Cultural History

Star Trek Shuttle Scheduled for Display at Space Center Houston

The Star Trek shuttlecraft Galileo is making a landing in Houston, coming to rest at Space Center Houston as a permanent exhibit. Star Trek fans may remember the ill-fated voyage of Galileo, sent out from the Enterprise to explore a star system with a small crew led by First Officer Spock. In the e ... More >>

RIP Neil Armstrong: Songs For The First Man On The Moon

This weekend was marred by the death of the first man on the moon, Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 82. The trio of Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin made up the Apollo 11 crew that set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. The space race of the '60 ... More >>

''Emma Richardson Cherry: Houston's First Modern Artist''

50 Years On: The Smithsonian's Five Weirdest Items from John Glenn's Flight

Fifty years ago John Glenn became the first American into orbit, an important first step on the way to the moon. You can search the Smithsonian's archives for Friendship 7 items, and some of them are, well, odd. Like these five: 5. Mark Dixon's blanket Who's Mark Dixon? Just some kid from Michigan ... More >>

Skylab IV Splashed Down on This Day: Five Things the Most Complaining Space Crew Ever Bitched About

Skylab IV: Not happy campers​Skylab IV splashed down on this day in 1974, ending the last mission to America's first space station. They were glad to get home. The crew of Skylab IV -- William Pogue, Gerald Carr and Edward Gibson -- became famous for the sheer amount of complaining they did. ... More >>

The Fall of Sputnik: 6 Songs for a Satellite

On this day in 1958 Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to be put into orbit, fell to Earth after completing 1,440 orbits. The launch of Sputnik was seen as a major blow to the American quest for space superiority, and a significant step forward in the space race by the Soviet Union. In the ... More >>

The Holy Grail Of A Neil Armstrong Autograph: One Man's Quest

No, he won't sign it​Which living person has the world's most sought-after autograph? Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon. A Houstonian has written a book about it. Anthony Pizzatola is a vice-president of the Universal Autograph Collector's Club and he's written Neil Armstrong: The Quest F ... More >>

The Five Astronaut Autobiographies Everyone Should Read

Riding Rockets: Raunchy, raucous and funny.​Astronaut autobiographies can be a very mixed bag. On the one hand, that should be surprising given the harrowing, thrilling life-and-death stories which are inherent; on the other hand, the authors are generally not very good writers. And even if t ... More >>

Comment of the Day: If Twitter, Google and Social Media Were Around During the First Moon Walk

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

The Moon Landing 42 Years On: Five Odd Facts (Includes Urine, Wine and a Petty Refusal To Take Photos)

The flag: Better than a solar-wind experiment that just looks like a flag​Wednesday marks the 42nd anniversary of man landing on the moon. One small step, and all that. It's an odd anniversary, the 42nd, so here are five odd facts about the mission. 5. Buzz Aldrin, First Man To Piss On The M ... More >>

Apollo 13 Launched 41 Years Ago: 5 Best Trivia Bits About the Film

Not only is failure not an option, it's not an accurate quote​Forty-one years ago Apollo 13 blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center, and things went swimmingly for a while. Last year we listed our favorite dweebiest nit-picks about the movie; this year let's look at some favorite pieces of ... More >>

Merz at the Menil

The museum hosts a must-see exhibition of works by art pioneer Kurt Schwitters.

Sputnik: The Shock of the Century

It’s an insider’s view at the race for space

SpaceCenter Houston's Rocket Park Fills In A Missing Piece

Photo via CollectSpaceThe Gemini-Titan, ready for refurbishing​Last week, with little fanfare, a truck rolled up to the Johnson Space Center with a unique cargo.It was a replica of a Gemini-Titan rocket with capsule, and it means SpaceCenter's Rocket Park will fill in a missing piece of JSC histor ... More >>

Apollo 13: Anatomy of a Failure

Fly me to the moon...oh, wait, we missed it!

