“Houston, We Have a Podcast” is the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, the home of human spaceflight, stationed in Houston, Texas. We bring space right to you! On this podcast, you’ll learn from some of the brightest minds of America’s space agency as they discuss topics in engineering, science, technology and more. You’ll hear firsthand from astronauts what it’s like to launch atop a rocket, live in space and re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. And you’ll listen in to the more human side of space as our guests tell stories of behind-the-scenes moments never heard before.
Here is a quick update of what has happened here in Houston. We’ll be back with a full episode next week. This update was recorded on August 30, 2017.
Transcript
Houston, We Have a Podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center. I’m Gary Jordan.
Well as you probably know, southeast Texas was just slammed with the furious winds and torrential downpour of Hurricane Harvey. A lot of Houstonians were affected by the storm and the 40 + inches of rain that came with it. Some had to evacuate. Some held their ground. Others needed to be rescued on boats and helicopters. And others sadly lost their lives. It was a truly devastating storm. Definitely the most intense weather I’ve ever endured.
But if there’s one good thing that came from this disaster, it’s learning that Houston is full of some incredible people, and spaceship Earth is not such a bad place to live. Local first responders and coast guard were helping those in need, and even Texas civilians grabbed their trucks and boats to aid in these efforts. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center, flight controllers braved the weather and camped out in Mission Control 24/7 to make sure the crewmembers aboard the International Space Station were safe and well.
Right now, the Johnson Space Center is closed and will reopen after Labor Day on September 5th, 2017. We’ll post the next full episode of “Houston, We Have a Podcast” once the center is back up and running, and later we’ll share some of the science and comprehensive data behind Hurricane Harvey in an episode with NASA experts. Already, we’re looking at soil moisture data with a NASA-NOAA satellite, and there are a lot of other great Earth science studies going on at the space agency.
But for now, we Houstonians focus on the community. Our hearts and efforts go out to the families that are affected most and the city that we will rebuild. See you next week.