40 years ago today on July 24, 1969, the Apollo 11 astronauts splashed down in the Pacific Ocean in their Columbia Command Module. There waiting for them was the USS Hornet, an aircraft carrier that, while it's since been retired and turned into a museum in Alameda, California, still keeps the memories of the Apollo 11 mission safe.

Wired recently took a tour of the ship and, while we're glad to see all the vintage aircraft, space suits and so on, we're even happier to see that the ship that recovered the most historic space flight in history looked like some futuristic starship itself. Just look at all those glowy lights! The caption on Wired reads:

The USS Hornet's Crisis Information Center is pictured. While engaged in active warfare, crewmembers would stand behind transparent, hanging boards and write information backwards to keep from getting in the way of the officers who needed to read it.

…They don't have to, right?

Wired, via Gizmodo