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Mercury Control Center

{{Short description|Former spacecraft control center at Cape Canaveral, Florida}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

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File:Alan Shepard in Mercury Control Center.jpg watches launch at the CAPCOM console in Mercury Control during Gus Grissom's July 21, 1961, Mercury-Redstone 4 (Liberty Bell 7) flight]]

The Mercury Control Center (also known as Building 1385 or simply MCC) provided control and coordination of all activities associated with the NASA's Project Mercury flight operation as well as the first three Project Gemini flights (the first two had no crew). It was located on the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, east of Samuel C. Phillips Parkway.

The facility was expanded in 1963 to support Project Gemini by contractor Pan American World Airways to provide more meeting space along with space for data analysis, and a large space for a new Gemini spacecraft trainer.{{cite web|title=Mercury Mission Control, 1962-63 Addition|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/MCCgallery/LOC-63-1017.html|publisher=NASA}}

The more complex requirements of later Gemini and Apollo flights forced control operations to move to a larger facility located in Houston, Texas, but the MCC continued to be used for training and meeting space. On June 1, 1967, the Center became a historic stop for public tours, and continued this function through the mid-1990s.

File:Mercury Control.jpg (Sigma 7) flight in 1962]]

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Configuration

File:MCC layout.jpg

The MCC was organized into three rows and was smaller and simpler than subsequent control centers. It needed only to support a mission of no more than 36 hours with a spacecraft less complex than those used on future missions. Positions included those for monitoring the spacecraft and astronauts during flight as well as positions for supporting the launch and recovery of the capsule.

The MCC also featured a large backlit status map for display of the capsule position. Unlike later mission control centers which featured computer generated graphics, this Mercury-era display operated with a physical two-dimensional representation of the capsule suspended and lit in front of the map.

More modern mission control centers were split between launch control, which is located at the launch site such as Cape Canaveral, and mission control which is located at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center for the Apollo and Space Shuttle programs or at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for unmanned missions.

Tracking and ground facilities

File:Mercury stations.jpgThough the MCC provided command and control, it was not the only facility involved in supporting Mercury or Gemini flights. The Computing and Communications Center was located at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and provided computing power for missions.

To minimize the time that the spacecraft was out of communications range with the ground, additional ground stations were established at US military facilities, tracking ships, and in cooperation with the governments of Spain, United Kingdom, Nigeria and Australia:[https://history.nasa.gov/SP-45/ch1.htm MERCURY PROJECT SUMMARY (NASA SP-45)]

Location

The building was erected between 1956 and 1958 and was used throughout Project Mercury (1961–1963) and for Project Gemini through Gemini 3 (1964–1965).

Though the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 16, 1984, as a contributing property to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, asbestos removal, other repairs and restoring the center to its original state would have cost $6 million. The decision was made to preserve the consoles and other equipment and destroy the building.{{cite news|title=NASA's first Mission Control demolished|url=http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-050410a.html|newspaper=Collect Space}}{{cite web|title=Mission Control Center|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/MCCgallery/MCC-sign.html|publisher=NASA / State of Florida}}

In 1999, consoles, displays and other equipment were moved to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex to a recreation of the MCC inside the Kurt Debus Center. Consoles and displays were reassembled and many are powered on.{{cite web|title=Mercury Control Center Room| date=May 17, 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHfdTwmDs9w|publisher=NASA Edge}}{{cite web|last=Deming|first=Joan|title=INVENTORY OF HISTORIC ARTIFACTS FROM THE MISSION CONTROL CENTER, CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA|url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/pdf/476786main_ACI%20Final%20Assessment%20Report_Artifact%20Inventory%20at%20MCC_508.pdf|publisher=Archaeological Consultants, Inc.}}

File:Mercury Control Debus.jpg|MCC consoles and displays in the Debus Center

File:MCC panorama KSC Debus Center.png|Recreated MCC Flight Control room on exhibit at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex

File:MCC map rear.jpg|Rear view of status map

File:MCC floorplan.png|Building floor plan

File:John Glenn at the Mercury Control Center.jpg|John Glenn in front of Mercury Control

File:NASA Mission Control Center, Cape Canaveral 1965.jpg|Renamed Mission Control Center

References

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External links

  • [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLStC43yAV6zQkC_zteSWIEyp3plgyCcap NASA KSC documentary videos on the Mercury Mission Control Center]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20111016055437/http://environmental.ksc.nasa.gov/projects/MCC.htm Photos of original building and recreation of the flight control area]
  • [http://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/about/history/MCCgallery/gallery-index.html MCC Gallery]
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRePR6JiDJc Documentary of MCC]

{{Project Mercury|state=expanded}}

{{NASA space program}}

{{NASA centers}}

Category:Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

Category:Project Mercury

Category:NASA

Category:National Historic Landmarks in Florida

Category:Buildings and structures in Merritt Island, Florida

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Brevard County, Florida

Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 2010

Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Florida