Johnson Space Center

Tour de Houston

DEFCON Dining: Frenchie's Italian Restaurant

Eight hours spent touring the Johnson Space Center with a bunch of semi-bored/semi-spastic Brownies makes for a long day. By the time I hauled my three charges (my kids, plus a tag-along neighbor) from the sprawling indoor playground that reigned as exhibit of choice, I was starving and semi-delirio ... More >>

NASA Taking Astronaut Applications: A Job With A Bright Future

This could be you​Tired of your dead-end job? Get into a profession that's guaranteed to be well-funded for the foreseeable future and beyond: manned space travel!! NASA is once again opening up the application process for astronaut jobs, even though, you know, there are no more shuttle missi ... More >>

25 Signs That You Aren't From Houston

That's right, you're not from Houston​Earlier this week Arturo Valdes was pulled over for speeding down the West Loop feeder road in the City of Bellaire. After finding "irregularities" with his registration (probably something other than a Bellaire or West U address), Bellaire cops called in ... More >>

Six Houston-Related eBay Items You WILL NOT Be Able To Resist Bidding On

It's very possible to go to eBay and wonder "Who the hell would ever buy this?" Certainly not falling into that category are the following six Houston-related items currently up for bid. Get in on `em now while you can!! ​6. The hippest campaign button ever Why it's great: See the way the 7 ... More >>

An Amateur Lands The Space Shuttle

Boyd MeierKym in the sim​Be sure to check out our pics from the Atlantis astronauts' homecoming at Johnson Space Center. You often hear the expression "a once in a lifetime experience," and while this may or may not always be true, for those lucky enough to participate in a NASA Tweet-up, not ... More >>

In Run-Up to Space Shuttle Atlantis Launch, NASA Allows Rare Peek Behind Mission Control Curtain

Photos by Troy Fields​Check out our pictures of the final round of space shuttle simulation training at NASA's Mission Control. Space. If you are anything like me, you've probably started to take it for granted. Save for disasters like the Columbia explosion in 2003, the country as a whole no ... More >>

Houston Responds to Space Shuttle Shun.

Photos by Troy Fields​Check out our pictures of the final round of space shuttle simulation training at NASA's Mission Control. Space. If you are anything like me, you've probably started to take it for granted. Save for disasters like the Columbia explosion in 2003, the country as a whole no ... More >>

Comment of the Day: More Space Shuttle Blues

​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 >>

Space Shuttles: Ten Ways Los Angeles and New York Can Show Theirs Off, Dammit

Bi-wing airplanes...pfft. Try this on for size, Kong.​This week, we learned that Houston, essentially the birthplace of the space shuttle program, will not be given one of the four remaining shuttles. Two of the four cities receiving them are both deserving and appropriate: Washington D.C. (fo ... More >>

Space Shuttle Battle: City Hall Rally to Demand Houston Gets a Used Orbiter

Proposed Houston home for a shuttle.​As we've noted before, Houston is in a life-or-death battle to get one of the two retiring space shuttles that have flown missions, and they need all the help they can get. The solution: A City Hall rally, complete with Mayor Annise Parker, County Judge Ed ... More >>

Final Four Visitors: Ten Alternative Places to Visit in Houston

You can skip the Beer Can House​So, you've made it to town for the Final Four and you are shocked to find out there are no tumbleweeds, we all aren't walking around in 10-gallon hats and the area surrounding downtown and the medical center is not filled with strip malls and urban decay. Welcom ... More >>

Space Cowboys: Big Head Todd Serenades Shuttle Crew

​If someone woke Rocks Off up at 2:30 in the morning with a Big Head Todd & the Monsters song, even the band themselves, we might have a few choice words for them. But we suppose it's a little different when you're 220 miles above the Earth. That's what happened earlier today (way earlier tod ... More >>

Ten Houston Neighborhoods: The Crimes They Experience

Paging McGruff the Crime Dog​We've been plotting which neighborhoods in Houston lead in certain crime categories, but doing that doesn't really get you to the more well-known parts of town. So we decided to zero in on a few specific neighborhoods and see what crime's been going down in them. ... More >>

Intelligent Life

When NASA employee April Evans questioned animal experiments, her career fell apart.

