122-668: Artemis II is a scheduled mission of the NASA -led Artemis program . It will use the second launch of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and include the first crewed mission of the Orion spacecraft . The mission is scheduled for no earlier than September 2025. Four astronauts will perform a flyby of the Moon and return to Earth, becoming the first crew to travel beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. Artemis II will be
244-426: A 125,000-square-foot (11,600 m ) space for meetings, specialty functions, exhibits, and concerts. One of the most notable aspects of the design is the stadium's retractable, fabric roof. The roof mechanization consists of two large panels that split apart at the 50 yard line, lying over and above each end zone when fully retracted. 10 parallel, tri-chord trusses ride on two parallel rails, each supported by
366-527: A 2020 treaty between the United States and Canada led to their involvement. The Artemis II mission plan is to send four astronauts in the first crewed Orion MPCV spacecraft into a lunar flyby for a maximum of 21 days using the Block 1 variant of the Space Launch System . The mission profile is a multi- trans-lunar injection (MTLI), or multiple departure burns, and includes a free-return trajectory from
488-665: A capacity crowd of 70,103. The previous USA v Mexico match in Reliant Stadium drew a sellout crowd of 69,582 fans on May 8, 2003 and is the largest home crowd for the United States men's national team this decade, until they played Mexico for a capacity crowd of 79,156 fans in Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup final . Reliant Stadium hosted the 2010 MLS All-Star Game as 70,728 fans watched Manchester United defeat
610-770: A commercial launch vehicle because of delays in building the Mobile Launcher needed to hold the more powerful Exploration Upper Stage. The launcher was selected to be the SpaceX Falcon Heavy . NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI) sought proposals in 2019 from U.S. institutions and U.S. companies to fly their CubeSat missions as secondary payloads aboard the SLS on the Artemis II mission. NASA would accept proposals for both 6-unit (12 kg, 26 lb) and 12-unit (20 kg, 44 lb) CubeSats. As with
732-628: 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
854-528: A downlink rate of up to 260 megabits per second. Artemis II's trajectory can be divided into several key phases: In December 1968, the Apollo 8 mission, crewed by astronauts Frank Borman , Jim Lovell , and William Anders , flew their command and service module beyond low Earth orbit and completed ten orbits of the Moon. Similar to the planned Artemis II mission in that it was crewed and did not land, it differed by being placed into orbit. Apollo 13 (1970)
976-469: 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 was a joint NASA–U.S. Air Force program, with
1098-422: A large, 675 feet (206 m)-long super-truss. Roof operation is controlled in the stadium press box via computer, containing live images of the travel path of each roof panel; plus, furnishing live feedback from all roof components throughout the operation. The roof panels can be opened or closed in as little as 7 minutes, moving at a speed of up to 35 feet (11 m)-per-minute. One bleacher section behind
1220-462: A natural surface since the stadium opened, using a system of trays of sod similar to one used at Giants Stadium in its experiment with using a grass surface. In recent years, the stadium installed artificial turf to be used during high school and college games while keeping the grass for Texans games. After the Texans' home opener, complaints about the field conditions finally led to the installation of
1342-583: 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
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#17327721123561464-650: 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
1586-540: 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
1708-674: A then-franchise-record crowd of 70,809, the Texans defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 30–17. Since then that record crowd has been broken in the next 2 Texans home games of that season. Their December 7, 2008 home game against the Tennessee Titans saw a then-record crowd of 70,831 and the December 28, 2008 home finale against the Chicago Bears drew then a current franchise-crowd record of 70,838. That record
1830-649: Is a co-tenant of NRG Stadium. "The building is as much for the rodeo as it is for the National Football League," according to Leroy Shafer who is assistant general manager of the rodeo's marketing department. The rodeo is held three weeks in March, each year. During this time NRG Stadium also hosts an event on the Xtreme Bulls tour, the bull riding-only tour that is part of the PRCA , who also hosts
1952-405: Is a regular concert venue and has featured performers such as The Rolling Stones , Metallica , Beyoncé , U2 , Guns N' Roses , One Direction , Taylor Swift , and Coldplay over the years. When Taylor Swift returned in 2023 for The Eras Tour , she became the first act in stadium history to sell out three shows on a single tour. Rice University uses executive offices in the stadium to teach
