lead. Plans for human spaceflight began in the U.S. Armed Forces prior to NASA's creation. The Air Force's Man in Space Soonest project formed in 1956, coupled with the Army's Project Adam, served as the foundation for Project Mercury . NASA established the Space Task Group to manage the program, which would conduct crewed sub-orbital flights with the Army's Redstone rockets and orbital flights with

6890-448: The Air Force's Atlas launch vehicles. While NASA intended for its first astronauts to be civilians, President Eisenhower directed that they be selected from the military. The Mercury 7 astronauts included three Air Force pilots, three Navy aviators, and one Marine Corps pilot. On May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American to enter space, performing a suborbital spaceflight in the Freedom 7 . This flight occurred less than

7020-410: The Apollo program. Despite attacks on the goal of landing astronauts on the Moon from the former president Dwight Eisenhower and 1964 presidential candidate Barry Goldwater , President Kennedy was able to protect NASA's growing budget, of which 50% went directly to human spaceflight and it was later estimated that, at its height, 5% of Americans worked on some aspect of the Apollo program. Mirroring

7150-478: The Army Ballistic Missile Agency's original Saturn   I . The Apollo spacecraft was designed and built by North American Aviation , while the Apollo Lunar Module was designed and built by Grumman . To develop the spaceflight skills and equipment required for a lunar mission, NASA initiated Project Gemini . Using a modified Air Force Titan   II launch vehicle, the Gemini capsule could hold two astronauts for flights of over two weeks. Gemini pioneered

7280-414: The City of Houston limits. In 1978, City of Houston officials contracted with the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center to open a fire station on the base. The city introduced plans to provide services for the Pipers Meadow area, which was annexed in 1994. A new Houston fire station #94 serving Piper's Meadow, Sterling Knoll, and surrounding areas within the city was built in January 2005. This new fire station had

7410-426: The Department of Defense's program management concept using redundant systems in building the first intercontinental ballistic missiles, NASA requested the Air Force assign Major General Samuel C. Phillips to the space agency where he would serve as the director of the Apollo program. Development of the Saturn   V rocket was led by Wernher von Braun and his team at the Marshall Space Flight Center , derived from

7540-498: The Gulf, passes through the bay. It is a partially man-made feature created by dredging the Buffalo Bayou , the ship channel subbays, and Galveston Bay. The area has a broad industrial base including the energy, manufacturing, aeronautics, transportation, and health care sectors. The bayside communities in particular are home to the Johnson Space Center, which houses the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center , Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base , Ellington Airport (home of

7670-455: The Houston Spaceport), and a high concentration of petrochemical refineries . A large commercial fishing industry has grown around Galveston Bay, with significant production of shrimp, blue crab , eastern oyster , black drum , flounder , sheepshead , and snapper . In 2012, the commercial fish harvest in Galveston Bay amounted to 5,800,000 pounds (2,600,000 kg), with a wholesale value of roughly $ 16.4 million. Galveston Bay supports

7800-439: The Keplar space telescope confirmed was Kepler-22b , orbiting within the habitable zone of its star. NASA also launched a number of different satellites to study Earth, such as Television Infrared Observation Satellite (TIROS) in 1960, which was the first weather satellite. NASA and the United States Weather Bureau cooperated on future TIROS and the second generation Nimbus program of weather satellites. It also worked with

7930-414: The Kermet H. Applewhite Sports and Recreation Center at 16511 Diana Lane. The center includes an indoor heated pool, a fitness room, several outdoor pools, an air-conditioned gymnasium, and tennis courts. The Clear Lake Golf Course opened in 1963 and closed in 2005. It took up about 180 acres (73 ha) of land. The Clear Lake City Water Authority (CLCWA) took possession of the property. The CLCWA proposed

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8060-448: The Martian interior. The 2021 Perseverance rover carried the first extraplanetary aircraft, a helicopter named Ingenuity . NASA also launched missions to Mercury in 2004, with the MESSENGER probe demonstrating as the first use of a solar sail . NASA also launched probes to the outer Solar System starting in the 1960s. Pioneer 10 was the first probe to the outer planets, flying by Jupiter , while Pioneer 11 provided

