The KSC launch team, inside Firing Room 1, watch as STS-31 blasts off to space carrying the Hubble Space Telescope in April, 1990. The firing rooms are the heart of the Spaceport Command and Control System at NASA Kennedy. All the activities involved with preparing rockets, spacecraft and payloads for space can be controlled by engineers sitting at computer terminals in the firing rooms. Likewise, all activities at the launch pads can be run from a firing room. New launch systems including NASA’s Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System rocket are not expected to require as many controllers as the shuttle. Instead, advances in computer and software systems will allow greater situational awareness by the launch controllers. Credit: NASA #nasa #history #hubble #nasakennedy #missioncontrol #launchcontrol #launch#florida #spacecoast #tbt #throwbackthursday #future #progress #orion #slsfiredup #spaceport