2074-807: Is expected to launch no earlier than September 2025. However, in October 2024, the NASA Office of Inspector General determined that the Exploration Ground Systems team had already used up their time reserved for resolving any unforeseen issues, leading the office to determine that the September 2025 launch date will likely be delayed. Artemis II is to be crewed by four astronauts: Commander Reid Wiseman , Pilot Victor J. Glover , Mission Specialist Christina Koch , and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen . On November 22, 2023, Jenni Gibbons
2196-521: The 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship , and WrestleMania 25 (2009). The stadium will host multiple matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup . NRG Stadium is part of a collection of venues (including the Astrodome ), which are collectively called NRG Park . The entire complex is named for NRG Energy under a 32-year, $ 300 million naming rights deal in 2000. The Houston NFL Holdings group came to Populous (then HOK Sport) to begin
2318-521: The Artemis I mission, the CubeSats flying on Artemis II were to be mounted on the inside of the stage adapter ring between the SLS upper stage and the Orion spacecraft, and will be deployed after Orion separates. Selections were initially planned to be made by February 2020, but in October 2021, NASA dropped all secondary payloads from the mission. On February 11, 2023, NASA flipped the engine section for
2440-677: 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
2562-690: The Cincinnati Bengals 31–10 in an AFC wild card game, drawing 71,725, the largest crowd ever to see a Texans game at Reliant Stadium. NRG Stadium hosted Super Bowl LI in 2017, in which the New England Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history; it was also the first ever overtime game in Super Bowl history. The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo (or RodeoHouston)
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#17327721123562684-797: 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
2806-691: 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
2928-586: The Indianapolis Colts and hosted three additional home games in October. The stadium was repaired by Houston-based rope access inspection and construction firm Reel Group Americas on February 13, 2009. The stadium was designed by the architectural firms of Hermes Reed Architects and Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam who were teamed to create the Houston Stadium Consultants (HSC). The architects of Populous (then HOK Sport) and
3050-756: 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 the Earth Observing System ; advancing heliophysics through the efforts of the Science Mission Directorate 's Heliophysics Research Program; exploring bodies throughout
3172-784: 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
3294-664: 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
3416-677: The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament several times, including the 2008 , 2010 & 2015 South Regional semifinals and finals, and the Final Four in 2011 , 2016 , and 2023 . For the past eighteen years, NRG Stadium has played host to Monster Jam . Also, it has hosted a round of the AMA Supercross Championship since 2003, replacing the Astrodome which had been host since 1974. The stadium
3538-555: 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 , the 1968–1972 Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station, and the Space Shuttle . Currently, NASA supports
3660-621: 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, 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
3782-614: 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
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3904-658: 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
4026-635: 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
4148-541: 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 , the four Great Observatories , and associated programs. The Launch Services Program oversees launch operations for its uncrewed launches . NASA traces its roots to
4270-535: 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
4392-620: 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,
4514-405: 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
4636-420: 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
4758-524: 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
4880-648: The 2012 and 2013 seasons as well. The stadium also hosts the " Battle of the Piney Woods " since 2010. It is one of the oldest football rivalries in Texas, featuring Division I FCS Sam Houston State University and Stephen F. Austin State University . The series was originally scheduled to run until 2013, before being extended to 2017, and finally in April 2015, the stadium was made the permanent home of
5002-437: 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
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5124-403: 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 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
