Johnson space center

[WildBill]

I used to go in to JSC to work on occasion. A friend from church was in charge of maintenance there. He told me if I was found to have a pistol anywhere on me or my car, he would be called, and I would be escorted out. And it happened with some regularity (not from me).

I am happy to know that they are so accomodating of forgetfullness. I would have thought that one would be "escorted out" wearing handcuffs.

[jmorris]

NASA is not a federal agency though they are funded largely by the Feds and answer to the vice POTUS. They are a government contractor.

NASA most certainly is a federal agency, and JSC is federal property. Firearms are completely prohibited: JSC employees aren't even allowed to leave firearms in their cars when on site.

No argument here about the property. This may seem like splitting hairs but NASA (formerly NACA) was formed as a civilian entity contracted for flight test with an end toward space exploration. In that they operate under the auspices and with funding and authority of the Federal Government. Kind of like the IRS being an entity of the Federal reserve but operates with authority of the Federal Government.

I do not have enough knowledge of the "rules" that JSC has always operated under (rules having the force of law IIRC) but they definitely were aware of the CHL's in the late nineties because of the procedure I described. What if anything has changed I am not sure but at least on a procedural basis they accommodated us by having us secure such things in lockers before entering secured areas like mission control.

Have you read the Space Act of 1958? They were created as a federal civilian agency, vice a federal military agency, such as the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA). I see nothing in the act that says they aren't totally federal.