WEBVTT - What does NASA's Mission Control do? 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.960 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:17.840 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com everything. Hello again, everyone, 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:20.840 Welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Bollette and 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:23.640 I am an editor here at how stuff works dot Com. 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.160 Sitting across from me not in the mission Control center 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.720 is senior writer Jonathan Strickland Ground Control to Major Tom, 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:36.080 that was that was pretty easy. Yeah, we're gonna talk 0:00:36.120 --> 0:00:40.560 today about mission control center with NASA, and specifically the 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:44.159 mission control center associated with Shuttle missions. Seeing as how 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:48.280 the final Space Shuttle mission launched, well, we're recording this 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:52.400 podcast before the launch, but it should publish after that launch. 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:55.280 We wanted to kind of talk about the the stuff 0:00:55.320 --> 0:00:59.320 that goes on on the ground, not necessarily the stuff 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:03.360 that's going on inside the orbiter itself. I said, lunch, 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:06.520 not launch. See if you can if you can identify 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:10.120 that quote. Um, yeah, we uh. When Jonathan and I 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.640 were talking about doing the episode on the Space Shuttle, Um, 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:15.960 as we do with some of the complex topics, we decide, 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:18.560 you know, to at least have an idea where we're 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:22.119 gonna go with the research and even before we started 0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:23.720 doing the research, we figured that this was going to 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:27.160 be complex enough that we would have to break it down, 0:01:27.200 --> 0:01:29.479 and we decided to do an episode specifically on mission 0:01:29.520 --> 0:01:32.920 control because, um, it's not just the astronauts inside the 0:01:32.959 --> 0:01:36.600 Space Shuttle who are paying attention to everything that's going 0:01:36.640 --> 0:01:39.600 on in the spacecraft during the mission. I mean, it's 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:42.399 of course there, they have to sleep. Um, they have 0:01:42.440 --> 0:01:45.959 a lot of things to do. They've got science to do. Um, 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:48.400 they have they have to prove the cake is a lie, 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:53.720 extra vehit, extra vehicular activity to perform. Um. They have 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:58.920 things to deploy in space. Um, so in spots to 0:01:58.960 --> 0:02:06.400 record for sesamester occasionally occasionally they have to sing shout 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:09.440 out to our parent company. But but yeah, I mean 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:11.880 there's there's a lot for them to do, and uh, 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:14.360 you know, somebody has to be keeping an eye on 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.240 the on the shop. Yeah. And we cutter some of 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:20.200 this material on how stuff works dot Com in an 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.280 article called how NASA Works, but that's really kind of 0:02:23.280 --> 0:02:26.880 an overview of the agency. We wanted to talk specifically 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:29.480 about mission control, and before we get too far into this, 0:02:29.760 --> 0:02:33.239 we should probably talk about where mission control is because 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:36.160 if you're watching a launch. You may be seeing shots 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:40.800 of this, uh group of people all wearing a nice 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.400 suits and they're all sitting at different consoles and they 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.720 all look very busy. And um, the odds are that 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:50.560 you're actually looking at the Kennedy Space Center and they 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:53.760 do launch control. They have a launch control center there 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.720 at Kennedy, but that is not mission control. Mission control 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:02.360 is actually located in Houston, as you know, immortalized in 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:06.519 the phrase Houston, we have a problem. Uh. That's specifically 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:09.519 talking about the mission control center at the Johnson's Space 0:03:09.600 --> 0:03:12.560 Center in Houston, Texas. Yes, and no, that is not 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:15.679 the quote used in the movie. Was not exactly what 0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:21.919 was said. No, no, but right, But just like play 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:26.560 it against Sam was never actually said in Casablanca. Um, 0:03:26.600 --> 0:03:30.440 it actually was said in CITs and King. So but no, yeah, 0:03:30.480 --> 0:03:34.400 that that's that was the people who who in Apollo thirteen, 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:36.360 and we actually kind of saw what was going on 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:39.800 in mission control, even though it was a you know, 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.760 I guess it's safe to say it was fictionalized kind 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:46.240 of a real event, although not terribly fictionalized compared to 0:03:46.280 --> 0:03:48.760 some others. I would guess right, it was more it 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:53.600 tried to stay true to the actual unfolding of the 0:03:53.600 --> 0:03:57.680 the emergency, more so than a lot of other movies did. 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:00.920 But even so, there was some drama zation going on. 