Space. delivered. 

Restoration of Historic Mission Operations Control Room Consoles

As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of humankind’s first steps on the Moon, remember and celebrate the heroes of space exploration who remained on the ground—the men and women of NASA’s Mission Control. Without their efforts, no launch nor landing—whether of Man on the Moon or Rovers on Mars—is possible.

In early 2018, the Cosmosphere’s SpaceWorks team began working on the Mission Operations Control Room console project. Finished in time to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing in July 2019, the consoles are the centerpiece of an overall restoration of the historic Mission Control Operations Room at Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX. 

See video of the completed consoles and the Mission Operations Control Room here. 
Video courtesy of NASA Johnson Space Center.

Recovery + Restoration of Liberty Bell 7 

The mission of Liberty Bell 7, piloted by Virgil “Gus” Grissom, ended with the craft lost at the bottom of the ocean for 38 years -- until a joint effort by the SpaceWorks team and The Discovery Channel to recover the spacecraft happend in June 1999. What followed was an intense collaboration between SpaceWorks, Cosmosphere volunteers and community members, who worked side by side to restore the craft to its original state. 

Liberty Bell 7 is part of the Cosmosphere’s personal collection and is the only Mercury capsule to be owned by an entity other than NASA or the Smithsonian. 

Conservation of the F-1 Engines from the Apollo Program

In March of 2013, Amazon.com Founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, announced that he and his team of undersea experts had recovered many prime pieces of the historic F-1 engines from Project Apollo. The expedition recovered enough major components to fashion displays for two flown F-1 engines, and shortly after their recovery, the Cosmosphere’s conservation team, SpaceWorks, began the process of stabilizing the engine pieces.

The two-year conservation process was completed in the summer of 2015, having preserved the integrity of each piece for the future, while maintaining the history and beauty instilled in them. 

recovery + Restoration of apollo 13 command module, odyssey

Upon splashdown from its mission, NASA recovered the Apollo 13 command module, Odyssey, from the ocean’s surface on April 17, 1970. Due to problems which plagued the craft and its crew, the mission was considered a “successful failure” and Odyssey was disassembled and its parts shipped to museums, manufacturers and space centers across the world.

Years later, the Cosmosphere accepted the task of retrieving Odyssey’s 80,000 missing parts and restoring the spacecraft back to its original, post-flight condition – a 12-year endeavor. The craft was restored in the Hall of Space Museum by the Cosmosphere’s craftsmen, in full view of museum visitors.

Upon completion of the Apollo 13 project, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum granted the Cosmosphere a permanent loan to house the spacecraft. Odyssey is now on public display in the Cosmosphere’s Apollo Gallery in the Hall of Space Museum.