Happy Birthday Pac-Man!

Pac-Man, the most successful video game ever, turns 40 years old today. The game, which was designed by Namco in Japan and liscensed in the United States by Midway, sold over 100,00 units and generated over one billion dollars - all in quarters! The game became so popular it spawned everything from a breakfast cereal to a Saturday morning cartoon to a hit song. The Tranquility Base Arcade is proud to have a Pac-Man game in its collection. The game, acquired from the daughter of the original owner has just over 8,000 plays and after 40 years remains in mint condition.

Apollo 13

Apollo 13 successfully returned to Earth and landed in the Pacific Ocean 50 years ago today. Apollo 13 was to be the third mission to land on the moon but the lunar landing was aborted after an oxygen tank in the service module failed two days into the mission. A routine stir of an oxygen tank ignited damaged wire insulation inside it, causing an explosion that vented the contents of both service module oxygen tanks into space. It was at this time that Command Module pilot John Swigert uttered a phrase that was to become famous, “Okay, Houston, we've had a problem." The flight director for Apollo 13 was the legendary Gene Kranz. Using “courage, ingenuity, and teamwork" Kranz and his team was able to guide the astronauts into the undamaged Lunar Module and then the Command Module for the safe return to Earth. It is a great honor to have Gene's autograph hanging in Tranquility Base Arcade.

Kapton Foil

An amazing item is now on display at the Tranquility Base Arcade. You can now see an actual piece of Kapton foil that was once on the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia! Columbia carried the three Apollo 11 astronauts around the moon, launched and eventually docked with the Lunar Module Eagle before finally splashing down in the Pacific Ocean with all three astronauts safely onboard. Velvet ropes have been added to the arcade in anticipation of the large crowds that will surely visit.