So … What About On-Site Tours?

by Katie Williams | 2020-10-25

As JSC safely and gradually is enabling more on-site work during Stage 2, JSC team members have asked some great questions about what the transition means for tours. The short answer is that during stage 2 tours are very limited. Please read below for detailed information.

The lowdown.
During Stage 2:

Employee Family and Friends tours (pink badges) — not permitted
Official tours (legislative, protocol, and official business) — limited
Space Center Houston — tram tours limited to Rocket Park and Building 9 catwalk

Catwalk images from Building 9
Photos of the catwalk in Building 9, used most commonly for Space Center Houston tour visitors. Images courtesy of Space Center Houston.

Family and Friends Tours
Even though Johnson is making great strides in returning to limited on-site work during Stage 2, with more people on campus, Family and Friends tours (the ones that use Escort-Required Visitor Badges, which are pink), will not be permitted until the center moves forward to Stage 1. This new guidance not only includes tours to the usual facilities, like mission control, but also other facilities and offices on-site. This temporary stoppage will help limit the exposure of on-site employees to possible COVID cases, as well as help keep our facilities clean for employees currently working in the office, and those who plan to return in the future.

Official Business Tours
While Stage 2 does not drastically change which official business tours are permitted on-site, there is an additional approval step that is now required from the Center Director’s Office before any special legislative, protocol, and official business tours can be conducted. These would still be very limited in scope and likely based around a mission or agency milestone (e.g., Crew-1, the International Space Station 20th anniversary). Caveat: Celebrity-related tours and student/STEM tours will not be allowed on-site until Stage 1.

Space Center Houston
As many are probably aware, Space Center Houston has been back open, in a limited capacity, since July. During Stage 3, the visitor center was permitted to take tram guests to Rocket Park — the only on-site option available to them during this period of heightened caution.

In Stage 2, the center has agreed that Space Center Houston may use another facility on-site in addition to Rocket Park: Building 9 (only the catwalk!). Using the catwalk for access, Space Center Houston guests can enter and leave the building and have no interaction with Johnson team members. No other on-site Space Center Houston tours are permitted at this time. Also, for the protection of Space Center Houston guests and the Johnson team, the visitor center is limiting the number of people on each tram to approximately 35 guests, and is requiring that masks to be worn at all times while on trams, at Rocket Park, or in the Building 9 catwalk. Increased cleaning by both Space Center Houston and the Building 9 team, after each tour and several additional times per week, will happen inside the catwalk.

There are no current plans for Space Center Houston to expand their tours to any additional facilities on-site, and it will likely stay that way for the foreseeable future.

Keep watching Roundup for more information on tours and any changes to the plans noted above. Stay safe out there!

Rocket Park is one of two locations Space Center Houston guests can visit at NASA's Johnson Space Center during Stage 2. Credits: NASA

Tram tours are limited in capacity and socially distanced, with face covers required and additional Plexiglas partitions. Image courtesy of Space Center Houston.