Gemini Control Panel Simulator
  • Under development: Full scale working model of the Gemini XII spacecraft control panel.
  • Panel will simulate the operation of the actual panel with working switches, indicators and gauges.
  • Based on McDonnell Aircraft engineering drawings, and Gemini Operations Handbook data.
  • Photos below compare the simulated panel with the actual panel.
  • Click on the panel images for detailed views and additional details.
  • Refer to the Gemini control panel layout for an overall view of the control panel.
  • The Right and Left Main Instrument Panels are also shown below (revised 11/11/2016).
  • The Gemini XII configuration was chosen because it was the last of the ten manned Gemini flights, and it represents the most mature flown Gemini spacecraft design.

Note: This panel, with some modifications, was used in the filming of “First Man” by Universal Studios. A portion of the panel is being auctioned, closing May 23, 2019.

For more information on our exhibit design technique:

Gemini_control_panel_simulator_pedestal_panel_300

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Above, pedestal panel area of the Gemini Control Panel Simulator by Historic Space Systems.

Above, pedestal panel area of the Gemini XII spacecraft during postflight inspection aboard the recovery ship USS Wasp on November 15. 1966. (NASA photo)

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Above, center panel of the Gemini Control Panel Simulator. A number of gauges and dials remain to be fabricated and installed.

Above, center panel of the Gemini XII spacecraft. (NASA photo)

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Above, detailed view of pushbutton switch guards on the simulator pedestal panel shown closed and open. The LDG ATT switch initiates “landing attitude” with the parachute risers supporting the spacecraft at the nose and near the top of the heatshield. The PARA JETT switch will jettison, or release, the parachute (pushed after splashdown).

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Above, the simulator Right Hand Main Instrument Panel with progress as of 11/11/2016. The computer Manual Data Insertion Unit (MDIU) is at lower right. (Note the line above the number of the “9” key on the MDIU. It is for entry of a minus sign.) Staggered gauges at lower left monitor the electrical power. This panel has not yet been wired.

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Above, the Gemini XII spacecraft right hand control panel.

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Above, the Left Hand Main Instrument Panel as of 11/11/2016. Gauges include an actual Bulova Accutron clock similar to the type used on Gemini, except that the knob is on the opposite side.

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Above, this digital model of the Gemini control panel guides the fabrication of the Gemini Control Panel Simulator. Dozens of McDonnell Aircraft drawings were referenced in the design of the model. Learn more about our exhibit design technique.

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