8190-402: The Moon and going to Mars. Embracing this approach, NASA's Commercial Crew Program started by contracting cargo delivery to the International Space Station and flew its first operational contracted mission on SpaceX Crew-1 . This marked the first time since the retirement of the Space Shuttle that NASA was able to launch its own astronauts on an American spacecraft from the United States, ending

8320-404: The Moon and returning him safely to Earth by the end of the 1960s and installed James E. Webb as NASA administrator to achieve this goal. On May   25, 1961, President Kennedy openly declared this goal in his "Urgent National Needs" speech to the United States Congress, declaring: I believe this Nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on

8450-427: The Moon and returning him safely to Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish. Kennedy gave his " We choose to go to the Moon " speech the next year, on September   12, 1962 at Rice University , where he addressed the nation hoping to reinforce public support for

8580-409: The Russians be included. In 1993, the Clinton Administration announced that the Space Station Freedom would become the International Space Station in an agreement with the Russian Federation. This allowed the Russians to maintain their space program through an infusion of American currency to maintain their status as one of the two premier space programs. While the United States built and launched

8710-507: The Russians to fly to the International Space Station for four days, despite the opposition of NASA to the idea. Advocates of this new commercial approach for NASA included former astronaut Buzz Aldrin , who remarked that it would return NASA to its roots as a research and development agency, with commercial entities actually operating the space systems. Having corporations take over orbital operations would also allow NASA to focus all its efforts on deep space exploration and returning humans to

8840-415: The Ship Channel, advisories recommend against the consumption of all fish and blue crab, while in the lower bay, advisories only apply to catfish . Oil spills are a routine consequence of the industrial activity around Galveston Bay, with hundreds of spills taking place in a typical year. On March 22, 2014, a barge carrying marine fuel oil collided with another ship in the Houston Ship Channel, causing

8970-422: The Solar System. Mars has long been a planet of intense fascination for NASA, being suspected of potentially having harbored life. Mariner 5 was the first NASA spacecraft to flyby Mars, followed by Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 . Mariner 9 was the first orbital mission to Mars. Launched in 1975, Viking program consisted of two landings on Mars in 1976. Follow-on missions would not be launched until 1996, with

9100-404: The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, NASA was forced to rely on Russian Soyuz launches for its astronauts and the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle accelerated the station's completion. In the 1980s, right after the first flight of the Space Shuttle, NASA started a joint program with the Department of Defense to develop the Rockwell X-30 National Aerospace Plane. NASA realized that

9230-418: The Space Shuttle allowed NASA to begin recruiting more non-military scientific and technical experts. A prime example is Sally Ride , who became the first American woman to fly in space on STS-7 . This new astronaut selection process also allowed NASA to accept exchange astronauts from U.S. allies and partners for the first time. The first Space Shuttle flight occurred in 1981, when the Columbia launched on

9360-514: The Space Shuttle and expand space exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Constellation was intended to use a significant amount of former Space Shuttle equipment and return astronauts to the Moon. This program was canceled by the Obama Administration . Former astronauts Neil Armstrong , Gene Cernan , and Jim Lovell sent a letter to President Barack Obama to warn him that if the United States did not get new human spaceflight ability,

9490-554: The Space Shuttle began flying, selling it as an orbital laboratory, repair station, and a jumping off point for lunar and Mars missions. NASA found a strong advocate in President Ronald Reagan , who declared in a 1984 speech: America has always been greatest when we dared to be great. We can reach for greatness again. We can follow our dreams to distant stars, living and working in space for peaceful, economic, and scientific gain. Tonight I am directing NASA to develop

9620-686: The Space Shuttle, while a massive technological accomplishment, would not be able to live up to all its promises. Designed to be a single-stage-to-orbit spaceplane, the X-30 had both civil and military applications. With the end of the Cold War , the X-30 was canceled in 1992 before reaching flight status. Following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003, President Bush started the Constellation program to smoothly replace

