Science
What’s Inside NASA’s Mission Control
Between all the monitors, wires and keyboards are the normal trappings of a workplace: lunchboxes, water bottles, backpacks and smartphones.
A vase of roses brightens up the center of the room. Since the Challenger disaster in 1986, a couple in Houston has sent more than a hundred bouquets to mission control to commemorate NASA’s space launches and honor the lives of fallen astronauts.
Mission control is in a new room, and looks a little different than in the Apollo era. Wood desks have replaced green metal mainframes, and the ashtrays and rotary phones are gone.
But the bones of the operation have not changed, said Judd Frieling, one of the Artemis II flight directors, who spoke from mission control to reporters on Saturday. Every spacecraft needs similar systems — propulsion, navigation and the like — to succeed.
“We’re building upon the giants that started it back in the Apollo era,” Mr. Frieling said. “We continued our evolution during the space shuttle program, during the International Space Station program and now on to the Artemis program.”