Apollo Mission Control The Making of a National Historic Landmark More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/4097 Other Springer-Praxis books by Manfred “Dutch” von Ehrenfried Stratonauts: Pioneers Venturing into the Stratosphere, 2014 ISBN:978-3-319-02900-9 The Birth of NASA: The Work of the Space Task Group, America’s First True Space Pioneers, 2016 ISBN:978-3-319-28426-2 Exploring the Martian Moons: A Human Mission to Deimos and Phobos, 2017 ISBN:978-3-319-52699-7 Manfred “Dutch” von Ehrenfried Apollo Mission Control The Making of a National Historic Landmark Manfred “Dutch” von Ehrenfried Leander, Texas, USA SPRINGER-PRAXIS BOOKS IN SPACE EXPLORATION Springer Praxis Books ISBN 978-3-319-76683-6 ISBN 978-3-319-76684-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76684-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018939417 © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 This work is subject to copyright. 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The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Contents Frontispiece................................................................................................................ viii Dedication................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgments...................................................................................................... x Preface......................................................................................................................... xiv 1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 1 2 Mission Control Concepts.................................................................................. 5 2.1 Flight Operations......................................................................................... 5 2.2 Military Versus Civilian Control................................................................. 6 3 The Original Mission Control Center............................................................... 8 3.1 The Mercury Configuration........................................................................ 8 3.2 The Gemini Modifications.......................................................................... 9 3.3 The Transistion to Houston......................................................................... 11 4 A Control Center for the Future........................................................................ 13 4.1 A New Concept........................................................................................... 13 4.2 A New Organization.................................................................................... 20 4.3 A New Approach to Mission Control.......................................................... 21 4.4 Design......................................................................................................... 22 4.5 Building Phases of the Manned Spacecraft Center..................................... 24 5 From Concepts to Reality................................................................................... 26 5.1 The Mission Control Center-Houston (MCC-H)........................................ 26 5.2 Mission Operations Control Rooms (MOCR)............................................ 30 5.3 Staff Support Rooms (SSR)........................................................................ 39 5.4 Other Support Rooms.................................................................................. 51 5.5 Computer Facilities..................................................................................... 69 5.6 Other Systems and Equipment Rooms........................................................ 79 v vi Contents 6 The Missions........................................................................................................ 84 6.1 Gemini......................................................................................................... 85 6.2 Apollo.......................................................................................................... 94 6.3 Skylab.......................................................................................................... 111 6.4 Space Shuttle............................................................................................... 116 7 The People............................................................................................................ 121 7.1 Flight Controllers........................................................................................ 122 7.2 Simulation Personnel.................................................................................. 126 7.3 Computer Support....................................................................................... 131 7.4 Recovery Personnel..................................................................................... 132 7.5 Science Support........................................................................................... 134 7.6 Systems Analysis Support........................................................................... 136 7.7 Management................................................................................................ 140 7.8 Flight Surgeons........................................................................................... 144 7.9 Public Affairs Officers................................................................................. 147 8 Abandoned in Place............................................................................................ 152 8.1 Time to Move On........................................................................................ 152 8.2 Changes in Technology............................................................................... 153 9 Restoration........................................................................................................... 157 9.1 The Vision................................................................................................... 157 9.2 The National Park Service.......................................................................... 157 9.3 Colorado State University........................................................................... 158 9.4 NASA’s Johnson Space Center................................................................... 159 9.5 Other Supporting Organizations................................................................. 160 9.6 Funding the Project..................................................................................... 163 9.7 Proposed Work............................................................................................ 169 9.8 The Restoration Contractors....................................................................... 175 10 The 50th Anniversary of the First Lunar Landing.......................................... 176 10.1 The Final Goal of the Restoration............................................................... 176 10.2 The Visitor Experience................................................................................ 177 10.3 What It Means to the Nation and the World................................................ 177 Appendix 1 Key Correspondence.......................................................................... 181 Appendix 2 Mission Manning Lists....................................................................... 196 Appendix 3 Women Flight Controllers and Mission Support............................. 213 Appendix 4 Chronology of Events......................................................................... 218 Appendix 5 Photos and Graphics.......................................................................... 221 Appendix 6 Quotes.................................................................................................. 239 Contents vii Appendix 7 The Original MSC Contractors........................................................ 247 Appendix 8 In Memory of Our Colleagues........................................................... 251 References..................................................................................................................