9750-483: The Space Shuttle. Due to technical challenges, the spacecraft was cancelled in 2001. Despite this, it was the first time a commercial space company directly expended a significant amount of its resources into spacecraft development. The advent of space tourism also forced NASA to challenge its assumption that only governments would have people in space. The first space tourist was Dennis Tito , an American investment manager and former aerospace engineer who contracted with

9880-580: The Space Station Freedom was controversial, with much of the debate centering on cost. Several redesigns to reduce cost were conducted in the early 1990s, stripping away much of its functions. Despite calls for Congress to terminate the program, it continued, in large part because by 1992 it had created 75,000 jobs across 39 states. By 1993, President Bill Clinton attempted to significantly reduce NASA's budget and directed costs be significantly reduced, aerospace industry jobs were not lost, and

10010-486: The Texas Gulf Coast . It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is surrounded by sub-tropical marshes and prairies on the mainland. The water in the bay is a complex mixture of sea water and fresh water , which supports a wide variety of marine life . With a maximum depth of about 10 feet (3 m) and an average depth of only 6 feet (2 m), it is unusually shallow for its size. The bay has played

10140-602: The U.S. risked become a second or third-rate space power. As early as the Reagan Administration, there had been calls for NASA to expand private sector involvement in space exploration rather than do it all in-house. In the 1990s, NASA and Lockheed Martin entered into an agreement to develop the Lockheed Martin X-33 demonstrator of the VentureStar spaceplane, which was intended to replace

10270-612: The U.S." The ship channel and Clear Lake were rated by the Galveston Bay Estuary Program as having even worse water quality. Extraction of oil and groundwater , as well as large wakes from increasing shipping in the bay, led to land subsidence and erosion along the shoreline, especially in the Baytown–Pasadena area. Over the past few decades, approximately 100 acres (40 ha) of the historic San Jacinto battleground has been submerged; Sylvan Beach,

10400-587: The US's premier aeronautics agency, NACA formed the core of NASA's new structure by reassigning 8,000 employees and three major research laboratories. NASA also proceeded to absorb the Naval Research Laboratory's Project Vanguard, the Army's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the Army Ballistic Missile Agency under Wernher von Braun . This left NASA firmly as the United States' civil space lead and

10530-755: The area, Humble Oil's venture, the Friendswood Development Company , made plans to establish a residential development. The company established the Clear Lake City Community Association, Inc. (CLCCA) in 1963. Clear Lake City was the former location of the Clear Lake City STOLport , a private airport constructed and owned by Houston Metro Airlines which was located on State Highway 3 just south of Ellington Field. This commuter airline operated up to 22 roundtrip flights every weekday in

10660-521: The barge and did not leak into the water. An approximate 6.5 mi (10.5 km) span of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was shut down around the bridge in order to help crews clean up the oil spill. Galveston County officials began evacuations for the approximately 200 people who were on the island at the time of the collapse for anyone who needed to leave the island, but warned that they would be unlikely to be able to return in

10790-720: The bay along the San Jacinto River . The new Republic of Texas grew rapidly and joined the United States in 1845. After the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 , residents of Galveston strongly supported secession and sided with the Confederacy as the Civil War broke out. However, separation from the Union did not last long; the city's harbor was blockaded by the federal navy starting in July 1861, followed by

10920-596: The bay has generally experienced improving water quality since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972. The Houston Area Research Council (HARC) and Galveston Bay Foundation periodically release the Galveston Bay Report Card, which grades a number of metrics indicative of the health of the bay's ecosystem and waters. The 2019 report assigned a "C" grade for toxins in bay sediments, citing water and soil pollution , wildlife habitat loss, and

11050-466: The bay in the Clear Lake Area in 1963 brought new growth. By the 1970s Houston had become one of the nation's largest cities, and its expansion connected it with the bay communities. The bay's shoreline became heavily urbanized and industrialized, leading to pollution of the bay. In the 1970s the bay was described by U.S. Representative Robert C. Eckhardt as "the most polluted body of water in

