CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- During 1965 and 1966 the structure seen above was the doorway to space for ten pair of NASA astronauts flying the Project Gemini missions that gave the United States the experience it needed to reach for the Moon during Project Apollo.

Known as a White Room, this structure was at the top of the gantry that surrounded the Gemini capsule and its Titan 2 booster at Launch Complex 19, giving workers access to key components on the rocket and a means for the astronauts to climb aboard their tiny spacecraft.

After inserting the astronauts into the capsule, technicians bolted the hatches in place and cleared the White Room. The gantry then lowered itself away from the rocket, as seen in the image at right, which was photographed during the Gemini 7 countdown in 1965. The White Room is highlighted in the image.

When pad 19 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station was dismantled, the White Room was saved and moved to a restoration area next to the Air Force Space and Missile Museum, which is located on the Cape at the site where America's first satellite was launched into orbit in 1958 and next door to the active Delta 2 launch complex 17.

Although additional work still needs to be done inside the 56-foot-tall, 46-ton structure, enough restoration had been done to make it presentable and safe for public display. So on Sept. 24 a pair of cranes hoisted the White Room onto a mobile platform and the historic artifact was moved some 1,800 feet to be added to the museum's outdoor rocket garden.

The general public can see the White Room by taking the "Then and Now Tour" offered at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

-- Jim Banke