03 November 2012

NASA Mission Control

Ars Technica has some amazing stuff describing the details of NASA's Mission Control Center. There's a long overview plus details of what each console is for.

Several of the consoles, though, are absolutely brimming with authentic Apollo panels. Sy's console in particular, the Electrical, Environmental, and Communications position, or “EECOM,” is one that approaches Apollo-era authenticity with its smorgasbord of buttons and lights. Being not made of stone myself, I leaned in and pressed buttons and controls as we walked, flicking back and forth the “ABORT REQUEST” toggle on the Flight Dynamics Officer's panel and toggling non-functional displays. There are no touch-screens here—the buttons are heavy and take a couple of pounds of pressure to depress, and they bottom out with solid metallic “CHUNK” sound.

As it should be.

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