Local museum restores NASA device used in space missions

ASHLAND, Ore. — A local museum has acquired a device used by NASA for decades and it’s the only one of its kind in southern Oregon.

Scienceworks Hands-on Museum in Ashland says the mission control console was used by NASA during two missions. One, was the first time an American did a spacewalk outside of a vehicle. And the second, the first time an African American woman was sent to space.

Although there are other consoles on display in Oregon, Dan Ruby, Executive Director of Scienceworks Hands-on Museum, says there’s something extra special about this one.

“It’s not good enough to just display these statically. We really want them to be functional and interactive. So, we want you to be able to not only see what was used in the Apollo moon landings fifty years ago but be able to touch and hear and feel what those were like,” Ruby said.

The device reportedly took 400 hours to restore.

On July 20th, you can operate your own rocket launches and landings in a simulation, of course. It’s all part of the museum’s “Apollo 50” exhibit on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing.

For more information about the exhibit, click here.

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