A ‘dummy’ control panel from the Shuttle Mission Simulator-Motion Base (SMS-MB), 4.25″ x 3.75″, which highlights the DC and AC Utility Power switches. The reverse bears a swatch of hook Velcro. In fine condition.
‘The SMS-MB was built in 1976 to support the approach and landing tests flown by the prototype orbiter Enterprise off the back of a modified Boeing 747 jetliner. The simulator was then modified for the orbital flight tests and operational missions and was first used to support flight crew training for the STS-1 mission on January 9, 1979.
A full-scale replica of the space shuttle's upper-level flight deck, the SMS-MB included the commander and pilot stations, as well as flight engineer and mission specialist seats. The orbiter's forward windows were outfitted with screens that displayed computer-driven simulated views of the various phases of a flight.
What made the SMS-MB unique among NASA's shuttle training mockups, though, was its ability to move. Mounted atop a platform supported by six hydraulic, computer-controlled legs, the cabin could pitch forward and back, side to side, and be lifted up and down to approximate the orientation of the winged spacecraft as it was used to simulate launch, orbital operations and landing.’
