WEBVTT - TechStuff Classic: What does NASA's Mission Control Do? 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.160 Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:14.240 stuff Works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:16.520 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:19.400 How Stuff Works and love all things tech. And it's Friday. 0:00:19.680 --> 0:00:22.919 That means it's time for another classic episode of tech Stuff. 0:00:23.480 --> 0:00:28.600 This episode published July two thousand eleven, when we were 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:34.440 also young and bright eyed. This episode features Chris Pallette, 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:37.680 my co host and editor at the time, and we 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:41.920 talk about NASA's mission control I thought this was a 0:00:41.920 --> 0:00:45.440 good episode to include here since we did that whole 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:49.199 suite of space episodes a couple of months ago, and 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:55.880 this ties into that NASA's mission control absolutely is one 0:00:55.920 --> 0:00:59.120 of the most important elements when it comes to the 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:03.240 United States space program. So sit back and enjoy this 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.560 classic episode and I'll talk to you again in just 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:09.640 a moment. We're gonna talk today about mission control center 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:13.680 with NASA, and specifically the mission control center associated with 0:01:13.880 --> 0:01:17.360 Shuttle missions. Seeing as how the final Space Shuttle mission 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:21.080 UH launched, well, we're recording this podcast before the launch, 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.720 but it should publish after that launch. We wanted to 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:27.679 kind of talk about the the stuff that goes on 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:31.240 on the ground, not necessarily the stuff that's going on 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:36.399 inside the orbiter itself. I said, launch, not launch. Sorry 0:01:36.480 --> 0:01:39.800 if you can, if you can identify that quote. UM, yeah, 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:42.160 we Uh. When Jonathan and I were talking about doing 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:45.360 the episode on the Space Shuttle, UM, as we do 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:47.800 with some of the complex topics, we decide, you know, 0:01:48.040 --> 0:01:50.160 to at least have an idea where we're gonna go 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:54.040 with the research. And even before we started doing the research, 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.360 we figured that this was going to be complex enough 0:01:56.600 --> 0:01:58.640 that we would have to break it down, and we 0:01:58.640 --> 0:02:02.240 decided to do an episode specific quicially on mission control because, um, 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:05.040 it's not just the astronauts inside the Space Shuttle who 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:08.960 are paying attention to everything that's going on in the 0:02:09.000 --> 0:02:11.840 spacecraft during the mission. I mean, it's of course there 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:14.120 they have to sleep. Um, they have a lot of 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.440 things to do. They've got science to do. Um. They 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:19.680 have they have to prove the cake is a lie, 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:25.079 extra vehit extra vehicular activity to perform. Um. They have 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:30.200 things to deploy in space um so and spots to 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:33.120 record for sesame street occasionally some of those occasionally they 0:02:33.160 --> 0:02:39.400 have to sing yes, shout out to our parent company. 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:41.520 But but yeah, I mean there's there's a lot for 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:44.800 them to do, and uh, you know, somebody has to 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.240 be keeping an eye on the on the shop. Yeah, 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.360 and we cuver some of this material on how stuff 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:53.280 works dot Com in an article called how NASA Works, 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:56.320 But that's really kind of an overview of the agency. 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.680 We wanted to talk specifically about mission control, and before 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:02.000 we get too far into this, we should probably talk 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.920 about where mission control is because if you're watching a launch, 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.400 you may be seeing shots of this, uh group of 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.280 people all wearing a nice suits and they're all sitting 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:16.600 at different consoles and they all looked very busy, and um, 0:03:17.080 --> 0:03:19.520 the odds are that you're actually looking at the Kennedy 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:23.799 Space Center and they do launch control. They have a 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.280 launch control center there at Kennedy, but that is not 0:03:27.480 --> 0:03:31.960 mission control. Mission control is actually located in Houston, as 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:36.680 you know immortalized in the phrase Houston, we have a problem. Uh. 