Houston's relationship with spaceflight hasn't changed in over half a century since we last went to the moon, but the Space City of today is radically different from what it looked like in 1972.
What was Houston like the last time we went to the moon? ABC13 looks back to over half a century agoFriday, April 10, 2026 9:24PMHouston's relationship with spaceflight hasn't changed in over half a century since we last went to the moon, but the Space City of today is radically different from what it looked like in 1972.
The four astronauts on NASA's Artemis II are set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean on Friday evening, and their return from the moon is historic since the last time we went to the moon was in 1972.Artemis II: NASA preparing for Orion's reentry and splashdown in Pacific Ocean The Galleria mall had just opened, the Beatles were breaking up, and the Watergate scandal was breaking.But, just ask any Houstonian: through it all, we've been proud of our connection to spaceflight. Every time Americans have been to the moon, they've been in contact with mission control right here in Space City. On July 4, 1962, Main Street in downtown Houston was lined with about half a million people craning their necks to see space travel greats like Alan Shepard, the first American to go to space, and John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth. The space race was on, and H-Town's baseball team was called the Colt 45s ... not quite yet the Astros. In 1969, Houston's big airport opened up, and Loop 610 was becoming a reality. Apollo 11 landed on the moon, and the first steps were from a Houston resident.54 years later, while the beehive hairdos and pocket protectors may be gone, Space City's commitment to space exploration continues. To put things in perspective, Artemis II astronauts set a record by going 248,655 miles from Earth... for Houstonians, that distance is roughly going around the Grand Parkway about 1,400 times, hopefully without traffic!
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