Nicknames of Houston

There are many nicknames for the city of Houston, the largest city in Texas and third-largest city in the United States. The city's nicknames reflect its geography, economy, multicultural population, and popular culture, including sports and music. They are often used by the media and in popular culture to reference the city.

Houston currently has one official nickname, "Space City", signifying the city's global importance to space exploration and historical role as a prominent center of activity by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Cities adopt official nicknames such as this one to establish a civic identity, promote civic pride, and build community unity. Houston has had other nicknames in the past which have faded in common usage, going as far back as the 1870s.

The city has recently accumulated several unofficial nicknames from among sub-groups within the city, including several whose origins are in the local hip-hop subculture. The most recently added nickname is "The Big Heart", which refers to assistance given by Houston and its citizens to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and 2006.

Houston received its official nickname of "Space City" in 1967 because it is home to NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center.

NASA's center in Houston has its origins in the Space Task Group which directed its first manned spaceflight program, Project Mercury. In 1961, it grew into a bigger organization as the Manned Spacecraft Center, and in 1962 moved into a newly built campus on land donated by Rice University. It was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in honor of Texas U.S. Senator, Vice President, and President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1973, the year Johnson died. As Senate Majority Leader, Johnson played a decisive role in passage of the legislation which created NASA in 1958. JSC contains the Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center, which coordinates and monitors all human spaceflight for the United States, and directed all Space Shuttle missions and activities aboard the International Space Station. The visitor's center of JSC is Space Center Houston.

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