KSC-2010-3103

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a Caterpillar 330 track-hoe punches a hole in the wall of the Mercury Mission Control Center. The original building, constructed between 1956 and 1958, was last modified in 1963. The center succumbed to the two worst enemies of structures along the space coast - time and salt air - necessitating that it be demolished as a safety measure. The facility served as mission control during all the Project Mercury missions, as well as the first three flights of the Gemini Program. The center housed the flight controllers whose duty was to take over flight control after liftoff and follow it through until splashdown. Additionally, it supported vehicle checkout, spacecraft tracking, and astronaut training. With Gemini IV, mission control moved to Houston, and the facility took on the roles of launch control and tracking station. In 1999, much of the equipment and furnishings from the flight control area was moved to Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex. A re-created mission control room currently is on display in the complex's Dr. Kurt H. Debus Conference Facility. Speegle II of Cocoa, Fla., was awarded the contract for the deconstruction project. Frank-Lin Excavating is performing the demolition for Sunrise Systems of Brevard, a subcontractor to Speegle II. Photo credit: NASA_Jack Pfaller