11180-477: The bay into a haven for outlaws before being ousted by the United States Navy . Following its independence from Spain, the new nation of Mexico claimed Texas as part of its territory. Settlements were established around the bay, including Galveston , Anahuac , Lynchburg , and San Jacinto. Following growing unrest, Texas revolted and gained independence in 1836 at the Battle of San Jacinto , near

11310-474: The bay was fully underway. Oil wells and refineries quickly developed throughout the area. After frozen transport became available in the 1920s, commercial fishing developed as a substantial industry, producing particularly oysters , finfish , and, later, shrimp . By the end of the 1930s, the Port of Houston was the largest cotton port and third largest port by overall tonnage in the United States. The establishment of NASA 's Johnson Space Center near

11440-579: The bay's inflow comes from the Trinity River, which contributes 7,500,000 acre-feet (9.3 × 10  m ) of freshwater annually. The San Jacinto River contributes another 500,000 acre-feet (620,000,000 m ). Local coastal watersheds contribute the remainder. The climate around the Bay is classified as humid subtropical ( Cfa in Köppen climate classification system ). Prevailing winds from

11570-529: The building did a brief stint as the headquarters of the Clear Lake Emergency Medical Corps ( CLEMC ). The building is currently a maintenance depot for the CLCWA, which has held title to the building and surrounding land since the CLCWA's inception. The fire departments of Houston , Pasadena , and Taylor Lake Village currently serve sections of Clear Lake City. The Houston Fire Department serves areas of Clear Lake City within

11700-609: The city purchased a 111.46 acres (45.11 ha) property for $ 1,399,000. In 1999 the city appropriated $ 2.5 million to begin building the park. In 2001 the park received its current name. Bay Area Park is also home to an off leash dog park, which offers both small dog and large dog areas. It is located on Bay Area Blvd next to the University of Houston Clear Lake and the Armand Bayou Nature Center. The Clear Lake City Community Association, Inc. (CLCAA) operates

11830-499: The contents of one of the barge's 168,000-US-gallon (640,000 L) tanks to leak into the bay, requiring weeks of cleanup by dozens of boats. Excessive ozone levels can occur due to industrial activities; nearby Houston is ranked among the most ozone-polluted cities in the United States. The industries located along the ship channel are a major cause of ozone pollution. Galveston Bay is located in Greater Houston , which

11960-477: The current-day nine district and five at-large council seats. The 1977 annexation added 3,174 acres (1,284 ha) of land to the Houston city limits. At the time, under a Texas law established in 1963, a city of more than 100,000 people could unilaterally annex an unincorporated area. Proponents stated that the annexation allowed Houston to maintain a healthy tax base which would therefore keep taxes low and stimulate economic growth. This meant Texas cities would avoid

12090-437: The fall season. Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula are generally at the greatest risk. However, though the island and the peninsula provide some shielding, the bay shoreline still faces significant danger from storm surge. Hurricane Ike , the most economically and environmentally destructive event on the bay since 1900, struck in 2008. A proposal to build a flood barrier system to prevent against future storm surge ,

12220-779: The fates of Northern cities, locked in by other cities, which saw their tax bases relocate out of their respective city limits. The eastern portion in Pasadena's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) was eventually annexed by the city of Pasadena . Since 1980, part of Clear Lake City within the Houston City Limits is located in Council District E. From the 1980 U.S. Census to the 1990 Census, many Asian-Americans settled in Clear Lake City. They were mostly Chinese American , Indian American , and Pakistani American with some Vietnamese Americans . The community

12350-420: The first close up view of the planet. Both probes became the first objects to leave the Solar System. The Voyager program launched in 1977, conducting flybys of Jupiter and Saturn , Neptune , and Uranus on a trajectory to leave the Solar System. The Galileo spacecraft, deployed from the Space Shuttle flight STS-34 , was the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, discovering evidence of subsurface oceans on

12480-515: The first crew to make it habitable and operational. Skylab hosted nine missions and was decommissioned in 1974 and deorbited in 1979, two years prior to the first launch of the Space Shuttle and any possibility of boosting its orbit. In 1975, the Apollo–Soyuz mission was the first ever international spaceflight and a major diplomatic accomplishment between the Cold War rivals, which also marked

