Kickstarter Campaign Launched To Save NASA's Mission Control (kickstarter.com)

Long-time Slashdot reader yzf750 shares sad news about the facility where NASA conducted the Apollo moon landing in 1969: Mission Control at Johnson Space Center is a wreck and this Kickstarter project is trying to save it. The nearby city of Webster, Texas has promised to match Kickstarter funding up to $400,000. The goal is to raise $250,000 to add to the $3.5 million already budgeted by the city of Webster to restore Mission Control.
Contributors on Kickstarter can receive rewards including models of the Apollo 11 command module, lunch with Apollo flight controllers, VIP tours, or a free download of the documentary Mission Control: the Unsung Heroes of Apollo. The Kickstarter campaign was launched by Space Center Houston, which is also contributing $5 million to preserve what's been called a "cathedral of engineering."

In December the Houston Chronicle noted that though Mission Control is listed in America's National Register of Historic Places, "plans to restore it have been discussed for more than 20 years. But its restoration and preservation remain in limbo, with no set date for work to begin."

Comments

Houston, We Have A Problem

[kackle]

Just give me a bucket of paint and a 1980s' mix tape for a montage.

Re:Houston, We Have A Problem

[DontBeAMoran]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Re:Houston, We Have A Problem

[kackle]

I admit this crossed my mind.

Not sure why I should fund

[rsilvergun]

somebody's pork barrel project. Especially from a State whose House Members and Senators fight against mine. Let's face it, once we could reliably launch satellites there wasn't much point to further space travel outside outside that. Maybe if their Congress Critters would stop trying to shut down Medicare & Medicaid (I've got buddies that depend on it to live) I'd be a little more charitable.

And yeah, the current climate has made me bitter as hell...

Re:Not sure why I should fund

[JoshuaZ]

I sympathize with your viewpoint a lot. At the same time, if everyone Blue and Red States decide to not do anything involving money going to the other we'll be in pretty bad shape. On the other hand, it looks almost like the Republicans are trying to make a tax system that disproportionately hits Blue States http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-ol-le-republican-tax-deductions-plan-20170619-story.html so maybe we're already at that point. Here's my suggestion: if you would have donated to this but won't because of the state, instead donate the same amount to a solar charity. The Solar Electric Light Fund http://self.org/ and Everybody Solar http://www.everybodysolar.org/ are both good options.

Re:Not sure why I should fund

[Registered Coward v2]

While I agree with you in concept, the LA Times article is a bit overblown in terms of impact. Many red states have large tax bites as well, and charities that depend on donations which may drop if they are not tax deductible. Take away the state and local tax deduction in say Georgia or even Ohio and I imaging people will be pissed come tax day...

Re:Not sure why I should fund

[Registered Coward v2]

Just to quantify your statement that "some red states" also contribute to the federal budget. Good on you, Kansas.

.

I never made any statement relative to a state's dependency on federal money; although I agree the red states with their harping on big government stand the most to lose and it would serve them right to be hoist by their own petard. My point was state, local income tax and charitable donations deductions, which was the thrust of TFA goes beyond a red state / blue state issue.

Re:Not sure why I should fund

[gurps_npc]

Pork barrel is when they use government money to fund something that directly benefits a single representative's district, not when you use money to benefit the entire district.

The money comes from 3 sources.

1) The city of Webster as a whole funds most of it ($3.5 out of $5 million). This is not pork barrel, it is the entire city funding something that will benefit the entire city via tourism.

2) Kickstarter. This is charity, not pork barrel.

3) The state of Texas offering $400,000, or approximately 4% using a dollar for dollar match. This could be considered pork barrel, but because a) It is such a small percent of the funding - less than 5%, and b) It is a matching fund that only gets paid if other citizens agree it is worthwhile, then, that means:

This is not a pork barrel project

Compare with the bridge to nowhere pork barrel, about $400 million, all from the federal government, to benefit a single town in Alaska.

What's the use

[Anonymous Coward]

In only one more generation, everybody will believe that the moon landings were a hoax, that the holocaust never happened, that the destruction of the twin towers was due to explosives planted by the governement, that forces like gravity don't exist, that climate change is a conspiracy by the evil science conglomerate, that Donald Trump was the greatest philantropist that ever lived, and that the world is flat.

There is no hope for humanity.

Having worked at JSC

[Registered Coward v2]

I hope they are successful. Interestingly, the first reaction you get when you see the MCR for the first time is "Wow, it's small." A wide angle lens at the rear makes it look bigger than it is.

Hey

[Anonymous Coward]

We could have Mexico pay for it.

Maybe I just lack the nostalgia gene...

[GodfatherofSoul]

I don't think everything from the past needs to be turned into a museum. Lots of old technology hits the scrap heap.

Virtual Reality

[spire3661]

Re-create/Scan it for VR with movie-grade assets (pared down for the current level tech, we can always scale up later) and be done with it. This would even give people the proper scale of standing in Mission Control. All the wide-angle shots make it seem bigger.

No physical location to maintain, and anyone in the world can 'visit' easily.

Mostly False

[fermion]

The summary appears to be mostly false, at least by what I have seen and what the linked articles says.

"Mission Control at Johnson Space Center is a wreck " is highly misleading. I don't think there has been unlimited access to the area since I was a kid. Last time I went there you had to pay Space Center Houston a fee and take a lame tour. The kickstarter money, according to the linked article, will be spent acquiring equipment and furniture so they can"accurately portraying how the area looked the moment the moon landing took place on July 20, 1969." While this is a fine goal, I really doubt that they are going to do any net good. Tearing out fragile equipment that no one understand anymore and replacing it with even more fragile equipment that someone got off eBay, claiming that it is original. Seems like someone is obsessed with period instruments.

I am really concerned with a bunch of unskilled amateurs tearing apart mission control. It is part of my life and part of the gulf coast legacy. Sure, if there is damage and existing items need to stabilized or restored go for it. But if we are going to recreate something to make it better tourist trap, that it a problem.

I think that the priority will be tourist over historical integrity. The area has been really pushing for tourist dollars, heavily advertising i the boardwalk and expanding amenities. It is embarrassing to admit, but Space Center Houston is crap, and one reason is that it does prioritize aesthetics over the science. This is fine for the audience, little kids, but now they want to destroy mission control. Restore, yes. Try to return it to a the way it looked on a certain day? Madness. Like all engineering pursuit, Mission Control was always a work in progress, and pretending you can retcon it for tourist dollars is delusional.