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:04.280 There were because you have to it's but but yeah, 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.560 I mean, if you've seen the movie, you probably have 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:10.680 a somewhat reasonable idea of what the people are doing 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:15.640 in that center. They are trying to main maintain communications. 0:04:15.640 --> 0:04:19.800 They're trying to figure out what's going on with the telemetry, uh, 0:04:19.880 --> 0:04:22.400 you know, keeping an eye on where the ship is going, 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:26.680 monitoring the various systems, making sure everything's okay, and in 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:30.479 the song quoted before, they're just making sure everything's okay 0:04:30.480 --> 0:04:35.000 with the people up in space. So let's Chris and 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:38.880 I both looked at an illustration of the mission control 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.240 center to kind of break it down and see exactly 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:44.000 what it looks like and what people are doing there, 0:04:44.080 --> 0:04:45.719 and we thought we would be kind of interesting to 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:51.200 talk to you and guide you through the mission control room. Now, 0:04:51.240 --> 0:04:54.240 if you were to look at the room, yeah, if 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.640 you're just like taking a tour walking around, you would 0:04:56.640 --> 0:04:59.360 see there all these big desks with consoles at them, 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:02.480 and at one end of the room are a bunch 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.840 of monitors, big monitors, and those monitors are showing things 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.520 like video feeds from the shuttle as well as just 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:12.120 lots and lots of data and uh, and so we 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.000 wanted to kind of talk to you about what these uh, 0:05:15.120 --> 0:05:18.160 these consoles were in their purpose and what the officers 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:21.680 who sit at these consoles do. And we're kind of 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.200 taking you, like, if you imagine this big room with 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:28.640 monitors at one end of the room, the room has uh, 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:33.520 five rows of stations. Okay, the first row has three 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:36.960 stations across, and the other four rows have four stations across. 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:38.919 So what we're going to do is we're going to 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:42.039 go from the end that has the monitors. That's the 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:44.120 end that has the three stations in front of it. 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:46.760 That's the first row, and we're going to go from 0:05:46.839 --> 0:05:48.800 left to right, and then we're gonna go down a 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.000 row left or right, and down a row left or 0:05:51.040 --> 0:05:55.039 right and just explain what each of those stations are 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:57.840 meant to do. And so Chris, I think you were 0:05:57.839 --> 0:05:59.080 going to take the first one, We're just going to 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.479 kind of alternate all the way down. Yeah, that the 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.400 first person sitting on the front and you know that's 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:07.880 a terrible place to sit if you're watching a movie, 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.800 but this isn't a movie. Far left in the front row. Yeah, 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:13.920 the guy with a crick in his neck. Yeah, that's 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:17.200 how I saw Lord of the Rings, the felloship of 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.960 the Ring, and that was tough. Well, the person in 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:22.840 in in that corner of the room is uh, the 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:27.000 flight dynamics officer. Now I should point out, Um, there's 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:29.680 there's a lot of information on NASA's website about this 0:06:29.920 --> 0:06:34.480 and each person, uh, they have a lot of code. 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:36.760 You know, we're talking about extra vehicular activity or e 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:40.760 v A, and everybody else calls it spacewalk. Um. Yeah, 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:45.279 So every console has a function, and there are three 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:50.000 they're actually three shifts that work nine hours. Three teams 0:06:50.120 --> 0:06:54.920 work nine hour shifts. So, um, basically, the console has 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:57.039 a name, and there's a person, an officer, that works 0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:00.320 that console for and we'll talk about the different missions 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:03.120 because some of them don't use all these officers. But 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:06.760 and you will see labels on these consoles, and the 0:07:07.040 --> 0:07:11.760 labels are usually an abbreviation or some initials that stand 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:16.160 for whatever the console actually does up. And when we 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:19.120 talk talked about three shifts of people, they're typically around 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:23.000 twenty people working in the flight control center during a 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:27.800 typical Space Shuttle flight sat on a team of all 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:30.240 of every you know, everybody who's on there, right right, 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:34.200 so different shifts. Yeah, exactly. You've got around, on average 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:37.840 around twenty people working in that room during a spatial 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:40.680 flight at any particular time during that flight. We should 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:43.800 also stress that this is specifically space shuttles. There's a 0:07:43.840 --> 0:07:47.239 totally different mission control center for the International Space Station, 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:51.600 and it has a different group, similar similar stations, like 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:54.280 similar consoles to the one that's on the Space Shuttle, 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:57.040 but a different set up as far as the team goes. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:00.960 And and uh, fewer people are in the flight control 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.200 room for the International Space Station at any given time 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:08.160 than on a spatial mission. Yeah. But um, each console 0:08:08.200 --> 0:08:10.440 has a name and so and and a call sign. 0:08:11.120 --> 0:08:13.760 Uh if you've seen I'm sorry, I'm to go to 0:08:13.800 --> 0:08:16.160 the movies again. The most famous example I could think 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:18.680 of a call sign is top Gun, where everybody has 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:22.480 essentially a nickname. But this is not not necessarily a nickname, 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:25.760 but it's what everybody calls. So if Steve is on 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:29.160 the console, you know, in the morning shift, and Jennifer 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:31.120 is on the console in the afternoon shift, they still 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:33.120 have the same call sign because it's actually the station 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:36.120 that they refer to, not the person, but the station 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:42.320 doesn't matter. Who's there. That person is so like Dynamics 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:47.440 officer yes and call signed FIDO who and that person 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:52.600 plans the ship's maneuvers and is watching its trajectory. Um, 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:54.560 there's another person that keeps track of that to the 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:59.040 Guidance officer. UM. But but the FIDO is up there 0:08:59.040 --> 0:09:02.120 in the the bottom left hand corner if you're looking 0:09:02.120 --> 0:09:06.120 at the screens. Yeah, so, UM, so you've got that. 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:10.160 If you move over one station, you have a console 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.080 that actually could have one of two different officers working there, 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:15.520 depending upon what's going on in that Space Shuttle mission 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:19.400 at the time. Uh. There's the Rendezvous Guidance and Procedures 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:23.600 Officer also known just as Rendezvous UM, and that job 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:27.360 is to support the Shuttle mission whenever they are going 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.160 to have to dock with another vehicle or with the 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:33.120 space station, or perhaps they're coming up to do repairs 0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:36.200 for example on the Hubble telescope. Anytime the Shuttle is 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:40.319 coming into close proximity with another vehicle or satellite or 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.880 anything like that. UM, this officer is there to help 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:47.959 support the shuttle's crew and UH and give information and 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:50.760 guidance when the shuttle is going through those sort of 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:54.720 maneuvers UH. Now, in other situations that you might find 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:59.240 the ascent slash intrigue Guidance and Procedures Officer they're known 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:02.640 as guidance. Now. This is the person who is helping 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:08.240 again with navigation issues, specifically during the the the ascent 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.800 and descent UH phases of a shuttle mission. So when 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:16.240 the shuttle is either entering orbit or is getting ready 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:21.560 to re enter the Earth's atmosphere yep and UM. Also, 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.960 that person keeps track of any possibility that they need 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:29.560 to abort, so they're they're UM, you know, keeping a 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:32.520 close eye on those kinds of situations. UM. The next 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:36.640 person is the ground controller anything that would affect hardware, 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:42.920 software or support UM. With regard to the facilities UM. 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:47.520 Also UH, this person coordinates the ground space Flight Tracking 0:10:47.520 --> 0:10:51.199 and Data Network and the tracking and data relay satellite 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:55.280 system along with Goddard Space Flight Center, which is in Maryland. 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:58.240 By the way, I talked about Houston and Florida, but 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:00.800 we didn't talk about Maryland. Yeah, US has a number 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:05.000 of facilities all over the country. UM and and other 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:07.480 stations that they work with with countries around the world 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:10.720 to keep track of what's going on with the Shuttle. So. UM, 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:13.480 even though there may be on a given mission up 0:11:13.520 --> 0:11:15.360 to seven people in the Shuttle, there are a whole 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:17.600 lot more people on the ground watching out for that. Right. 