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.680 That's specifically talking about the mission control center at the 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:43.440 Johnson's Space Center in Houston, Texas. Yes, and no, that 0:03:43.600 --> 0:03:46.000 is not the quote used in the movie. Was not 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:51.040 exactly what was said. No, no, but of course right, 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:55.040 But just like playing against Sam was never actually said 0:03:55.080 --> 0:03:59.520 in Casablanca. Um, it actually was said in sits in 0:03:59.600 --> 0:04:03.000 King so but no, yeah, that's that's those the people 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:06.600 who who in Apollo thirteen, And we actually kind of 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.560 saw what was going on in mission control, even though 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:12.280 it was a you know, I guess it's safe to 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:14.720 say it was fictionalized to kind of a real event, 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:18.200 although not terribly fictionalized compared to some others. I would 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:22.360 guess right, it was more it tried to stay true 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:27.280 to the actual unfolding of the the emergency more so 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:29.840 than a lot of other movies did. But even so, 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:33.520 there was some traumatization going on there. Well you have 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:36.480 to it's but but yeah, I mean, if you've seen 0:04:36.520 --> 0:04:40.400 the movie, you probably have a somewhat reasonable idea of 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.320 what the people are doing in that center. They're trying 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:48.640 to main maintain communications. They're trying to figure out what's 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:51.800 going on with the telemetry, uh, you know, keeping an 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:55.680 eye on where the ship is going, mooring the various systems, 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:59.599 making sure everything's okay, and in the song quoted before, 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.320 their just making sure everything's okay with the people up 0:05:02.320 --> 0:05:07.240 in space. So let's Chris and I both looked at 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:10.919 an illustration of the mission Control Center to kind of 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.800 break it down and see exactly what it looks like 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:15.840 and what people are doing there. And we thought we 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.320 would be kind of interesting to talk to you and 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:22.720 guide you through the mission control room. Now, if you 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:25.839 were to look at the room, yeah, if you're just 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:28.200 like taking a tour walking around, you would see either 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:31.560 all these big desks with consoles at them, and at 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:34.800 one end of the room are a bunch of monitors, 0:05:35.120 --> 0:05:37.599 big monitors, and those monitors are showing things like video 0:05:37.680 --> 0:05:40.599 feeds from the shuttle as well as just lots and 0:05:40.640 --> 0:05:43.760 lots of data and uh. And so we wanted to 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:46.640 kind of talk to you about what these uh, these 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:49.600 consoles were in their purpose and what the officers who 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:53.599 sit at these consoles do. And we're kind of taking you, like, 0:05:53.640 --> 0:05:56.640 if you imagine this big room with monitors. At one 0:05:56.760 --> 0:06:00.880 end of the room, the room has a five rows 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:05.760 of stations. Okay, the first row has three stations across 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:08.359 and the other four rows have four stations across. So 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:10.400 what we're going to do is we're going to go 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:13.520 from the end that has the monitors. That's the end 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:15.960 that has the three stations in front of it. That's 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:18.360 the first row and we're going to go from left 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:20.360 to right, and then we're gonna go down a row 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:22.440 left or right, and down a row left or right, 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:26.600 and just explain what each of those stations are meant 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:29.200 to do. And so Chris, I think you were going 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:30.680 to take the first one. We're just gonna kind of 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:34.440 alternate all the way down. Yeah. That the first person 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:36.720 and sitting on the front and you know that's a 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:39.320 terrible place to sit if you're watching a movie. Yeah, 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:42.400 but this isn't a movie. Far left in the front row, 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.039 I got that cricket, the guy with a cricket his neck. Yeah, 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:48.400 that's how I saw Lord of the Rings, the felloship 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:51.000 of the Ring, and it was tough. Well, the person 0:06:51.040 --> 0:06:53.839 in in in that corner of the room is uh, 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:58.280 the flight dynamics officer. Now I should point out there's 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:00.960 there's a lot of information on NASA's website about this 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:05.360 and each person, uh, they have a lot of code. 