The Longhorn Project at NASA’s Johnson Space Center will shut down next week after three decades offering programs for students.
The project’s board of directors announced on social media on Monday that it would end the program, which has served more than 100,000 students through its agriculture and STEM education programs. The program’s license agreement [ended] Wednesday.
The project, also known as the Center for Agriculture, Science and Engineering was created in 1996 as a collaboration between the Longhorn Project, the Johnson Space Center, Clear Creek ISD and Houston agriculture organizations. In 2015, CCISD transferred the program to the Longhorn Project Advisory Board, a nonprofit that aimed to expand the program to additional school districts and private schools.
“As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, The Longhorn Project has faced significant financial challenges, and capital improvements needs that exceed its limited resources,” the directors wrote.
The project is located at a 15-acre pasture for grazing, with a large cattle barn and 7-acre garden, according to the project’s website. It also has housed a herd of registered Texas longhorns.
You can learn more about this project and its history, along with its farewell letter, here, and also at this link where I got that image from. It’s not clear to me if this is a victim of federal budget cuts, federal grant cutbacks, the economy, something else, or none of the above. The last day was this past Wednesday. I’m just sad to see something so particular to our city and greater area come to an end. I wish everyone, especially the longhorns themselves, all the best.