Space History Photo: JPL's Space Flight Operations Facility

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JPL's Space Flight Operations Facility began collecting tracking and scientific information in 1964 with the Ranger 7 mission. (Image credit: NASA.)

In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, in May 1964, a ceremony was held to dedicate the new Space Flight Operations Facility, which used state-of-the-art equipment for mission operations and communications with JPL's unmanned spacecraft.

One of the first missions to use the facility was Ranger 7, which went to the Moon in July 1964. The Space Flight Operations Facility collected the tracking and scientific information for the Deep Space Network. In 1985, the Space Flight Operations Facility was designated as a National Historic Landmark. It is still in use.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the U.S. government agency in charge of the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. Founded in 1958, NASA is a civilian space agency aimed at exploring the universe with space telescopes, satellites, robotic spacecraft, astronauts and more. The space agency has 10 major centers based across the U.S. and launches robotic and crewed missions from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral Florida. Its astronaut corps is based at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. To follow NASA's latest mission, follow the space agency on Twitter or any other social channel, visit: nasa.gov.