12610-454: The first humans to see the Earth as a globe in space, the first to witness an Earthrise , and the first to see and manually photograph the far side of the Moon. The first lunar landing was conducted by Apollo   11. Commanded by Neil Armstrong with astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins , Apollo   11 was one of the most significant missions in NASA's history, marking the end of

12740-470: The four Great Observatories , and associated programs. The Launch Services Program oversees launch operations for its uncrewed launches . NASA traces its roots to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). Despite being the birthplace of aviation, by 1914 the United States recognized that it was far behind Europe in aviation capability. Determined to regain American leadership in aviation,

12870-568: The impacts of climate change as challenges facing the estuary. The presence of the San Jacinto Pits Superfund site in the Houston Ship Channel, which contains large amounts of dioxin , is considered a significant threat to the bay's health. The entire bay is covered by seafood consumption advisories set by the Texas Department of State Health Services , but the strictness of these standards varies by location. In

13000-419: The land has been developed for commercial and residential use. The portion of Clear Lake City that was Houston's extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) was annexed by the city of Houston in 1977 despite a grass-roots campaign by its residents to stop it. Their slogan was "Free The Clear Lake 25,000!" Lawsuits over the annexation resulted in the conversion of Houston city government from at-large city councilmen to

13130-451: The last flight of the Apollo capsule. Flown in 1975, a U.S. Apollo spacecraft docked with a Soviet Soyuz capsule. During the 1960s, NASA started its space science and interplanetary probe program. The Mariner program was its flagship program, launching probes to Venus , Mars , and Mercury in the 1960s. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory was the lead NASA center for robotic interplanetary exploration, making significant discoveries about

13260-421: The main system, including Christmas Bay , Moses Lake , Dickinson Bay , Clear Lake , Ash Lake, Black Duck Bay, and San Jacinto Bay. Together with its extensions, Galveston Bay forms the largest of the seven major estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas . The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway , an inland waterway consisting of natural watercourses and man-made canals, runs between the bay and the Gulf. A majority of

13390-437: The mainland in the 19th century. The city of Galveston became a major U.S. commercial center for shipping cotton , leather products, cattle, and other goods produced in the growing state. Railroads were built around the shore and new communities continued to emerge. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 devastated the city of Galveston and heavily damaged communities around the bay . Growth moved inland to Houston, as fear of

13520-515: The majority of the International Space Station, Russia, Canada, Japan, and the European Space Agency all contributed components. Despite NASA's insistence that costs would be kept at a budget of $ 17.4, they kept rising and NASA had to transfer funds from other programs to keep the International Space Station solvent. Ultimately, the total cost of the station was $ 150 billion, with the United States paying for two-thirds.Following

13650-473: The mid-1970s between Clear Lake City (CLC) and Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) with de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter STOL (short take off and landing) turboprop aircraft. Metro Airlines eventually ceased operations due to financial challenges. The Clear Lake City STOLport was subsequently abandoned and then demolished. There is no trace of this pioneering airfield to be found at the present time, and

13780-634: The moon of Enceladus , which could harbor life. Finally launched in 2006, the New Horizons mission was the first spacecraft to visit Pluto and the Kuiper Belt . Beyond interplanetary probes, NASA has launched many space telescopes . Launched in the 1960s, the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory were NASA's first orbital telescopes, providing ultraviolet, gamma-ray, x-ray, and infrared observations. NASA launched

13910-416: The near future. Galveston Bay covers approximately 600 square miles (1,600 km ), and is 30 miles (48 km) long and 17 miles (27 km) wide. The bay has an average depth of 6 feet (2 m) and a maximum undredged depth of 10 feet (3 m). The Galveston Bay system consists of four main bodies of water: Galveston Bay proper (upper and lower), Trinity Bay , East Bay , and West Bay . The bay

14040-500: The property was sold to former basketball player Hakeem Olajuwon 's property management company, and for years it was a high-end men's clothing store called DR34M ("Dream", after Olajuwon's nickname and with a stylized "34" representing his jersey number). The mansion was demolished in November 2019. The 42,000 square feet (3,900 m) Clear Lake City–County Freeman Branch is administered by Harris County Public Library , and