5246-513: The Artemis II core to horizontal, the final major milestone before mating the section to the rest of the vehicle. On March 20, the engine section was mated with the Artemis II core stage in Building 103 at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans . NASA expected the core stage, complete with engines, to be delivered to the Kennedy Space Center in summer 2023. In May, the delivery date was moved to late fall 2023. The RS-25 engines with serial numbers E2047, E2059, E2062, and E2063 were installed on
5368-550: The HSC worked together with engineers from Walter P Moore and Uni-Systems to design the stadium utilizing the principles of kinetic architecture . The facility offers a sense of transparency, with its fabric roof and expansive areas of glazing . At night, the building appears to glow from within. The extensive use of glass provides an open-air feel to the concourses , which are open to the field of play. NRG Stadium has over 7,000 club seats, 186 luxury suites , and multiple lounges and bars. The stadium can be configured to utilize
5490-446: The Houston Bowl before the Texas Bowl's inception and also hosted both the 2002 and 2005 Big 12 Championship Games . The 2005 game featured Houston native Vince Young at quarterback for the University of Texas at Austin and led the Longhorns to a 70–3 rout of the University of Colorado in front of 71,107. In addition, the East–West Shrine Game was held there in 2007. A Bayou Classic game between Grambling State and Southern
5612-416: The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The stadium includes a service area level to house rodeo livestock . The bulls, broncs, steers and roping calves are housed in the north end of the stadium under the lower bowl. Loading and unloading dock space to support the rodeo is located on the north end of the stadium. During rodeo performances, rolling doors will separate the dock into two receiving areas to isolate
5734-439: 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
5856-408: The MLS All-Stars 5–2. On January 25, 2012, Venezuela played a friendly match with Mexico, with Mexico winning 3–1. On May 31, 2013, Mexico played another friendly, with Nigeria , which ended in a 2–2 draw. In June 2016, NRG Stadium hosted two matches in the group stage and one semifinal in the Copa América Centenario . Costa Rica beat Colombia 3–2. Mexico and Venezuela drew 1–1. Argentina beat
5978-448: 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
6100-402: 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
6222-424: The Moon. The Orion spacecraft will be sent to a high Earth orbit with a period of roughly 24 hours. During this time the crew will perform various checkouts of the spacecraft's life support systems as well as an in-space rendezvous and proximity operations demonstration using the spent Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) as a target. When Orion reaches perigee once again, it will fire its main engine to complete
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#17327721123566344-434: 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 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
6466-503: 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 the Army Ballistic Missile Agency would launch Explorer 1 , America's first satellite, on February 1, 1958. The Eisenhower Administration decided to split
6588-409: 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
6710-507: 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
6832-422: 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
6954-404: 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
7076-418: 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
7198-443: 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,
7320-478: 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
7442-444: 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
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#17327721123567564-483: 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
7686-507: 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
7808-535: The TLI maneuver, which will send it to a lunar free-return trajectory, before returning to Earth. Artemis II will test and demonstrate optical communications to and from Earth using the Orion Artemis II Optical Communications System (O2O). The O2O hardware will be integrated into the Orion spacecraft and includes an optical module (a 4-inch [100 mm] telescope and two gimbals), modem and control electronics. O2O will communicate with ground stations in California and New Mexico. The test device will send data to Earth with
7930-449: The Texans host. The first game played was on August 24, 2002, in front of 69,432 in attendance as the Texans hosted the Miami Dolphins in their first preseason game. The first regular season game was played on September 8 of that year, where the expansion Texans defeated the Dallas Cowboys 19–10 in front of 69,604. The first Monday Night Football game in Texans history was held on December 1, 2008 at Reliant Stadium. Playing in front of
8052-399: 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