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:08.040 You know, we're talking about extra vehicular activity or e 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:12.040 v A, and everybody else calls it spacewalk. Um. Yeah, 0:07:12.080 --> 0:07:16.560 So every console has a function and there are three 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:21.280 they're actually three shifts that work nine hours. Three teams 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:26.200 work nine hour shifts. So um, basically, the console has 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:28.320 a name, and there's a person an officer that works 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:31.600 at console for and we'll talk about the different missions 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:34.400 because some of them don't use all these officers. But 0:07:34.680 --> 0:07:38.040 and you will see labels on these consoles, and the 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:43.040 labels are usually an abbreviation or some initials that stand 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:47.440 for whatever the console actually does up. And when we 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:50.400 talk talking about three shifts of people, they're typically around 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.280 twenty people working in the flight control center during a 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:57.680 typical Space Shuttle flight. NASA says about fifty on a 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.760 team of all of every you know, every who's on there, 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.600 right right, so, so different shifts exactly, you've got around, 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:08.480 on average, around twenty people working in that room during 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:11.320 a spatial flight at any particular time during that flight. 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:14.440 We should also stress that this is specifically space shuttles. 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:17.760 There's a totally different mission control center for the International 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:22.800 Space Station and it has a different group, similar similar stations, 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:25.560 like similar consoles to the one that's on the Space Shuttle, 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:28.320 but a different set up as far as the team goes. 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:32.240 And and uh fewer people are in the flight control 0:08:32.320 --> 0:08:35.480 room for the International Space Station at any given time 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:39.439 than on a Space shuttle mission. Yeah, but each console 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.680 has a name and so and and a call sign. 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:45.040 Uh if you've seen I'm sorry, I'm to go to 0:08:45.080 --> 0:08:47.440 the movies again. The most famous example I could think 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:49.960 of a call sign is top Gun, where everybody has 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:53.280 an essentially a nickname. But this is not not necessarily 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:56.680 a nickname, but it's what everybody calls. So if Steve 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.240 is on the console, you know, in the morning shift, 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:02.200 and Jennifers on the console in the afternoon shift, they 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:04.040 still have the same call sign because it's actually the 0:09:04.040 --> 0:09:06.440 station that they refer to, right, not the person, But 0:09:06.559 --> 0:09:10.560 the station doesn't matter. Who's there. That person is filling 0:09:10.600 --> 0:09:15.280 that Yeah, so like dynamics officer yes, and call signed 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:20.960 Fido who and that person plans the ship's maneuvers and 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:25.160 is watching its trajectory. Um, there's another person that keeps 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:28.480 track of that to the guidance officer. Um. But but 0:09:28.880 --> 0:09:32.240 the Fido is up there in the the bottom left 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:36.400 hand corner if you're looking at the screens. Yeah. So, um, 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:39.960 so you've got that. If you move over one station, 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:42.760 you have a console that actually could have one of 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.600 two different officers working there, depending upon what's going on. 0:09:45.640 --> 0:09:48.640 In that spatial mission at the time. UH, there's the 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:53.559 Rendezvous Guidance and Procedures Officer also known just as Rendezvous UM, 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:57.440 and that job is to support the Shuttle mission whenever 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:00.240 they are going to have to dock with an other 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.520 vehicle or with the space station, or perhaps they're coming 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.120 up to do repairs for example on the Hubble telescope. 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.640 Anytime the Shuttle is coming into close proximity with another 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:14.120 vehicle or satellite or anything like that. UM, this officer 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:17.719 is there to help support the Shuttle's crew and UH 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:21.440 and give information and guidance when the Shuttle is going 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:25.240 through those sort of maneuvers. Now, in other situations that 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:30.000 you might find the ascent slash Intrigue Guidance and Procedures Officer, 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:33.040 they're known as guidance. Now. This is the person who 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:38.840 is helping again with navigation issues specifically during the the 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:43.760 the ascent and descent UH phases of a Shuttle mission. 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.800 So when the Shuttle is either entering orbit or is 0:10:46.920 --> 0:10:52.480 getting ready to re enter the atmosphere YEP and UM. 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:56.040 Also that person keeps track of any possibility that they 0:10:56.080 --> 0:11:00.760 need to abort, so they're they're UM, you know, keeping 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:03.640 a close eye on those kinds of situations. UM. The 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:07.960 next person is the ground controller anything that would affect hardware, 0:11:08.080 --> 0:11:14.200 software or support UM. With regard to the facilities UM. 