14170-705: The radiation levels on Mars were equal to those on the International Space Station , greatly increasing the possibility of Human exploration, and observed the key chemical ingredients for life to occur. In 2013, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution ( MAVEN ) mission observed the Martian upper atmosphere and space environment and in 2018, the Interior exploration using Seismic Investigations Geodesy, and Heat Transport ( InSight ) studied

14300-400: The risks posed by establishing businesses at Galveston limited the island's ability to compete. Texas City emerged as another important port in the area. Shipping traffic through the bay expanded dramatically after the federal government completed the dredging of the Houston Ship Channel to a depth of 25 feet (7.6 m) in 1914. The Texas oil boom began in 1901, and by 1915 oil production by

14430-507: The satellites were repaired and relaunched. Despite ushering in a new era of spaceflight, where NASA was contracting launch services to commercial companies, the Space Shuttle was criticized for not being as reusable and cost-effective as advertised. In 1986, Challenger disaster on the STS-51L mission resulted in the loss of the spacecraft and all seven astronauts on launch, grounding the entire space shuttle fleet for 36 months and forced

14560-402: The scene while dive teams from the Texas Department of Public Safety , Houston , and Baytown police departments located the aircraft's flight recorders. The NTSB later determined that the crash was a result of the first officer's inappropriate response to an inadvertent activation of the airplane's go-around mode, resulting in his spatial disorientation that led him to place the airplane in

14690-676: The separation of dark and regular matter during galactic collisions. Finally, the Spitzer Space Telescope is an infrared telescope launched in 2003 from a Delta II rocket. It is in a trailing orbit around the Sun, following the Earth and discovered the existence of brown dwarf stars . Other telescopes, such as the Cosmic Background Explorer and the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe , provided evidence to support

14820-560: The setback caused by the Apollo   1 fire, which killed three astronauts, the program proceeded. Apollo   8 was the first crewed spacecraft to leave low Earth orbit and the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon . The crew orbited the Moon ten times on December   24 and   25, 1968, and then traveled safely back to Earth . The three Apollo   8 astronauts— Frank Borman , James Lovell , and William Anders —were

14950-620: The so-called Ike Dike , has been considered by the state government. In August 2017, the Galveston Bay Area was struck by Hurricane Harvey and received an extraordinary amount of rainfall in a matter of days, with many locations in the bay area observing more than 30 in (760 mm) of precipitation during the storm. This unique and complex mixing of waters from different sources provides nursery and spawning grounds for many types of marine life including crabs , shrimp, oysters, and many varieties of fish, thereby supporting

15080-609: The south and southeast bring heat from the deserts of Mexico and moisture from the Gulf of Mexico . Summer temperatures regularly exceed 90 °F (32 °C), and the area's humidity drives the heat index even higher. Winters in the area are mild, with typical January highs above 60 °F (16 °C) and lows above 40 °F (4 °C). Snowfall is generally rare. Annual rainfall averages well over 40 inches (1,000 mm), with some areas typically receiving over 50 inches (1,300 mm). Hurricanes are an ever-present threat during

15210-549: The space shuttle be retired. In 2006, the Space Shuttle returned to flight, conducting several mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope , but was retired following the STS-135 resupply mission to the International Space Station in 2011. NASA never gave up on the idea of a space station after Skylab's reentry in 1979. The agency began lobbying politicians to support building a larger space station as soon as

15340-481: The space station spelled an end to the program. In 2003, a second space shuttle was destroyed when the Columbia was destroyed upon reentry during the STS-107 mission, resulting in the loss of the spacecraft and all seven astronauts. This accident marked the beginning of the retiring of the Space Shuttle program, with President George W. Bush directing that upon the completion of the International Space Station,

