Atlas Mod III Guidance Console

This is another artifact that the Air Zoo inherited when the Michigan Space and Science Center closed, although it was not on public display when I visited.

The sign accompanying the launch console when on display at the MSSC described this as the Mod III Atlas guidance computer system console which launched John Glenn on the first American orbital flight. It was produced by the Burroughs Corporation of Michigan; presumably the Michigan connection is why the console was at the MSSC rather than at the Smithsonian.

For additional information about the Mod III guidance system, see Range and Guidance Accuracy Capability of the Atlas Missile System

There's a Borroughs Mod I guidance computer in the LC-26 blockhouse, now the Air Force Space & Missile Museum. See their Burroughs MOD I Guidance Computer page (be sure to click through to the "Burroughs Guidance Computer Historical Summary" link, which also contains information on the Mod II and Mod III).