8174-671: The United States 4–0; Lionel Messi scored a free kick, making him Argentina's all-time leading scorer. NRG Stadium will host multiple matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup . It is one of eleven US venues which have been selected. It is also one of two venues in Texas which have been selected to host matches, the other being AT&T Stadium in Arlington . During the event, the stadium will be temporarily renamed to "Houston Stadium" in accordance with FIFA's policy on corporate sponsored names. The stadium will host seven matches: five group stage matches, one Round of 32 match, and one Round of 16 match on Independence Day . The stadium has hosted
8296-491: 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 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
8418-401: The agency continued to investigate the considerable damage to the ablative heat shield seen during the Artemis I reentry. Rocket stacking officially commenced on 20 November, 2024 onto the Mobile Launcher. During preliminary reviews in 2011, the launch date was placed somewhere between 2019 and 2021, but afterwards the launch date was delayed to 2023. As of September 2024, the mission
8540-463: The artificial surface for Texans games. The surface brand is UBU Speed, which is part of Act Global . In 2017, NRG Stadium selected Hellas Construction to install its Matrix Turf with Helix Technology at the stadium. The three year contract calls for a new turf field each year. After hosting Super Bowl LI , further upgrades were made to keep NRG Stadium competitive with other new NFL venues. The stadium's first major renovation in 15 years modernized
8662-419: The cancellation in April 2017 of the Asteroid Redirect Mission, an 8-day mission was proposed with a crew of four astronauts, sent on a free-return trajectory around the Moon. Another proposal suggested in 2017 was to take four astronauts aboard Orion on an 8-to-21–day trip around the Moon to deliver the first element of the Deep Space Gateway . In March 2018, it was decided to launch the first Gateway module on
8784-561: The core stage in New Orleans by September 25, 2023. Finally in June 2024, NASA announced the planned delivery of the fully outfitted core stage to KSC in July 2024, which was successfully carried out from the 16th to the 25th. The adapters needed for integration of the full vehicle also reached substantial completion in June 2024, and arrived at Kennedy Space Center in September 2024. The crew
8906-574: 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 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
9028-779: The event on January 8, 2024 (ending the 2023 college football season), which featured the Michigan Wolverines (winners of the Rose Bowl ) and the Washington Huskies (winners of the Sugar Bowl ). NRG Stadium is regularly utilized by varsity football teams as a neutral site during the University Interscholastic League football playoffs. NRG Stadium also hosts international soccer matches. The games are generally held in
9150-715: The first NFL facility to have a retractable roof . The stadium is the home of the National Football League 's Houston Texans , the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo , the Texas Bowl , many of the United States men's national soccer team 's matches, Mexico national football team friendlies where El Tri serves as the host, and other events. The stadium served as the host facility for Super Bowls XXXVIII (2004) and LI (2017),
9272-420: 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
9394-515: 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
9516-546: The first crewed launch from Launch Complex 39B of the Kennedy Space Center since STS-116 in 2006. The launch was originally designated Exploration Mission-2 ( EM-2 ) when the mission was intended to collect samples from a captured asteroid in lunar orbit by the now-cancelled robotic Asteroid Redirect Mission ; it was renamed after the introduction of the Artemis program. In 2017, Exploration Mission-2
9638-402: 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
9760-676: The first time ever. It was the first time that a PBR event was a part of RodeoHouston. In addition, it was their first event in Houston in 11 years, after having previously held an event at the Compaq Center annually between 1998 and 2001. College football's Texas Bowl and Texas Kickoff are annually hosted at the stadium. The first-ever edition of the Texas Bowl featured a game between Rutgers University and Kansas State University , with Rutgers winning 37–10. The stadium hosted
9882-557: The food and concession deliveries from the rodeo equipment and livestock deliveries. A 42-foot (13 m) concert performance stage is located at the south end of the stadium during rodeo events and is moved into the center of the facility by a hydraulic drive system for rodeo concert performances. On February 25, 2012, the PBR brought its premier bull riding tour, the Built Ford Tough Series , to Reliant Stadium for
10004-488: 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 the Moon and returning him safely to Earth by
10126-451: 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