NASA's Space Vomit Recipe: The Video

It must have a whiff of Tang, messieurs!​So apparently the space program needs some next-gen trash bags, and they need to find out if those bags can stand up to every manner of substance that they will be containing.This will include many empty cups of Tang and according to the video after the jum ... More >>

Chile Mine Disaster: NASA Helps Out

NASA goes underground​NASA may be out of the moon business and seen a lot of other space-related dreams curtailed, but now it looks like they can direct their energies underground.The government of Chile has asked for NASA's help in dealing with the 33 miners trapped in a tight space a half-mile u ... More >>

"Star Wars: The Clone Wars"

Space Center Houston puts George Lucas fans through their paces

Annise Parker's Star Wars Choice: She's With The Bad Guys

City of Houston photosSo that's what Stormtroopers look like when they take off their helmets​ We'll admit freely that we're not the biggest Star Wars fans in the world. Given the fanaticism of some Jedi followers, it's an easy claim to make.But we thought -- and correct us if we're wrong -- that ... More >>

There's Absolutely Nothing That Could Possibly Go Wrong With NASA's New Human-Looking Robot

Photo by General Motors​NASA and General Motors have announced a new space robot, called Robonaut 2, or R2 for short (The name "Desperately Hoping to be Relevant via Outdated Pop Culture References," or RHROPCR, was apparently rejected for being too long.)"Our challenge today is to build machines ... More >>

Newest Report Not Great News For NASA; Time To Think "Outside The Box," As They Probably Still Say There

​The long-awaited report on NASA's future has come out and, as expected, it's bad news for anyone hoping for a return to the moon."Panel Says NASA Should Skip Moon, Fly Elsewhere" is the headline on AP's report:Norman Augustine, chairman of the White House-appointed panel reviewing the agency's sp ... More >>

Election Night Parties -- Where To Watch

​The long-awaited report on NASA's future has come out and, as expected, it's bad news for anyone hoping for a return to the moon."Panel Says NASA Should Skip Moon, Fly Elsewhere" is the headline on AP's report:Norman Augustine, chairman of the White House-appointed panel reviewing the agency's sp ... More >>

Houston as a Movie Stand-In: The Top Five

​The long-awaited report on NASA's future has come out and, as expected, it's bad news for anyone hoping for a return to the moon."Panel Says NASA Should Skip Moon, Fly Elsewhere" is the headline on AP's report:Norman Augustine, chairman of the White House-appointed panel reviewing the agency's sp ... More >>

Things (Not) To Do in Houston, Per USA Today

​The long-awaited report on NASA's future has come out and, as expected, it's bad news for anyone hoping for a return to the moon."Panel Says NASA Should Skip Moon, Fly Elsewhere" is the headline on AP's report:Norman Augustine, chairman of the White House-appointed panel reviewing the agency's sp ... More >>

“Star Wars: The Clone Wars”

See artifacts and props from the new animated SWTCW film

“Daredevil Island”

Space Center Houston mixes adventure with fun

Weekend Music: No Money, No Problem

Space Center Houston mixes adventure with fun

“Amazon Voyage: Vicious Fishes & Other Riches”

Man-eating piranhas are the centerpiece of this nature exhibit

Bayousphere

Man-eating piranhas are the centerpiece of this nature exhibit

“Star Wars”

Luke Skywalker and company land their starfighter at NASA

The Hamachi on Pluto

A new sushi restaurant on NASA Parkway boldly takes raw fish beyond old expectations

Dubble Trubble

Troubled Hubble packs a one-two wallop of great music and an even better live show

Best Tourist Attraction

Troubled Hubble packs a one-two wallop of great music and an even better live show

Fonda Film

A countercultural icon rolls into town for Easy Rider and The Hired Hand

Sit, Stay, Run!

A race goes to the dogs

Rocket Man

How one enterprising Johnson Space Center physicist followed his dream to Hollywood and porn stardom

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

How one enterprising Johnson Space Center physicist followed his dream to Hollywood and porn stardom

Up, Up and Away

Little Johnny will love the Ballunar Liftoff Festival

Serious Cinema

Set in 1948, Kedma explores a present-day problem

IMAX by Extraterrestrials

Astronauts film life aboard the space station in stunning 3-D

Files Not Found

Thousands of missing FBI documents in the Timothy McVeigh case? It comes as no surprise to the survivors of Operation Lightning Strike.

Science for Hire

The Mad Science Group educates kids with rock music and science

Your Friend, the Germ

Microbes are the stars of this exhibit

Megascreen Cinemas March In

Big complexes threaten end to neighborhood era

Press Picks

Big complexes threaten end to neighborhood era

Press Picks

Big complexes threaten end to neighborhood era

The Insider

Big complexes threaten end to neighborhood era

Press Picks

Big complexes threaten end to neighborhood era

Picks

Big complexes threaten end to neighborhood era

Picks

Big complexes threaten end to neighborhood era