15470-757: The subdivisions in Clear Lake resulted from the employment of thousands of people by NASA's then-new Manned Spacecraft Center (now the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center). Land values rose nearly 300%. In the neighborhood of Timber Cove, the local pool was designed in the shape of the Mercury capsule. It was completed in 1963. Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO) operates the Bay Area Park and Ride. In addition Harris County Transit operates services going through Clear Lake City. Clear Lake City

15600-579: The use of fuel cells instead of batteries, and conducted the first American spacewalks and rendezvous operations . The Ranger Program was started in the 1950s as a response to Soviet lunar exploration, however most missions ended in failure. The Lunar Orbiter program had greater success, mapping the surface in preparation for Apollo landings and measured Selenography , conducted meteoroid detection, and measured radiation levels. The Surveyor program conducted uncrewed lunar landings and takeoffs, as well as taking surface and regolith observations. Despite

15730-405: The various projects, mission architectures and associated timelines relevant to lunar and Mars exploration and science. Galveston Bay Galveston Bay ( / ˈ ɡ æ l v ɪ s t ən / GAL -vis-tən ) is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas . It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along

15860-427: The western half of the bay, ensured the bay's continued economic importance. Today, Galveston Bay is encompassed by Greater Houston , the fifth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. The Port of Houston , which has facilities spread across the northwestern section of the bay, is the second-busiest port in the nation by overall tonnage. Other major ports utilizing the bay include the Port of Texas City and

15990-461: Was Venus , sharing many similar characteristics to Earth. First visited by American Mariner 2 spacecraft, Venus was observed to be a hot and inhospitable planet. Follow-on missions included the Pioneer Venus project in the 1970s and Magellan , which performed radar mapping of Venus' surface in the 1980s and 1990s. Future missions were flybys of Venus, on their way to other destinations in

16120-434: Was a joint NASA–U.S. Air Force program, with the hypersonic test aircraft becoming the first non-dedicated spacecraft to cross from the atmosphere to outer space. The X-15 also served as a testbed for Apollo program technologies, as well as ramjet and scramjet propulsion. Escalations in the Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union prompted President John F. Kennedy to charge NASA with landing an American on

16250-683: Was able to previously accomplish. NASA launched its first commercial satellites on the STS-5 mission and in 1984, the STS-41-C mission conducted the world's first on-orbit satellite servicing mission when the Challenger captured and repaired the malfunctioning Solar Maximum Mission satellite. It also had the capability to return malfunctioning satellite to Earth, like it did with the Palapa B2 and Westar 6 satellites. Once returned to Earth,

16380-472: Was also a concern with sharing sensitive space technologies with the Europeans, which had the potential to dilute America's technical lead. Ultimately, an international agreement to develop the Space Station Freedom program would be signed with thirteen countries in 1985, including the European Space Agency member states, Canada , and Japan . Despite its status as the first international space program,

16510-553: Was launched in 1990 on STS-31 from the Discovery and could view galaxies 15 billion light years away. A major defect in the telescope's mirror could have crippled the program, had NASA not used computer enhancement to compensate for the imperfection and launched five Space Shuttle servicing flights to replace the damaged components. The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was launched from the Atlantis on STS-37 in 1991, discovering

16640-408: Was named Clear Lake City for Clear Lake , which lies south of the Johnson Space Center and, along with Clear Creek , separates Harris County from Galveston County . The lake is effectively the mouth of Clear Creek which empties into Galveston Bay . The Clear Lake City Water Authority serves the community. The authority was created on May 6, 1963, by House Bill 1003 during the regular session of

16770-524: Was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 1986–87. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston operates the St. Clare of Assisi school in the community. St. Bernadette Catholic Church also offers early childhood education. The Clear Lake Christian School is located in the Bay Knoll neighborhood in Clear Lake City. The University of Houston–Clear Lake is adjacent to the community (the majority of

16900-539: Was quickly followed by the formation of Galveston Island (5.5 ka), a barrier island , and Bolivar Peninsula (2.5 ka), which began as a spit . Human settlement in what is now Texas began at least 10 ka following migrations into the Americas from Asia during the last ice age. The first substantial settlements in the area are believed to have been made by the Karankawa and Atakapan tribes, who lived throughout

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