Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center (Houston, Texas)

 NASA, International Style (architecture) (Bauhaus), interesting place, 1965_construction, U.S. National Historic Landmark

The Christopher C. Kraft, Jr. Mission Control Center (also known by its radio callsign, "Houston") at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, manages all American human space flight, including US portions of the International Space Station (ISS). It was designed c. 1965 in the International Style by Charles Luckman.

The center is named in honor of Christopher C. Kraft, Jr, a retired NASA engineer and manager who was instrumental in establishing the agency's Mission Control operation. The MCC houses two operational control rooms, from which flight controllers coordinate and monitor manned space missions and the ISS.

Located in Building 30 at the JSC, the Houston MCC was first used in June 1965 for Gemini 4. It housed two primary rooms known as Mission Operation Control Rooms (MOCR). These two rooms controlled all Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Space Shuttle flights up to 1998. MOCR 1, on the second floor, was primarily used for simulations and as a backup. MOCR 2, on the third floor, was where history was made ("The Eagle has landed" and "Houston, we've had a problem", to name just two examples).

In 2019, MOCR 2 was re-opened to the public after a restoration that is astonishing in its attention to detail. "It's like what they call today a screen cap – it's as if every controller got up and left the room mid-shift. Even the cigarette butts in the ashtrays are period correct."

spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/reference/mcc/index.html


www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpmo0Iy9nNw&ab_channel=YouTubeM...