A NASA report showing the final scoring showed Space Center Houston finished 10th among 13 museums competing for the three orbiters (not already committed to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum). Space Center Houston was briefly considered as a home for one of the retired Space Shuttle orbiters, but the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, and California Science Center were instead selected. The plane was transported to Space Center Houston from Ellington Airport on April 30, 2014. On August 14, 2014, a heavy lift called The Rise of Independence was completed to place Independence on top of NASA 905. Independence is now displayed atop the retired Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, NASA 905. The Space Shuttle replica Independence, formerly known as Explorer, was previously located at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, but was moved to make way for a new permanent attraction hall for Space Shuttle Atlantis. Independence Plaza is the only place where the public can enter both vehicles. This attraction contains the world's only Space Shuttle replica, where it stands mounted on one of the two original shuttle carrier aircraft. Space Center Houston is the home of the Independence Plaza exhibit complex.

The Space Shuttle replica Independence sits atop the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 905, one of the two Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, with the Johnson Space Center and Rocket Park in the background Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docking module trainer.Lunar touchstone, one of only eight Moon rocks in the world that can be touched.Harrison ' Jack' Schmitt, along with a biological contingent of five mice, orbited the Moon a record 75 times in 1972 during the last crewed Lunar mission Apollo 17 Command Module America flown by Gene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Dr.Gemini 5 capsule flown by Gordon Cooper and Pete Conrad in 1965.Mercury 9 capsule ( Faith 7) flown by Gordon Cooper in 1963.This artifact gallery includes three flown spacecraft, several used in training, and a display of Moon rocks: The museum is 250,000 square feet (23,000 m 2) and displays over 400 space artifacts, including the Mercury 9, Gemini 5, and Apollo 17 space capsules. The center opened in 1992 replacing the former Visitor Center in Johnson Space Center Building 2. The Johnson Space Center is the home of Mission Control and astronaut training. The organization is owned by NASA, and operated under a contract by the nonprofit Manned Spaceflight Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization. It was designated a Smithsonian Affiliate museum in 2014. Space Center Houston is a science museum that serves as the official visitor center of NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. The Apollo 17 command module America is on exhibit at the Space Center

Nasa space center