Screen on the Green: Apollo 13

Houston, ah, we have a big ass problem

Houston 101: Neighborhood Of Astronauts

​Nowadays, being an astronaut just doesn't have the cachet it once did. But back in the 1960s, astronauts were celebrities, and an obscure neighborhood near Clear Lake was their Beverly Hills.Timber Cove was a development of what today would be considered smallish homes -- no McMansions here -- on ... More >>

El Franco Lee II: "Visual Harassment"

Houston's resident urban mannerist takes a hard look at life in black America

Playing Neil Armstrong On The Screen: The "Jesus Curse," Redux

Photo by NASAIn the old days of Hollywood, they used to talk of "the Jesus Curse" -- any actor who played JC on screen was thereafter soomed to obscurity.Does the same thing happen to actors who play Neil Armstrong? There aren't as many Apollo 11 movies as you might expect, but the evidence still is ... More >>

Spacefest: 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

Houston, we have a celebration

Dawn of the Space Age

Web exclusive!

Five Best Apollo 11 Myths

Photo courtesy NASAA salute to Mr. JablonskiHey, guess what!! Monday brings the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing!!Oh, you heard? Well, get ready to hear more -- this weekend and Monday will no doubt be a "One small step for man" marathon.Which is fine -- the moon mission was a crazy, a ... More >>

"Moon FTW IRL!" -- Apollo 11, As If They Had Twitter Then

You know what sucked about the moon landing? They didn't Twitter it.If it's not on Twitter, we're not sure we can trust that it happened. Even if the headlines say otherwise.Now, however, the problem is solved, thanks to the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston.They've put together an impressive "reliv ... More >>

21st Annual Young Inventors Showcase

Web exclusive!

Houston, We Have A....Ah, Forget About It. How Jim Lovell's Kid Learned About His Dad's Adventures

Houstonians have always had a special place in their heart for Apollo 13, the Tom Hanks movie that chronicles the only moon mission that didn't make it.(And for the mission itself, of course, which unfortunately enough gave us the "Houston, we have a problem" cliche that leads to lots and lots of la ... More >>

“Creating Space City, USA”

“Houston…the Eagle has landed.”

Hommage à Max Ernst: A Musical Collage

The German artist inspires a concert by Sarah Rothenberg and company

Unbearably Beautiful: "Houston Collects"

This exhibit needs an editor, but it doesn't matter

Fly Me to the Moon

The newest 3-D animated film chronicles the first landing on the moon – from the point of view of a fly on the wall

Capsule Art Reviews: "Apertura-Colombia," "How Artists Draw," "John Alexander: New Paintings and Drawings," "Miguel Angel Rojas: FotoFest 2008," "Perspectives 160: Dawoud Bey,"

Capsule Art Reviews: "Apertura-Colombia," "How Artists Draw," "John Alexander: New Paintings and Drawings," "Miguel Angel Rojas: FotoFest 2008," "Perspectives 160: Dawoud Bey"

Dark Matter: Five Gothic Tales of Horror

Be prepared to be afraid

Pop Stars

Blaffer Gallery unveils a show that would make Warhol proud

Sudden Movement

There's a new aesthetic in bloom at Redbud Gallery

Mo' Masterpieces

Never gone to New York? The MoMA comes to Houston

Popping Along

James Rosenquist's workmanlike, old-school approach keeps coming up with new challenges

Manet, Monet, Money

The Museum of Fine Arts tries to draw in the crowds with a "Season of Impressionism"

Airborne Again

The Lone Star Flight Museum celebrates Galveston's place in aviation history

No Boosters Allowed

Flight directory Chris Kraft has a story to tell

Overblown and Underrated

So you know Houston's goats, heroes and high points? Think again.

Pop Goes the Menil

More than just soup cans

The Harley Party

Texas Motorcycle Rights Association

Sock It to Me

Man in the Moon

Writer James Schefter

Sputnik at Colonus

Moonstruck

Both corny and inspiring, Apollo 13 is about more than a space mission

The Write Stuff

Houston's Al Reinert spins a tale of his hometown for the big screen

Moon Shots

At the MFA, lunar imagery blurs the line between science and art