10248-484: 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 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
10370-515: 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
10492-556: 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 a month after the Soviet Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, executing a full orbital spaceflight. NASA's first orbital spaceflight
10614-634: 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
10736-476: 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 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
10858-468: The north end zone , called the "Bull Pen", is the designated fan section for the hometeam. The fans in the Bull Pen interact directly with the action on the field, helping to create and implement fan traditions, songs, chants, and other elements of the game-day experience for spectators all over the stadium. Fans in the Bull Pen are encouraged to stand throughout the game, sing, cheer, and otherwise support
10980-491: The office and team facilities. On April 19, 2023, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo renamed NRG Stadium to NRG Stadium (Taylor's Version) to celebrate Taylor Swift's much anticipated Eras Tour . On the night of September 12–13, 2008 the stadium sustained damage from Hurricane Ike forcing the Houston Texans home opener scheduled for September 14 to be postponed. Part of the roof cladding came off, and there
11102-625: 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
11224-507: 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
11346-438: The schematic design for the first-ever NFL retractable roof football stadium in 1997. The intention was to create a football stadium to replace the Astrodome that would operate like an open-air facility but have the intimacy and comfort of an indoor arena. With the design for football and the square footage requirements of the rodeo, the building was designed in the 1.9-million-square-foot (180,000 m ) range. Groundbreaking for
11468-779: The second largest of their kind, at a total of 14,549 square feet (1,351.6 m ) of screens. This tops the previous record of AT&T Stadium in Arlington . This has since been topped by the digital display boards located in TIAA Bank Field , the home of the Jacksonville Jaguars, now home to the largest digital display boards in any stadium in the world. The Houston Texans have played their home games at NRG Stadium (or Reliant Stadium) since their inception in 2002. The annual calendar consists of 8 regular season and 1-2 pre-season games, plus any playoff games
11590-676: 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
11712-581: The series. The two largest historically black universities in Texas , Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University , each have played selected regular season home games at NRG Stadium as well. The SWAC Championship Game was held at the stadium from 2013 until 2017. In 2017, NRG Stadium was announced as a future site for the College Football Playoff National Championship game; it hosted
11834-458: 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
11956-592: 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 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
12078-549: 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
12200-481: 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,
12322-466: 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 the use of fuel cells instead of batteries, and conducted the first American spacewalks and rendezvous operations . The Ranger Program was started in
12444-528: The spring and summer before the NFL season starts. The stadium hosted CONCACAF Gold Cup matches from 2005 to 2011. The Gold Cup matches in 2007 included first round matches, and a quarterfinal doubleheader match. The venue's attendance record was set during a preparation match between the Mexico national team and the U.S. men's soccer team . On February 6, 2008, United States v Mexico was held at Reliant Stadium to
12566-679: The stadium was on March 9, 2000 and the building was officially topped off in October 2001. Construction was completed in 30 months. The stadium opened on August 24, 2002, with a preseason game between the Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans which the Dolphins won 24–3. The stadium hosted its first regular season NFL football game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Texans on September 8, 2002. The first rodeo
12688-471: The team in an enthusiastic manner. In 2011, Reliant updated their logo and therefore had to update their signage all over the stadium. In December 2012, it was announced that, in order to help bring the Super Bowl back to Houston, the stadium's end zone displays would be replaced with the largest digital displays in any professional sports venue. The video screens were revealed August 16, 2013 and are
12810-453: The various projects, mission architectures and associated timelines relevant to lunar and Mars exploration and science. NRG Stadium Former capacity : NRG Stadium (previously known as Reliant Stadium ) is a multi-purpose stadium in Houston , Texas , United States . Construction was completed in 2002, at a cost of $ 352 million and has a seating capacity of 72,220. It was
