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| Mercury was the first attempt to see if we could get a man into space, have him in an earth orbit, and then return him to earth safely. It worked! The last flight was perfect with Gordon Cooper the pilot. Then started the Gemini Program, a two man spacecraft, and the goals of this program were expanded to see if we could get man to walk in space, and to also rendezvous with another spacecraft while in orbit. These were critical to continuing the efforts to send a man to the moon. The efforts succeeded more than anyone could have anticipated. |
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Politics had dictated that the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center, as it was called then, was to be built in Houston, Texas. Why? Because some politicians had favors to be made. No other reason! So on a huge pasture, formerly filled with cattle, and consisting of a muddy soil called "gumbo" was the ground assigned to NASA on which to build the new NASA Center.
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| The site chosen to build the new NASA Manned Space Center in Clear Lake, Texas. This was ground donated to the government, formerly cattle pastureland right next to a small lake just south of Houston. |
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| The new Mission Control Center, almost at the center of the preceeding photo, was a five story building with no windows. In it were the control rooms, computer and communications equipment needed to manage the entire mission control functions all over the world out of this faciity. Next door and attached to Mission Control was a three story building with a set of office suites and additional computer facilities to accomodate all the staff working in Flight Operations |
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Throughout the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo Moon Programs, I was privileged to have managed the Mission Control Center and the Manned Space Flight Tracking Network.
I had a console in the Mission Control Room just to the right of the Flight Director during all the space missions. What a place to be at this time in history!!
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