When we think of Apollo missions to the Moon, the first image that comes to our mind is that of astronauts. Doubtlessly, they were the public face of the mammoth project, but there was another group of people that was equally vital to the success of their flight: The Mission Control Center, Houston.
Conceptualized by Chris Kraft, the mission control was nerve center of each space flight. Flight controllers guide the rocket and spacecraft, monitor the onboard systems and instruct the astronauts. They analyze the vast streams of data pouring into their consoles and sometimes have to make split-second decisions that can save or destroy the billion-dollar spacecraft as well as invaluable lives onboard. In the case of Apollo-13, it was the team at Mission Control that devised procedures and workarounds to keep the three astronauts alive and bring them back safely to Earth.
This is the story of these people. We get to meet tough and competent Flight Directors like Gene Kranz and Glynn Lunney, bright and sharp flight controllers like John Aaron, Steve Bales, and Sy Liebergot.
It is inspiring to see what these men, almost all of them from humble beginnings, could achieve within a decade, and it is equally humbling to realize that when they created history, the average age of team at mission control was... 30 years.
If the words NASA and Apollo turn you on, then skipping this documentary is not an option.
Conceptualized by Chris Kraft, the mission control was nerve center of each space flight. Flight controllers guide the rocket and spacecraft, monitor the onboard systems and instruct the astronauts. They analyze the vast streams of data pouring into their consoles and sometimes have to make split-second decisions that can save or destroy the billion-dollar spacecraft as well as invaluable lives onboard. In the case of Apollo-13, it was the team at Mission Control that devised procedures and workarounds to keep the three astronauts alive and bring them back safely to Earth.
This is the story of these people. We get to meet tough and competent Flight Directors like Gene Kranz and Glynn Lunney, bright and sharp flight controllers like John Aaron, Steve Bales, and Sy Liebergot.
It is inspiring to see what these men, almost all of them from humble beginnings, could achieve within a decade, and it is equally humbling to realize that when they created history, the average age of team at mission control was... 30 years.
If the words NASA and Apollo turn you on, then skipping this documentary is not an option.
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