Mission Control Center

By Geoff Canham, LUNAR #534

The Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, became the center for monitoring NASA's manned space flight missions back in 1965, starting with the Gemini 4 mission. It originally used a mainframe computer that required 80 technicians to maintain it around the clock while a mission was in progress. The Flight Control Room (FCR - pronounced "ficker") had seventeen control stations that we all saw on television as the moon-landing program was under way.

In July, 1995, starting with the STS-70 shuttle mission, a new $250,000,000 Mission Control Center (Building 30) was brought into use, utilizing client-server technology. This MCC has two Flight Control Rooms, which can be used for an actual mission or for training purposes, although a new classroom/control training room was added in 2000 [ 2] as both FCRs were ending up being used for support of shuttle and space station missions. Each FCR has nineteen primary consoles and three large displays at the front of the room. There is also a Multipurpose Support Room (MPSR) where specialists monitor and analyze incoming data, and two Payload Operations Control Centers (POCCs) for monitoring and controlling experiments being carried out in the shuttle's cargo bay (these POCCs are located in Huntsville, Alabama, and Greenbelt, Maryland).

Half of the first floor of the MCC is the windowless Mission Operations wing, the other half is the Operations Support wing containing more conventional office space [3].

The consoles in the MCC's Flight Control Rooms have various roles [ 1]:

Flight Director (FD) - leader of the flight team with overall responsibility for the flights.
Spacecraft Communicator (CAPCOM) - primary communications link between flight control and the astronauts.
Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO) - plans maneuvers and monitors trajectory.
Guidance Procedures Officer (GPO) - monitors onboard navigation and onboard guidance computer software.
Data Processing System Engineer (DPS) - determines the status of the data processing systems on the ground and on the shuttle.
Surgeon (Surgeon) - monitors crew activities and health.
Booster Engineer (Booster) - monitors and evaluates the main engines, the solid fuel boosters and the external tank.
Payload Deploy Retrieval (PDRS) - monitors operation of the remote manipulator system.
Propulsion Engineer (PROP) - monitors reaction control and orbital maneuvering propellants.
Guidance, Navigation and Control Systems Engineer (GNC) - monitors the shuttle's guidance, navigation and control systems.
Electrical, Environmental, Consumables Manager (EECOM) - monitors thermal control in the shuttle, cabin atmosphere control, avionics cooling, supply/waste water system management, and fire detection/suppression.
Electrical Generation and Illumination Engineer (EGIL) - monitors electrical systems, fuel cells, etc.
Integrated Communications Officer (INCO) - monitors in-flight communications and instrumentation systems.
Russian Interface Operator (RIO) - primary interface between US and Russian control teams.
Ground Controller (GC) - directs maintenance and operation activities.
Flight Activities Officer (FAO) - plans and supports crew activities, checklists, schedules, etc.
Payload Officer (Payload) - coordinates between the flight control team and the payload user.
Maintenance, Mechanical, Arm, and Crew Systems (MMACS) - monitors operation of the shuttle's structural and mechanical systems.
Public Affairs Officer (PAO) - provides commentary to the media.
Mission Operations Directorate Manager (MOD) - the link between the Flight Control Room and top NASA and JSC Mission Operations Directorate management.
Extravehicular Activity Officer (EVA) - monitors and supports Extravehicular Activities.
Command and Data Management Systems Officer (CDMS) - monitors data processing systems aboard Spacelab.

Each of the flight controllers in the FCR is backed up by many other engineers and flight controllers based in nearby support rooms.

The aim of the Mission Control Center is to monitor the activities and conditions during a mission, to ensure that things are occurring within the expected parameters for the mission's flight plan, and to be able to take or recommend corrective action when things start to deviate from that norm. Sadly, we know that things can sometimes happen far too quickly to take remedial action, but normally the diligent monitoring and control from the Johnson Space Center's Mission Control Center has resulted in successful missions and some substantial advances in technology and science.

[1] http://home.houston.rr.com/w5hlm/nasa.html

[2] http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/space/station/stories/2000/20000817.html

[3] http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/technology/sts-newsref/sts-jsc.html

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