0:11:18.040 --> 0:11:20.600 So let's go back a row. So we moved back 0:11:20.640 --> 0:11:25.800 toward the the far left. UM, we're gonna talk about 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:29.920 the propulsion officer also prop p r O p UM. 0:11:29.920 --> 0:11:33.640 The propulsion officers job is to keep an eye on 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:38.160 the reaction control and orbital maneuvering system UH. That's on 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:40.480 the Space Shuttle. Now, this is all the little jets 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:42.880 and the propellants that are used by the Space Shuttle 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:46.880 to make maneuvers in orbit or to get into orbit 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.360 or out of orbit. UM. So that's that's that officer's 0:11:50.400 --> 0:11:53.000 job is to keep an eye on all those systems 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:56.120 and to provide guidance to the Shuttle crew. YEP. And 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:59.720 speaking of guidance, UM, the next person is Guidance Navigation 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:01.760 and can Troll Systems also known as g n C. 0:12:02.480 --> 0:12:07.439 Watching the the guidance navigation and control systems. UH. He 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:10.000 or she would be in contact with the flight director 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:15.600 and crew any time that something again would require aboarding 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:18.680 the mission UM. And this I assume could mean any 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:23.920 time rather than UM. You know the guidance officers watching 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:27.600 specifically on launch and landing. This would be any time 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:31.319 you need to uh cut out and go home UM, 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:34.720 or any time the the guidance hardware might be not 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:37.400 working correctly. Yeah, So that this would be the eyes 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:39.640 on the ground to help guide the shuttle. Let's say 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:41.760 that the guidance systems aboard the shuttle for some reason 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:45.560 or malfunctioning, perhaps a gyroscope is not is not turning 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:49.680 properly um. The this officer would be the person who 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:53.400 would help guide the shuttle crew into maneuvering the shuttle 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:56.080 so that it was going the right way for whatever 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:59.880 operation they needed to perform at that point, most like 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:03.760 the coming home. Next, we have the Maintenance Mechanical arm 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:08.199 and Crew Systems Officer or max m M a c 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:12.080 s BET's pronounced max um. The This is a person 0:13:12.160 --> 0:13:15.920 who looks at the shuttles structural mechanical systems to make 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:21.520 sure that everything is is nominal. So the also monitors 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:24.480 all the equipment, maintenance and hardware use aboard the shuttle. 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:26.720 So this is the guy who tells the astronauts to 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:29.679 put up their toys when they're done playing. It's acually 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.360 a little more obviously much more serious than that. But 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:34.400 clearly this this is the person who is trying to 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.080 make sure that that all the procedures are followed aboard 0:13:37.080 --> 0:13:39.720 the shuttle, to make sure everything is stowed away properly 0:13:39.760 --> 0:13:41.360 and is used the way it was meant to be 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:43.880 used and turned off and all that kind of stuff, 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:47.680 because clearly anything that's out of the ordinary could potentially 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:52.320 cause a major problem with such a complex mission. UM. Yes, 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.920 and a lot of jokes. I'm sure no, my name's 0:13:54.960 --> 0:13:58.160 not Max, it's Steve Um. Now they're known for a 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:00.960 lot of joking and that mission control. Maybe when it's 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:06.280 all over where UM. Next is Eagle, the Electrical Generation 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:10.520 and Illumination Officer, And this person is keeping an eye 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:14.800 on the electrical systems, cryogenics, fuel cells, A C and 0:14:14.960 --> 0:14:19.400 D C power circuits. Both Edison and Tesla are represented UM, 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.320 vehicle pyrotechnics and lighting. Actually, that always makes me think 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:25.680 of rock bands when I read that. Well, you already 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:29.520 talked about E C, d C two and uh any 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:34.560 caution and warning systems that might be going on. So yeah, alright, 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:37.960 time to move move back another row. So moving back 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:41.680 another road to this is row three. If you're keeping track, 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:44.360 we're back back over to the far left. We have 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:50.400 the Data Processing System Officer DPS, who looks monitors the 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:53.920 stats of the the onboard computer systems on the shuttle. Now, 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:56.000 if you've listened to our shuttle episode, you know that 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:59.680 we mentioned briefly that there are five on board computer systems. 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:03.600 It's this officer's job to monitor those systems, make sure 0:15:03.640 --> 0:15:06.040 that they are working properly, that there's not any sort 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:08.920 of malfunction in those systems. Um. They also look at 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:12.640 other computer systems that are related to the mission, including 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:18.440 the multifunction display system. So that's his job or her job. Yeah. 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:23.880 The payload's officer is next, UM, which is just called payload. Yeah. 