The Astrodome was used by Houston from its construction in 1965 until 1997; it replaced the shared use of Rice Stadium. Starting in 1998, the Cougars returned to Robertson Stadium, which had been their on-campus stadium from 1946-1950, and remained so from 1998 through 2012. The Astrodome also hosted the Bluebonnet Bowl.

Overall, NC State had a record of 1-0-1 at this field; though both games were against the home-team Houston Cougars, one is considered a neutral site game as part of the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl.

  * Non-conference games

The Astrodome broke ground in January 1962 and opened over 3 years later, on April 9th, 1965 with a football capacity of 52,000 for football, 45,000 seats for baseball, 60,000 seats for conventions, and 66,000 seats for boxing matches. When it opened, it was the first fully-enclosed multi-purpose sports venue in the world; similarly, the venue was the first to have an animated scoreboard (the "Astrolite"), and also the first to install artificial turf (the famous AstroTurf) in 1966. Though the stadium was renovated modestly in 1979 and 1982, bringing the capacity up to 50,153 and 50,452, respectively, the first and only major updates the venue saw were in 1988, with the work largely focused on expanding the seating capacity by removing the Astrolite.

Notably, the venue received little work in the way of modernizing amenities. The Astrodome's increasingly dilapidated and outdated appearance resulted in the flight of three of its main sponsors before the turn of the century, with the Houston Oilers fleeing to Tennessee (and becoming the Titans) after a request for a new stadium was denied. Cougars football left the following season, and the eponymous Houston Astros left in 1999. By 2007, no major teams were using the stadium, and in 2008, it was condemned by local fire officials.

Since its closure in 2008, the facility has languished. Though it was partially demolished in 2013, further work was halted after officials feared the work would damage the nearby NRG Stadium. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, further hindering the demolition work [1].

Pictures of the Astrodome