The search for donations and loans for financing the restoration of NASA’s famous Apollo Mission Control Center was a real achievement. Find out how it went.
Apollo Mission Control Center – Need of Repair.
The famous Apollo Mission Control Center at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where NASA helped to put the first man Neil Armstrong on the Moon, almost 51 years ago, was in urgent need of repair after years of wear-and-tear.
The group, Space Center Houston, runs a large space education center nearby and manages tours of the Johnson Space Center. An active and sprawling NASA campus and now-shuttered control room is one stop along the way.
Donors Needed For Restoring The Control Room.
The nonprofit needed to restore the room to its Apollo-era beauty, down to the notebooks and ashtrays that are used to litter its countertops.
But the organization needed some help with the loan for financing the project, which was estimated to cost about $5 million. So, they turned to internet crowdfunding.
Fund Raising Campaign.
A new campaign on Kickstarter.com sought to raise at about $250,000 in a month. According to Kickstarter’s rules, if the group doesn’t meet its fundraising goals, Space Center Houston won’t get any money.
But the campaign was on track. With only 28 days left in the campaign, backers had pledged just about $37,500.
More Donors Required.
To help draw more donors, Space Center Houston was offering up some unique gifts.
A $55 donation, for example, would earn you a particular mission patch created by well known Michael Okuda. He is a designer of the set of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
The Best Price For Donors Was A private Tour With Gene Kranz.
The most extensive prize for donors that contributed at least $10,000 was a private tour of the Mission Control room with the famous Apollo flight director Gene Kranz.
Furthermore, Space Center Houston says the small nearby city of Webster, Texas, had already promised $3.1 million to repair the control center, and it plans to match up to $400,000 of funds accumulated by the Kickstarter campaign.
The Town Has Profited From Tourism.
The group’s CEO William Harris said Webster has a lengthy history with the aerospace industry since aerospace corporations and astronauts have long taken up residency there. And, of course, the town has profited from local tourism for many years.
Although the Apollo Mission Control Center is located inside NASA buildings, NASA didn’t have the means to fix it up.
Johnson Space Center.
Space Center Houston had to take up the mission.
And NASA had lots to look forward to at Johnson Space Center, which is the space agency’s core for human spaceflight.
Along with qualifying a new class of future astronauts, Johnson Space Center could soon oversee the U.S.’s first manned mission to space since the Space Shuttle program retired in 2011.
SpaceX And Apollo 11’s 51st Anniversary.
SpaceX is now underway on its crew-worthy spacecraft, and it has plans to send tourists on a trip to the Moon in the future.
Don’t miss this historic takeoff on Saturday, May 30 at 3:22 p.m. EDT. SpaceX intends to fly its first astronauts into orbit since Elon Musk founded the company.
The 51st anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to land the first man on the Moon will take place this summer 2020.
Thanks for reading this article. If you would like to know more about flight director Gene Kranz, then head over to this article: Flight Director Gene Kranz.