HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Work has started on the second round of mission control consoles at the Cosmosphere’s Space Works facility.

The consoles from Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston are being renovated by Space Works to take them back to the Apollo ear when 12 men walked on the moon. Jack Graber with Space Works talks about what they found in breaking open the first set of consoles that were refurbished and sent back to Houston last month:

 

Graber says that the consoles were built to last using a large amount of precious metals including gold and silver. He says they were also built with ease of service in mind:

 

The consoles are being readied at the Johnson Space Center in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. He says it has been a dream for Space Works to do the renovation:

 

First used for NASA’s Gemini 4 mission in 1965 and retired after STS-53, the 52nd space shuttle mission in December of 1992, the consoles’ electronics are largely no longer serviceable. As such, the displays and some of the other visible elements will be augmented with modern components in order to create the appearance that the consoles are operational.