NASA opens Launch Control Center to visitors for first time in decades

In just a few days time NASA will be opening up its Launch Control Center to the public, the same place where 152 different launches were supervised, from the space shuttle program to the Apollo missions. The announcement comes as part of the 50th anniversary celebration for the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and the guided tours will begin on June 15th — and it’s the first time since the late 1970s that the public has had access to the LCC. The tour will take visitors into the firing room where the missions were monitored — including, of course, a look at the countdown clock — as well as the “bubble room” where the management at the center kept an eye on the rockets as they launched. While no specific closing date has been announced, the Space Center says that the tour will only be offered for “a limited time,” so you better head over quickly.