12932-461: 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
13054-420: Was a projected single-launch mission of a Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1B rocket with an Exploration Upper Stage , lunar Block 1 Orion spacecraft, and a payload insertion of 50.7 tonnes (55.9 short tons ; 112,000 lb ). The plan was to rendezvous with an asteroid previously placed in lunar orbit by the robotic Asteroid Redirect Mission and have astronauts perform space-walks and gather samples. After
13176-683: 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,
13298-483: 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 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
13420-545: 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,
13542-469: Was announced on April 3, 2023, as stated by NASA Administrator Bill Nelson , in his "State of NASA" speech reacting to President Joe Biden 's FY2024 budget proposal. The announcement occurred at a NASA facility at Ellington Field outside Houston . They appeared later that day at nearby NRG Stadium for the 2023 March Madness championship game . NASA had expected rocket stacking operations to begin in September 2024, but as of October, no work had begun as
13664-477: Was announced to be Hansen's backup; she will join the mission if Hansen is unable to. On July 3, 2024, Andre Douglas was announced to be the backup for the three NASA astronauts. Glover, Koch, and Hansen are to be the first person of color , woman, and non-American to go beyond low Earth orbit respectively. Hansen and Gibbons are Canadian and have been assigned by the Canadian Space Agency ;
13786-587: Was broken on November 23, 2009, when a record crowd of 71,153 was in attendance during the Texans' second ever Monday Night Football game against Houston's former NFL team, the Tennessee Titans . The Texans' home finale of the 2009 season against the New England Patriots on January 3, 2010 drew 71,029. NRG Stadium has hosted 2 Super Bowls: Super Bowl XXXVIII (which was marred by a controversial halftime show ) and Super Bowl LI (which
13908-601: 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 the Faith 7 . The Mercury Program was wildly recognized as a resounding success, achieving its objectives to orbit
14030-687: Was held here in November 2005 due to Hurricane Katrina damage at the rivalry's usual venue of the Superdome . Each of the city's two Division I FBS schools, the University of Houston and Rice University , has played regular season home games at NRG Stadium in the past. The Houston–Rice football rivalry game, the Bayou Bucket Classic , was held there in 2004, and in 2011, the game was announced to be played at Reliant Stadium for
14152-534: Was held in the stadium in February 2003. During a Texans preseason game on August 30, 2012, against the Minnesota Vikings , an intoxicated fan fell to his death from an escalator. On March 19, 2014, the stadium was renamed NRG Stadium, after NRG Energy , the parent company of Reliant Energy . During the 2015 season, a permanent artificial surface was installed at NRG Stadium. The Texans had used
14274-524: Was initially postponed one day from Sunday, September 14, 2008, to Monday, September 15, but when the extent of the damage from Hurricane Ike became known, the NFL rescheduled the Texans-Ravens game to week 10 (November 9, 2008), which was to have been the bye week for the Ravens and the Texans' scheduled home game against the Cincinnati Bengals . That game was rescheduled to week 8 (October 26), which
14396-497: 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
14518-533: Was the first Super Bowl to go into overtime); both games pitted the New England Patriots against a team from the NFC South . NRG Stadium hosted Super Bowl XXXVIII on February 1, 2004 where the New England Patriots defeated the Carolina Panthers , 32–29 in front of 71,525 in attendance. NRG Stadium hosted the Texans' first playoff game in franchise history on January 7, 2012, with Houston defeating
14640-407: Was the only Apollo mission, and only crewed spaceflight to date, that flew past the Moon by a free-return trajectory . NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA / ˈ n æ s ə / ) 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
14762-458: Was to have been the bye week for both the Texans and Bengals. The Bengals' bye week was moved from October 26. The Texans and Ravens took their unexpected bye week in week 2, the weekend Hurricane Ike hit East Texas and the Gulf Coast , despite the fact that both teams were preparing that whole week to play that game as scheduled. The stadium reopened on October 5, 2008, when the Texans hosted
14884-480: Was wind and water damage to other sections of the stadium. There were also large pieces of debris inside the stadium from the hurricane and the stadium authority declared that the stadium did not suffer significant structural damage except for the roof, and the Texans would be able to play all of their 8 home games at Reliant Stadium with the roof open. The Texans' home opener against the Baltimore Ravens
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