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:26.720 They drop an S that's that's how they abbreviate that 0:15:27.000 --> 0:15:30.040 that console as they dropped the S two payload. I 0:15:30.120 --> 0:15:33.200 see they don't. They don't get cool U Nicknami call signs, 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:35.600 at least not most of them, UM like they do 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.360 in the in the movies. UM. Anyway that that person 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:42.840 coordinates the both the ground system and the onboard shuttle 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:47.520 UH system interfaces, so the flight control team and payload 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.840 user are in contact with another with one another, and 0:15:51.200 --> 0:15:55.040 UM Payload also keeps an eye on the in cabin 0:15:55.120 --> 0:15:59.560 and cargo based system, experiments and satellites. UM. So yeah, 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:03.600 I mean you've got those great big bay doors and 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:06.160 stuff comes out of them. Yeah, that's who knows what's 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:08.040 going on with that. It's the main purpose for the 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:10.760 Space Shuttle is to be able to deliver payloads to space, 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.880 so like a giant cargo ship. Next, we have a 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:18.000 console where again two different officers could be operating this 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:20.240 console depending upon what is going on in the Space 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:23.320 Shuttle mission at that time. You have the Flight Activities 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:26.680 Officer or f AO. I like to call him Swartz. Uh, 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:33.120 the Flight Activities officers so nice. I'm a big, big 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:38.280 fan of f AO. So the Flight Activities Officer is 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:41.760 their job is to to kind of be a support 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:46.720 for the Shuttle crew. UH. They maintain checklists and procedures 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.800 and schedules. So whenever you you see a launch or 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:54.360 you over hear like the the recordings from UM missions 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:57.680 and you hear the Shuttle crew going down a checklist. 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:00.880 This is the person who on the ground is also 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:04.000 going through that same checklist to make sure that everything 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:08.320 is checked off whenever they're doing any sort of procedure. UM. 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:12.480 They also manage the shuttle orientation, so how it is 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:16.280 oriented UH in relation to the Earth or to really 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.400 anything else, you know, it's some other point of reference. 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:21.520 And then the other officer who works at that console, 0:17:21.560 --> 0:17:25.240 depending upon what's going on, is the Visiting Vehicles Officer 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.920 or vv O and UH. Sometimes the shuttle has to 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.879 interact with other vehicles like Russian vehicles or perhaps the 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:36.560 Internet National Space Station slower moving ones or slower moving 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:40.800 ones UM, and so the the Visiting Vehicles Officer is 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:45.000 the person who monitors that connection whenever the shuttle is 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:49.680 is docked with another vehicle or the I S s 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:55.640 UM that that's that's that officer's job. So a little 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:58.280 bit different from the navigation officer. They're they're not necessarily 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:02.000 helping the shuttle maneuver next to those They're just monitoring 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:05.160 whenever that connection is made because clearly, you know you're 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:10.160 sharing an UM airlock connection. You want to make sure 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:14.840 that everything is UH is still stable during that whole process. Yes, 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:21.560 So next we have the Emergency Environmental and Consumables Yes, 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:27.240 Operations Manager E calm, Yes, that would Yeah, UM is 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:30.639 UH and that person UH is responsible for the active 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:34.120 and passive thermal control of the vehicle according to NASA UM, 0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:38.959 and the cabin atmosphere control. So like, you know, can 0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:41.200 you turn down the thermostat? Could you get some of 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:46.080 this carbon dioxide out of our atmosphere? Avionics, cooling supply 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.600 and waste water systems and fire detection and suppression systems. 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:51.639 So really you can think of this. This officer is 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:57.240 being in UH in charge of monitoring life support systems basic. Yeah, 0:18:57.280 --> 0:18:58.960 but see that would be too easy to say and 0:18:58.960 --> 0:19:00.840 would sound too much like TV, so they had to 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:04.560 call it something. But yeah, whenever we talk about life 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:07.680 support systems, this is the officer in charge of making 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:11.520 sure everything is is running in the right parameters. So 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:15.480 now it's time to move another row back and back 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:17.800 over to the far left. We've got the Instrumentation and 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:23.480 Communications Officer inco I n c OH. This person monitors 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:29.080 the communications systems and instrumentation systems systems configuration aboard the shuttle. 