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Original Mission Control revived for growing station NASA-JSC NEWS RELEASE Posted: October 12, 2006 International Space Station flight controllers have a new home with increased technical capabilities, more workspace and a long, distinguished history. As NASA embarks on a series of space flights as complex as any in history to complete assembly of the station, station operations facilities needed an upgrade. The previous station control room, designated the Blue Flight Control Room, had been in operation since the first station component was launched in 1998. The newly remodeled facility is just down the hall at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. Known as Flight Control Room 1, it was first used to control a space flight 38 years ago, the mission of Apollo 7 launched Oct. 11, 1968. It was one of two original control rooms for NASA's manned missions.
After nine months of remodeling, including changes to existing hardware to minimize expenses, the station team moved in on Oct. 6. They now staff the room around the clock and will continue to do so throughout the life of the station. The relocation was coordinated by Lead Station Flight Director John McCullough. A team of employees from across Johnson completed the renovations and systems testing on a tight schedule with no interruption of critical station operations. On Wednesday, that team gathered in FCR-1 for a ribbon cutting to commemorate the project's completion. At the ceremony, the team was joined by Johnson Director Mike Coats, Mission Operations Director Allen Flynt and Mission Operations Deputy Director Milt Heflin. Former Johnson Director and Project Mercury Flight Director Christopher Kraft, who is credited with developing NASA's original concepts of human space flight control, was a special guest. The old room had about 16 consoles for flight control disciplines, such as space station electrical and environmental systems. Several disciplines had to share consoles depending on station activities under way. "When we were doing complex operations, such as spacewalks, launches or rendezvous and dockings, we had to relocate to the larger shuttle flight control room or use back rooms," said McCullough. "In that configuration the team didn't have the best possible situational awareness of what was going on." The new room has 20 consoles and more space for safety and comfort. Its existing consoles and individual monitors were updated. Where the old room had only two front screens, the new facility has three large front screens to display information for the entire team and mounted high definition television cameras. To ensure a smooth transition, the station team has had temporary quarters in the Shuttle Flight Control Room since the last shuttle mission was completed in September. The temporary quarters allowed equipment to be moved and full check out of the new facility without interference to ongoing station expeditions. The walls of the new room reflect its long history, with 61 mission plaques displayed from flights supported there. New plaques will be added now for each mission the station team supports as the room again makes history. "I like to hearken back to the Apollo operations and think that the ghosts from that time are still in the room," said Chief Flight Director Phil Engelauf of the new station flight control room. "The symbolism is not lost on the new generation of flight controllers working there." The first new plaque to be added will be for shuttle mission STS-116, targeted to launch in December. |
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The three-man Expedition 14 crew of the International Space Station complete a short trip, flying their Soyuz capsule to another docking port in preparation for receiving a resupply ship.
Space shuttle Discovery's STS-39 flight, launched in April 1991, served as a research mission for the U.S. Department of Defense. An instrument-laden spacecraft for the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization was released to watch Discovery perform countless rocket firings and maneuvers, as well as canisters releasing clouds of gas. The crew tells the story of the mission in this post-flight film presentation.
Seeking to study explosive forces across the universe, the Gamma Ray Observatory was launched aboard shuttle Atlantis in April 1991. But when the craft's communications antenna failed to unfold, spacewalking astronauts ventured outside the shuttle to save the day. The rescue EVA was followed by a planned spacewalk to test new equipment and techniques. The crew of STS-37 narrate this post-flight mission film.
Dazzling images from Mars are revealed by scientists. The robotic rover Opportunity has reached the massive Victoria crater with its steep cliffs and layers of rock exposing the planet's geologic history. Meanwhile, the new Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has photographed the rover and its surroundings from high above.
Loaded with a package of telescopes in its payload bay, shuttle Columbia soared into space for the first ASTRO mission in December 1990. The crew narrates this highlights film from the STS-35 mission in which the astronauts worked around the clock in two shifts to operate the observatory. The flight launched and then landed at night, and included the astronauts teaching from space.
n this news conference from NASA Headquarters, scientists announce the Hubble Space Telescope's discovery of 16 extrasolar planet candidates orbiting a variety of distant stars in the central region of our Milky Way galaxy. Five of the newly found planets represent a new extreme type of planet not found in any nearby searches.