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Author
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Topic: Layout, operation of Apollo mission control
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wickball
Member Posts: 107
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 08-17-2005 08:41 PM
   
Can anyone provide a link to a site that covers in great detail how the Apollo Mission Control Room was laid out and operated, the functions of the various stations? I would like to see close-up details of the various flight controller stations and what the various switches and indicators did, examples of typical CRT display data that the controllers would be looking at. An operator/training manual of sorts for Apollo flight controllers. |
Sy Liebergot
Member Posts: 501
From: Pearland, Texas USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 08-18-2005 08:33 AM
I believe my autobio, "Apollo EECOM: Journey Of A Lifetime" would be a big help. A panorama "tour" is also included on the CD-ROM that comes with the book. Other cSers may be able to help, as well. Thanks for the interest in us Apollo-era flight controllers. |
mjanovec
Member Posts: 3811
From: Midwest, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 08-18-2005 04:17 PM
I am definitely going to get a copy of that book. Thanks for the link!Perhaps someone can answer this for me: Is the Apollo Mission Control Room open for the public to tour or is it generally closed (except for special circumstances)? If I visit the Houston area, I'd really like to see the room for myself. I suspect there is more space history in this one room than anywhere else. After this room ceased being used for active mission control activities, was any effort made to return the room (and the instrumentation) to the late 60s/early 70s era appearance? Or does it retain it's more recent upgrades for use in the early part of the Shuttle program? Granted, footage of the room from the Shuttle era gives me the impression (on the surface of things) that it looks pretty much like it did circa 1970. |
wickball
Member Posts: 107
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted 08-18-2005 05:02 PM
Sy, I'm honored that you replied to my post. I grew up during the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. After getting my first collectable a couple of months ago, a Wally Schirra autograph, I have found myself immersed into learning everything I can about those days. I've read Gene Kranz's book and the Murray and Cox book and have been exploring the web for manuals and documents. There's plenty of technical documentation out there about the rockets and capsules and launch facilities but I have found very little about the equipment used in the mission control room, how that equipment was operated. I'm an electronic technician by trade {model rocketry is my hobby} and this would be right up my alley. I hope to make the trip to JSC one day and take the tour and see the room first hand. Thank God they've preserved it. Thanks for the reply and I look forward to picking up your book and reading it. |
Sy Liebergot
Member Posts: 501
From: Pearland, Texas USA
Registered: May 2003
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posted 08-20-2005 08:08 AM
The old MOCR can be observed from behind the glass of the Viewing Room as part of a Space Center Tour. Only special tours can go into the MOCR floor and wander among the consoles. Alas, the consoles are as they were when used during early Shuttle flights. No funds were allocated to reconfigure the MOCR consoles to the Apollo 11 state. e.g they are not "lit" up. |
johntosullivan
Member Posts: 162
From: Cork, Cork, Ireland
Registered: Oct 2005
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posted 04-19-2012 05:13 AM
I have a recollection of reading/hearing that the MCC consoles in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo era were actually TV screens showing a closed circuit image of a larger projection elsewhere in the centre.Can anyone shed any light on this? |
Rusty B
Member Posts: 239
From: Sacramento, CA
Registered: Oct 2004
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posted 04-19-2012 06:40 PM
This is probably the exact document you are looking for with room diagrams, equipment cutaways etc: "Familiarization manual: Mission Control Center, Houston" 201-mb PDF, 159 pages - 1967. |
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