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:18.800 Also UH, this person coordinates the ground space Flight Tracking 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:22.480 and Data Network and the tracking and data relay satellite 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:25.880 system along with Goddard Space Flight Center, which is in 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.439 Maryland by the way. So I talked about Houston and Florida, 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:31.719 but we didn't talk about Maryland. Yeah, NASA has a 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:35.920 number of facilities all over the country UM and and 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:38.440 other stations that they work with with countries around the 0:11:38.440 --> 0:11:40.960 world to keep track of what's going on with the shuttle. 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:44.280 So UM, even though there may be on a given 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:46.360 mission up to seven people in the shuttle, there are 0:11:46.400 --> 0:11:48.199 a whole lot more people on the ground watching out 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:51.160 for them. So let's go back a row. So we 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:56.079 moved back toward the the UH far left. UM, we're 0:11:56.080 --> 0:12:01.199 gonna talk about the propulsion officer also prop pr op UM. 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:04.920 The propulsion officer's job is to keep an eye on 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:09.440 the reaction control and orbital maneuvering system UH that's on 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:11.760 the Space Shuttle. Now, this is all the little jets 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.160 and the propellants that are used by the Space Shuttle 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:18.160 to make maneuvers in orbit or to get into orbit 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.640 or out of orbit. UM. So that's that's that officer's 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:24.280 job is to keep an eye on all those systems 0:12:24.320 --> 0:12:27.400 and to provide guidance to the shuttle crew. Yeah. And 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:31.040 speaking of guidance, UM, the next person is guidance Navigation 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:34.120 and Control systems also known as g n C watching 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:39.240 the the guidance navigation and control systems UH. He or 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.400 she would be in contact with the flight director and 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:46.960 crew any time that something again would require aboarding the 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:50.240 mission UM. And this I assume could mean any time 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:55.880 rather than UM. You know, the guidance officers watching specifically 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.960 on launch and landing. This would be any time you 0:12:59.000 --> 0:13:02.800 need to UH cut out and go home. UM. Or 0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:06.000 any time the not the guidance hardware might be not 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:08.640 working correctly. Yes, so that this would be the eyes 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:10.920 on the ground to help guide the shuttle. Let's say 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:13.040 that the guidance systems aboard the shuttle for some reason 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:18.240 or malfunctioning, perhaps a gyroscope is not is not turning properly. UM. 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:21.559 The this officer would be the person who would help 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:24.920 guide the shuttle crew into maneuvering the shuttle so that 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:28.240 it was going the right way for whatever operation they 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:33.000 needed to perform at that point, most likely coming home. Next, 0:13:33.040 --> 0:13:37.000 we have the Maintenance Mechanical arm and Crew Systems Officer 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:42.000 or Max m M a c. S. Butts pronounced Max um. 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:45.240 The This is a person who looks at the shuttles 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:49.440 structural mechanical systems to make sure that everything is is nominal. 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:54.840 So the also monitors all the equipment, maintenance, and hardware 0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:56.560 use aboard the shuttle. So this is the guy who 0:13:56.600 --> 0:13:58.960 tells the astronauts to put up their toys when they're 0:13:58.960 --> 0:14:03.199 done playing sexual a little more obviously much more serious 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:05.199 than that, but clearly this this is the person who 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:07.480 is trying to make sure that that all the procedures 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:09.839 are followed aboard the shuttle to make sure everything is 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:12.280 stowed away properly and is used the way it was 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:14.640 meant to be used and turned off and all that 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.440 kind of stuff, because clearly anything that's out of the 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:20.680 ordinary could potentially cause a major problem with such a 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.920 complex mission. Um. Yes, and a lot of jokes. I'm 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:28.320 sure like, no, my name is not Max, it's Steve. Yeah. Um. 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:30.240 Now they're known for a lot of joking in the 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:34.760 Mission Control center. Maybe when it's all over with Hey, guys, 0:14:34.800 --> 0:14:38.720 we have more to talk about with NASA's mission control system, 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.920 but first let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor. 