This mysterious room witnessed the greatness of humanity

The door to Operation Room 2 (MOC-2) on the 3rd floor of NASA Space Center in Houston is nothing special. Only the stamp stamped, the gray paint released by the government on this door gives you a clue about its historical significance.

A total of 42 missions, lasting more than a quarter of a century, are made here. Starting from Gemini 4 in 1965 until the Apollo missions landed on the Moon, then the first shuttle flights.

The place to keep human memory

The most impressive moments in modern history, including the man who landed on the Moon, rescued Apollo 13 and the Challenger disaster, were also monitored from this room.

Although the MOC-2 has been preserved as a national historic site since its last use in the 1990s, the current state of the room is deteriorating. The iconic dashboard was damaged, the room became increasingly shabby.

Phones and control screens are preserved in MOC-2.(Photo: Getty Images).

Prior to the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing in July 2019, NASA was trying to restore the command room of Apollo to the most glorious period. However, this time MOC-2 is in worse condition than ever.

The screen is damaged, the ceiling tile is missing, the wall is scratched and the carpet is dirty. The seats and some iconic control screens have been restored, while others have to be wrapped in protective plastic sheets.

Things that used to be very familiar like flashing screens, hourly clock, constant running monitor, manuals, coffee, cigarettes, ashtrays . will all be restored.

NASA Sandra Tetley conservation officer is monitoring this 6-month recovery project. There is still a very long list of things to do."" Recovering ", instead of" refurbishing ", I hate this word," she said.

'When you enter the room, you seem to turn back time. You will have the feeling that flight controllers have just left their console, ' Tetley said.

The stressful environment of the task center of the 1960s caused coffee and tobacco to play an important role. Everyone smokes and everyone drinks coffee.'You can see the smoke in the room smells horrible. A bunch of people smelled smoke together but no one was able to bother. They were forced to sit there all day , 'Tetley said.

Conservation worker MOC-2 Sandra Tetley tries to recover it on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Moon landing.(Photo: Richard Hollingham).

Preserving part of that atmosphere is one of the goals of a restoration project.'The ceiling was originally white, but over the years it had turned yellow smoke , ' Tetley said, 'We left all those stains so you could still see them honestly.'

The walls will also be restored with original motifs. People have to look back to the paint roller that the paint company used to work for NASA. Fortunately, this company still holds that roller.

The same story happens with carpets, compressed air cylinders and many other things in the room.'Restoration' is a job that requires accuracy with history.

Not "refurbished", but "restored"

Electronic devices will be returned to their original state. Control simulation room is also restored similarly. This is the room where people simulate problems that may be encountered during the flight mission, trying to solve it before something bad happens.

"Simulations tell us about possible errors to handle them before the mission , " said Gerry Griffin, one of the Apollo missions. "They kept giving this error one after another, so much so that we felt a lot when the ship would not take off, let alone fly."

The scene celebrates in the executive room.Also at MOC-2, the Apollo 13 was safely returned to the ground.(Photo: NASA)

Recently, visitors to the mission control floor can sit in a chair and take photos as flight directors. After recovery, all monitor screens will be restricted to protect the MOC-2 room. Instead, you'll see the room through the glass of the gallery in the back, as if they're watching a real mission going on.

After the project is completed, the last people to sit at the console will be the Moon mission control team in the past. Their image will be captured to thank the contributions of pioneers in the conquest of space of mankind.

Tetley shared that he was always happy to see the old people return to the room where they made history.

'They are like kids in a candy store,' Tetley said. "Just smiling, remembering what was done here. I was very touched to see these seniors, and silently thanked their dedication to humanity."