The birth of Mission Control
The Apollo 11 triumph
The Apollo 13 rescue
Modern Mission Control and the future
YOUR GOAL
Master of Inside NASA mission control
hank The Birth of Mission Control
Since sixty-five in Houston, watching from the ground, Guiding every mission till they're safe and sound.
hank Early controllers sat at heavy steel desks packed with analog buttons, dials, and cathode-ray screens.
hank Before satellites, NASA built a global network of ground stations to talk to orbiting spacecraft.
hank Explore the history behind the birth of NASA's Mission Control. Play this interactive educational game about the origins of space flight control.
The average age: During the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, the average age of the engineers working in Mission Control was just 26 years old.
A person who is in charge of a spaceflight and makes decisions about its operations and safety. Christopher Kraft pioneered this role in 1961 during the first crewed American spaceflight.
Which company manufactured the iconic green-screen consoles used in Apollo-era Mission Control?
Which tragic event on January 27, 1967, led to the creation of the tough and competent creed?
What was the average age of NASA's Mission Control team during the Apollo 11 moon landing?
Who was NASA's very first flight director, often called the father of Mission Control?
What was the name of the global tracking network built for NASA's first human spaceflights?
What color vests did flight director Gene Kranz famously wear during critical missions?