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:56.040 Next is Eagle, the Electrical Generation and Illumination Officer, and 0:14:56.080 --> 0:15:00.120 this person is keeping an eye on the electrical systems, cryogenics, 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:03.640 fuel cells, A C and d C power circuits. Both 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:08.200 Edison and Tesla are represented um vehicle pyrotechnics and lighting. 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.240 Actually that always makes me think of rock bands. Yeah 0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:13.120 when I read that, well, you already talked about e C, 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:18.040 d C two and uh any caution and warning systems 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:22.120 that might be going on. So yeah, alright, time to 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:25.360 move move back another row. So moving back another road 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:28.840 to this is row three. If you're keeping track, we're 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:31.400 back back over to the far left. We have the 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:37.600 Data Processing System Officer DPS, who looks monitors the status 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:40.840 of the the onboard computer systems on the shuttle. Now, 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:42.880 if you've listened to our Shuttle episode, you know that 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:46.560 we mentioned briefly that there are five on board computer systems. 0:15:46.600 --> 0:15:50.520 It's this officer's job to monitor those systems make sure 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:52.680 that they are working properly that there is not any 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:55.640 sort of malfunction in those systems. UM. They also look 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.440 at other computer systems that are related to the mission, 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:03.680 including the function display system. So that's his job or 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:08.560 her tob Yeah. The payload's officer is next, UM, which 0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:12.320 is just called payload. Yeah. They drop an S. That's 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.320 that's how they abbreviate that that console as they dropped 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:17.840 the S to payload. I see they don't. They don't 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.800 get cool U nicknami call signs, at least not most 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:24.680 of them, UM like they do in the in the movies. UM. Anyway, 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:28.640 that that person coordinates the both the ground system and 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:33.480 the onboard shuttle UH system interfaces, so the flight control 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:36.760 team and payload user are in contact with another with 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:41.160 one another and UM. Payload also keeps an eye on 0:16:41.200 --> 0:16:46.040 the in cabin and cargo based system experiments and satellites. UM. 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:49.720 So yeah, I mean you've got those great big bay 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.840 doors and stuff comes out of them. That's who knows 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:54.840 what's going on with that. It's the main purpose for 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.240 the Space Shuttle is to be able to deliver payloads 0:16:57.240 --> 0:17:01.240 to space. So like a giant cargo up. UH. Next, 0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:04.359 we have a console where again, two different officers could 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.720 be operating this console depending upon what is going on 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.159 in the Space Shuttle mission at that time. You have 0:17:09.200 --> 0:17:12.159 the Flight Activities Officer or f AO. I like to 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:17.760 call him Schwartz. Uh, the Flight Activities officers so nice. 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:22.800 I'm a big, big fan of f AO. So the 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:27.720 Flight Activities Officer is their job is to to kind 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:31.480 of be a support for the the shuttle crew. Uh. 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:35.360 They maintain checklists and procedures and schedules. So whenever you 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:37.680 you see a launch or you over here like the 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:43.080 the recordings from um missions and you hear the Shuttle 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:46.320 crew going down a checklist, this is the person who 0:17:46.359 --> 0:17:49.600 on the ground is also going through that same checklist 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:53.360 to make sure that everything is checked off whenever they're 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:56.879 doing any sort of procedure. UM. They also manage the 0:17:57.000 --> 0:18:01.480 shuttle orientation, so how it is oriented, uh in relation 0:18:01.520 --> 0:18:04.040 to the Earth or to really anything else, you know, 0:18:04.080 --> 0:18:06.960 it's some other point of reference. And then the other 0:18:07.000 --> 0:18:09.560 officer who works at that console, depending upon what's going on, 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:14.280 is the Visiting Vehicles Officer or vv O. And uh, 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:18.159 sometimes the Shuttle has to interact with other vehicles like 0:18:18.240 --> 0:18:22.320 Russian vehicles or perhaps the Internet, National Space, slower moving 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:26.040 ones or slower moving ones UM, and so the the 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:30.600 Visiting Vehicles officer is the person who monitors that connection 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:35.719 whenever the shuttle is is docked with another vehicle or 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:41.560 the I S S UM the that's that's that officer's job. 