Mission Control is crucial to the success of any space mission. This command center, located in Houston, Texas, helps astronauts complete their missions. Mission control was created in the 1960s to perform nearly all functions for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. As time went on, Mission Control began to have less control as spacecraft became more complex and allowed astronauts to have better control.

Today Mission Control is responsible for being the "eyes and ears" for astronauts on Earth. Mission controllers use a variety of computers to monitor everything from weather conditions on Earth to spacecraft communications. Mission Control is filled with computers with abbreviated titles written on top of them. Each computer monitors a different aspect of the mission. The room that houses Mission Control, however, is only the command center. For each person sitting at a console, there are many engineers and National...