Matthew Nelson
Mitre reflected on its performance of technical forecast and post-spaceflight operations support efforts for NASA’s Apollo control systems.
NASA tapped Mitre in 1966 to project data processing needs and provide recommendations for future missions ahead of the Apollo space station program, the company said Wednesday.
The company validated a number of technical requirements including information processing support for experiments and communications capabilities aboard a planned lunar base and space station. Mitre noted that the findings helped the firm update control platforms for spacecraft units and rockets.
Additionally, NASA tapped Mitre to assess the control center’s capacity to handle future space missions. John McLucas, former president at Mitre, said in a 1967 memorandum the center faced several challenges including the simultaneous control of multiple long-duration Earth-orbit and lunar missions.
The findings led NASA to task the company with the design of a new mission control facility for post-Apollo spaceflights in 1967.
