Stepping back in time: Mission control refurbished to the day Apollo 11 landed on the moon

"Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

Those were the first words Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong spoke, relaying to NASA that he and fellow astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin had safely and successfully landed their spacecraft on the surface of another world.

This message was transmitted to NASA's mission control, based in the Johnson Space Center just outside of Houston, Texas.

Mission control manages all of NASA's spaceflight activity and served as the point of communication for astronauts through the Apollo missions and part of the Space Shuttle era. Over the years, the technology became outdated and a new mission control had to be constructed elsewhere in the building, leaving this vital spot in NASA's history to fall into disrepair.

However, an effect was made to refurbish the original mission control in Houston to look nearly identical to the day when humans first set foot on the moon.

These side-by-side images show what mission control looks like today (left) compared to what it did during the Apollo program (right). (Left Photo:AccuWeather/Brian Lada, Right Photo:NASA)

"In 2015, NASA officials worked with the National Park Service to develop the 'Historic Furnishings Report and Visitor Experience Plan' that served as the key planning document for the restoration," Space Center Houston explained on their website.

It was a painstaking process that took years to ensure no detail was overlooked, down to the fibers in the carpet. The project was completed and opened to the public on June 28, 2019, less than one month before the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing.

Stepping into this room today is like stepping back in time. Everything in mission control is exactly how it was back in the age of Apollo, including the displays on the monitors, the empty coffee mugs sitting at the workstations, the images on the large television screens at the front of the room, the coats hanging in the corner and even the flight manuals, some of which being the original copies.

A few of the ashtrays throughout mission control even have cigarette butts found while renovating the room that date back to when people were working in mission control during the Apollo missions.

The only significant difference is that it no longer smells like cigarette and cigar smoke, Tim Hall told AccuWeather. Hall was a flight controller for many space shuttle flights and served as the Chief of the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Operations Branch when the renovations were completed.

One element of the impressive recreation that stands out fs the bouquet of roses on display near the front of the room.

"That's interesting. That is [from] a family out of Dallas," Hall said.

"Without asking, every time that we'd have a manned mission, they would send flowers to the control center. They started showing up and they weren't sure what to do with them, so they keep them on console, and they like them so much that it became a tradition. In fact, if they're not here we get worried like it's a jinx. It's been so long that it's been passed down through the family," Hall explained.

"We finally found out who the family is and actually brought them in and visited, but for a while the flowers just showed up and it was a nice thing to do," he continued. "You'll see to this day, we've had the flowers come into the International Space Station room."

A bouquet of roses in the refurbished mission control on July 20, 2019, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. (AccuWeather Photo/Brian Lada)

The restoration of this National Historic Landmark could not have been completed without help from the community and people around the world interested in preserving the facility for generations to come.

"In 2016, Space Center Houston launched a $5 million campaign to fund this important effort. The nearby City of Webster, Texas, was home to many of the flight controllers, engineers, scientists and other Apollo-program personnel during the heyday of Apollo. In early 2017, the City of Webster stepped forward with a lead gift of $3.1 million for the campaign," Space Center Houston explained on its website.

Additionally, a Kickstarter campaign raised over $500,000, more than doubling the original goal.

This newly renovated historic site is open to the public for folks traveling to Houston to visit the NASA facilities.

In addition to holding a special place in the history of NASA, mission control is unlike any other place in the world.

"As far as we can tell, we're the only place like this where we have a National Historic Landmark inside an operational facility," Hall said.

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