{"id":408120,"date":"2026-08-16T12:50:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T12:50:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/408120\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T12:50:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T12:50:11","slug":"nasa-longhorns-leaving-johnson-space-center-after-30-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/408120\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA longhorns leaving Johnson Space Center after 30 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mary<\/p>\n

Mary Zwieg Dean looks through photos of herself when she was enrolled in The Longhorn Project in League City, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. The Longhorn Project used NASA’s Johnson Space Center to raise longhorn cattle. Students took care of the animals and would take them to shows. Now, after 30 years, that project is ending.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n

Mary\u00a0Zwieg Dean remembers pulling Copper\u2019s Honey Bell into a competition arena in 1999. The longhorn<\/a>, a stubborn white heifer with brown spots, had two speeds: immobile or running.<\/p>\n

They did not win the contest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tied her up, and I just leaned on her like, \u2018Oh my gosh,\u2019\u201d said Dean, who was a Clear Creek High School student at the time. \u201cFirst time showing her at the rodeo, and she’s running around like a\u00a0spaz.\u201d<\/p>\n

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LONGHORNS:\u00a0NASA’s Longhorn Project ends next week after three decades of student programs<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mary<\/p>\n

Mary Zwieg Dean poses for a portrait in her home with photos of herself when she was enrolled in The Longhorn Project in League City, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. The Longhorn Project used NASA’s Johnson Space Center to raise longhorn cattle. Students took care of the animals and would take them to shows. Now, after 30 years, that project is ending.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Mary<\/p>\n

Mary Zwieg Dean is seen in a printed photo from when she was enrolled in The Longhorn Project in League City, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. The Longhorn Project used NASA’s Johnson Space Center to raise longhorn cattle. Students took care of the animals and would take them to shows. Now, after 30 years, that project is ending.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Mary<\/p>\n

Mary Zwieg Dean poses for a portrait in her home with photos of herself when she was enrolled in The Longhorn Project in League City, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. The Longhorn Project used NASA’s Johnson Space Center to raise longhorn cattle. Students took care of the animals and would take them to shows. Now, after 30 years, that project is ending.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Mary<\/p>\n

Mary Zwieg Dean looks through photos of herself when she was enrolled in The Longhorn Project in League City, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. The Longhorn Project used NASA’s Johnson Space Center to raise longhorn cattle. Students took care of the animals and would take them to shows. Now, after 30 years, that project is ending.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle\"Mary<\/p>\n

Mary Zwieg Dean looks through photos of herself when she was enrolled in The Longhorn Project in League City, Friday, Aug. 14, 2026. The Longhorn Project used NASA’s Johnson Space Center to raise longhorn cattle. Students took care of the animals and would take them to shows. Now, after 30 years, that project is ending.<\/p>\n

Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n

It was still a pivotal moment. Dean, now 45, was the first student to show one of NASA\u2019s beloved longhorns.<\/p>\n

The iconic cattle lived at the Johnson Space Center for three decades. Locals admired them while driving past NASA in southeast Houston. Tourists snapped pictures \u2013 what could be more Texas? \u2013 during tram tours. And more than 100,000 students visited the cattle during field trips or other programs, according to the Longhorn Project, which coordinated the cattle and other educational programming.<\/p>\n

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But the longhorns are no longer at NASA. The project \u2013 much like the Saturn\u00a0V moon rocket and space shuttle replica that surround its fields \u2013 is being put out to pasture.<\/p>\n

The Longhorn Project announced last week that it would close due to \u201csignificant financial challenges and capital improvement needs that exceed its limited resources.\u201d Its cattle have been\u00a0rehomed with event venues, ranch owners and breeders, according to a letter the Longhorn Project posted to Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NASA confirmed the Longhorn Project is not renewing its agreement. Its \u201ctenancy\u201d expires on Wednesday, the agency said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are proud of the generations of students we have inspired and the legacy created through this unique blend of agriculture, longhorns, science, engineering and space exploration,\u201d the Longhorn Project said in its letter.<\/p>\n

The cattle were the brainchild of George W.S. Abbey, an influential NASA leader and former director of the Johnson Space Center. Abbey, who died in 2024<\/a>, was inspired to start the Longhorn Project by a faded photo in his office that showed cattle on the land before it became the Johnson Space Center, according to the Longhorn Project\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMr. Abbey loved the longhorns. I think we all did,\u201d\u00a0Estella Hern\u00e1ndez Gillette, who spent 40 years at NASA and later became president of the local chapter of the NASA Alumni League, said in an email. \u201cWe were just a cow pasture, once upon a time, then we went to the moon! And we kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Longhorn Project launched in 1996 as a collaboration with NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center and Clear Creek Independent School District. The Houston Livestock and Rodeo and the Texas Longhorn Breeders Association of America provided support.<\/p>\n

The early years were managed by Ray\u00a0Pieniazek, who taught agricultural science at Clear Lake High School from 1989 to 2000.<\/p>\n

Pieniazek helped students care for the longhorns and prepare for shows. He recalled their joy, particularly one student who he described as glowing after she won a competition buckle.<\/p>\n

He also remembered a few calls from NASA when a longhorn escaped its enclosure.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf any of them would get out,\u201d he said, \u201cI would get the calls at 1 in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabrina Wilson, then Sabrina\u00a0Dell\u2019Osso, was among his early students and described the group as a little family. She said the Longhorn Project provided hands-on experience she couldn\u2019t get in her urban neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just gave me the opportunity to be with those animals that I really love,\u201d said Wilson, who is now 45.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson was sad to learn the program was ending. She hadn\u2019t thought about it in years, though she recently began raising cattle at her home outside of Houston in\u00a0Bellville. She cares for about 50 cattle with her husband, and they sell the meat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Longhorn Project later added\u00a0aquaculture ponds and a seven-acre garden area so students could learn how food is grown. Joel Walker, who was the director of center operations at the Johnson Space Center for 25 years, tended a plot of onions and radishes for a while. \u201cI was not one of the better gardeners,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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WILDLIFE: Meet the biologist who protects deer, snakes and space missions at NASA’s Johnson Space Center<\/a><\/p>\n

At one point, a longhorn was named after him:\u00a0JSC Joel Walker.<\/p>\n

He enjoyed seeing the program connect agriculture with science and space exploration. Students used the longhorns for genetics lessons. They also learned about animal husbandry, fruit and vegetable cultivation, soil research and recycling. This knowledge was then connected to the future of human spaceflight, according to the Longhorn Project.<\/p>\n

The Longhorn Project\u2019s leaders worked tirelessly, Walker said, but he felt that it would struggle without an influx of money or support.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven in the best of times, it was never flush,\u201d Walker said. \u201cIt’s similar to a lot of 501(c)(3)s, right? You kind of live on the edge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean, who showed the stubborn longhorn nearly three decades ago, lives in League City and routinely drives past NASA, pointing out the longhorns while taking her daughter to dance class. She\u2019s sad to see the the program ending and changes at NASA, where her father worked as a pilot.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s just one more thing that’s changing,\u201d Dean said, \u201cwith the space program and the area.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mary Zwieg Dean looks through photos of herself when she was enrolled in The Longhorn Project in League…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":408121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-408120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=408120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/408120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/408121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=408120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=408120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=408120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}