0:19:29.560 --> 0:19:32.840 They're also the one who controls the shuttle television systems 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:36.720 from the ground. So the shuttle crew wants to watch 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:39.119 Phineas and Ferb and this guy's like, no, no, no, 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:45.320 you're going to be watching. Actually, I don't think that's 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:47.240 exactly how that works, but I thought it was funny. 0:19:47.680 --> 0:19:50.680 But no. Yeah, they controlled the television systems aboard the 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:54.560 Space Shuttle from the ground, so there they work very 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:58.160 closely with the public relations officer as well as other 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:01.240 members of the flight control old team. Yeah, I bet, 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:03.240 although I didn't read this, I bet that this person 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:05.840 is also the one who's responsible for playing the wake 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.840 up song, which is now sort of a semi famous 0:20:08.960 --> 0:20:11.119 part of a Shuttle miss kind of a tradition, right, 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:14.640 so where you've got this? Uh you know, each each 0:20:15.080 --> 0:20:19.400 member of a shuttle crew gets to choose a song 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:22.560 that will be played at a particular time to to 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:26.480 signal it's time to wake up and do science. Yes, yeah, 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:29.720 so I guess I got lucky because I got the 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:32.560 head of all of this and then on this row. 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:34.760 So this person see again, it's sort of the middle 0:20:34.920 --> 0:20:37.840 of the theater, you can see everything. It's a good seat. 0:20:37.960 --> 0:20:42.080 It's the flight director and uh, that person leads the 0:20:42.119 --> 0:20:46.120 flight control team. This person is responsible for basically all 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:50.240 of this, uh, the overall mission and payload operations, any 0:20:50.320 --> 0:20:54.760 decisions that would impact the safe and successful conduct of 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:58.280 the mission. Um. So actually the flight director has another 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.360 responsibility you know you might expect with all this sophisticated 0:21:01.400 --> 0:21:04.720 computer equipment, that has to do with the seven people 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:07.840 in space living are dying and you know, on a 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:13.600 more sad but real note, the expensive space shuttle. UH, 0:21:13.800 --> 0:21:16.199 you know in space that you want to protect. Uh, 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:21.679 they are allowed to bring food and drink inside mission control. Um. Well, 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:23.720 I mean they only get five to ten minute breaks 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:27.520 every ninety minutes, so with you know, shift between eight 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:29.119 and twelve hours, yes, they would need to do this. 0:21:29.240 --> 0:21:32.760 So an Assa says that the flight controller um takes 0:21:32.800 --> 0:21:37.000 a day and uh is responsible for choosing a cuisine 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:42.000 to buy for everybody in there. So, um, he actually 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:44.159 has to do that as well. So I guess if 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:46.120 you're in charge, you get to pick what everyone else 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:49.280 will eat on their celebratory kind of makes you wonder 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:52.240 if if he's like, okay, so who here likes pepperoni 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:57.520 in their piece? Fine? Fine, all right, no, no, Johnson, 0:21:57.600 --> 0:22:00.600 I told you we're not putting ham and pineapple on 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:04.159 all the pizza exactly. It's like, well it is my 0:22:04.280 --> 0:22:09.680 space center, um, so don't make me turn this mission around. Yeah, 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:11.920 I mean serious as they are, they do get to 0:22:12.000 --> 0:22:13.840 have a little fun, and the flight director does have 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:16.560 that does get to uh to buy when it's time 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:20.200 for dinner once. Apparently it just happens once. That's good. Still, 0:22:20.280 --> 0:22:23.639 that's pretty cool. Yeah. So so next next to the 0:22:23.880 --> 0:22:28.040 flight director on the other side is the spacecraft Communicator 0:22:28.440 --> 0:22:32.280 or CAPCOM. And you might think, why is it called 0:22:32.400 --> 0:22:36.320 Capcom when it's the actual name of the consoles, the 0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:39.600 spacecraft Communicator. Well, it's because they really love playing Resident Evil. 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:42.920 And you know, Reside Evil was made by Capcom, so 0:22:45.160 --> 0:22:48.320 those big screens. It's true that it's true that Capcom 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:50.840 makes Resident Evil. That's the only true part of that 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:53.800 statement though, So why is it called Capcom. Well, it's 0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:59.000 because back in the day when when the earliest space 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:03.720 flights were man on, spacelights were being tested, the first 0:23:04.880 --> 0:23:08.119 capsule they were using was the Mercury Capsule, so it 0:23:08.240 --> 0:23:12.040 was capsule Communication. Well, the Shuttle is not a capsule, 0:23:12.080 --> 0:23:14.280 it's a spacecraft. So they changed the name of the 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:18.159 consule to spacecraft communicator, but they did not change the 0:23:18.320 --> 0:23:21.080 call sign, which it still remains Capcom. By the way, 0:23:21.800 --> 0:23:25.360 you're wondering if there is any other connection with Capcom 0:23:25.520 --> 0:23:29.119 the video game company, I am sad to inform you 0:23:29.280 --> 0:23:32.920 there is not. The Capcom video game company takes its 0:23:33.040 --> 0:23:37.520 name from a predecessor of that company, the japan Capsule 0:23:37.640 --> 0:23:41.280 Computer Company Limited, which you know, you just take Capsule 0:23:41.359 --> 0:23:45.879 Computer and you squish that to Capcom. It's not the 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:48.440 same thing as the one that's in um uh NASA's 0:23:48.480 --> 0:23:52.680