page_title: Mercury Control Center
section_title: Tracking and ground facilities
hierarchical_section_title: Mercury Control Center / Tracking and ground facilities
caption_attribution_description: English: Map showing the locations of the selected Mercury stations.
context_page_description: The Mercury Control Center provided control and coordination of all activities associated with the NASA's Project Mercury flight operation as well as the first Project Gemini flight, Gemini 3. It was located on the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station near Launch Complex 14.
  The facility was expanded in 1963 to support Project Gemini by contractor Pan American World Airways to provide more meeting space along with space for data analysis, and a large space for a new Gemini spacecraft trainer.
  The more complex requirements of later Gemini and Apollo flights forced control operations to move to a larger facility located in Houston, Texas, but the MCC continued to be used for training and meeting space. On June 1, 1967, the Center became a historic stop for public tours, and continued this function through the mid-1990s.
context_section_description: Though the MCC provided command and control, it was not the only facility involved in supporting Mercury or Gemini flights. The Computing and Communications Center was located at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland and provided compute power for missions.
  To minimize the time that the spacecraft was out of communications range with the ground, additional ground stations were established at US military facilities, tracking ships, and in cooperation with the governments of Spain, United Kingdom, Nigeria and Australia:
  Cape Canaveral (CNV-MCC)
  Grand Bahama Island (GBI)
  Grand Turk Island (GTI)
  Bermuda (BDA)
  Atlantic Ship (ATS)
  Maspalomas Station, Grand Canary Island (CYI)
  Kano, Nigeria (KNO)
  Zanzibar (ZZB)
  Indian Ocean Ship (IOS)
  Muchea, Australia (MUC)
  Woomera, Australia (WOM)
  Canton island, Kiribati (CTN)
  Kauai, Hawaii (HAW)
  Point Arguello California. (CAL)
  Guaymas, Mexico (GYM)
  White Sands, New Mexico (WHS)
  Corpus Christi, Texas (TEX)
  Eglin Air Force Base (EGL)
caption: Mercury tracking stations
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