Original NASA Project Gemini Training Console

The Moon landing gets all the fanfare, but a lot had to happen before Neil and Buzz could take those history-making first steps. And most of it happened during NASA’s Gemini Program. With twelve space missions from 1965 and 1966, ten of them launched with men aboard, NASA learned the effects of multi-day space missions on the human body, whether stepping out into the black wearing a spacesuit was possible, and how two spacecraft could attach while in orbit. 

And before any of that could be done, the flight crews needed a lot of practice. The Project Gemini Training Console lived at the Manned Spacecraft Center (now the Johnson Space Center) in Houston and astronauts spent hours learning and memorizing its controls. Basically a replica of the display panels inside the Gemini spacecraft, it’s where the crew learned attitude control, maneuvering, landing procedures, power control, and tons of other skills. 

The fact that a mere earthbound mortal can now own a piece of space travel history is downright amazing. Bonhams has it up for auction now, with bids in the $20,000 to $30,000 range. Install this in your game room, man cave, or home office and get one step closer to the seeming impossibility of walking around in space. 

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