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.200 So a little bit different from the navigation officer. They're 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:47.840 they're not necessarily helping the shuttle maneuver next to those 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.159 They're just monitoring whenever that connection is made because clearly, 0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:56.600 you know you're sharing an UM airlock connection. You want 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:59.800 to make sure that everything is UH is still stable 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:05.000 during that whole process. Yes, So next we have the 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:12.160 Emergency Environmental and Consumables Yes, Operations Manager EE calm, Yes 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:15.959 that would Yeah, UM is UH and that person UH 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.879 is responsible for the active and passive thermal control of 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:23.680 the vehicle according to NASA UM and the cabin atmosphere control, 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:26.399 so like, hey, you know, can you turn down the 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:28.560 thermostat could you get a little some of this carbon 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:33.199 dioxide out of our atmosphere? Really avionics, cooling supply and 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:36.960 wastewater systems and fire detection and suppression systems, so really 0:19:36.960 --> 0:19:39.159 you can think of this, this officer is being in 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:44.160 UH in charge of monitoring life support systems basic shut Yeah, 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:45.840 but see that would be too easy to say and 0:19:45.880 --> 0:19:47.800 would sound too much like TV, so they had to 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.320 call it something obscure. But yeah, whenever we talk about 0:19:51.320 --> 0:19:54.280 life support systems, this is the officer in charge of 0:19:54.320 --> 0:19:57.560 making sure everything is is running in the right parameters. 0:19:58.359 --> 0:20:00.880 So now it's time to move of another row back 0:20:01.640 --> 0:20:03.800 and back over to the far left. We've got the 0:20:03.840 --> 0:20:09.199 Instrumentation and Communications Officer inco I n c OH. This 0:20:09.280 --> 0:20:15.280 person monitors the communications systems and instrumentation systems systems configuration 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:17.960 aboard the shuttle. Um. They're also the one who controls 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:22.360 the shuttle television systems from the ground. So the shuttle 0:20:22.600 --> 0:20:26.160 crew wants to watch Phineas and Ferb and this guy's like, no, no, no, 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:32.200 you're going to be watching. Actually, I don't think that's 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:34.160 exactly how that works, but I thought it was funny. 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:37.560 But no. Yeah, they controlled the television systems aboard the 0:20:38.280 --> 0:20:41.600 Space Shuttle from the ground, so there they work very 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:45.120 closely with the public relations officer as well as other 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:48.480 members of the flight control team. Yeah. I bet, although 0:20:48.480 --> 0:20:50.359 I didn't read this, I bet that this person is 0:20:50.400 --> 0:20:53.200 also the one who's responsible for playing the wake up song, 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:56.240 which is now sort of semi famous part of a 0:20:56.240 --> 0:21:00.160 shuttle be kind of a tradition right where you've got this. Uh, 0:21:00.200 --> 0:21:05.800 each each member of a shuttle crew gets to choose 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:09.040 a song that will be played at a particular time 0:21:09.119 --> 0:21:13.359 to to signal it's time to wake up and do science. Yes. Yeah, 0:21:14.119 --> 0:21:16.600 so I guess I got lucky because I got the 0:21:17.280 --> 0:21:19.480 head of all of this and then on this row. 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:21.720 So this person see again, it's sort of the middle 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:24.760 of the theater, you can see everything. It's a good seat. 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:28.960 It's a flag director, and uh, that person leads the 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:33.040 flight control team. This person is responsible for basically all 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:37.160 of this, uh, the overall mission and payload operations, any 0:21:37.200 --> 0:21:41.679 decisions that would impact the safe and successful conduct of 0:21:41.680 --> 0:21:45.200 the mission. Um so, actually the flight director has another 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:48.280 responsibility you know you might expect with all this sophisticated 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:51.639 computer equipment, that has to do with the seven people 0:21:51.680 --> 0:21:55.120 in space living are dying and you know, on a 0:21:55.440 --> 0:22:00.639 more sad but real note, the expensive space shuttle. Uh, 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:03.359 you know in space that you want to protect. Uh, 0:22:03.520 --> 0:22:08.600 they are allowed to bring food and drink inside mission control. Um, well, 0:22:08.640 --> 0:22:10.679 I mean they only get five to ten minute breaks 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:14.439 every ninety minutes, so with you know, shift between eight 0:22:14.440 --> 0:22:16.080 and twelve hours, Yes, they would need to do this. 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:19.680 So an Assa says that the flight controller um takes 0:22:19.680 --> 0:22:23.960 a day and UH is responsible for choosing a cuisine 0:22:24.280 --> 0:22:29.000 to buy for everybody in there, so um, he actually 0:22:29.160 --> 0:22:31.040 has to do that as well. So I guess if 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:33.040 you're in charge, you get to pick what everyone else 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:36.200 will eat on their celebratory kind of makes you wonder 0:22:36.240 --> 0:22:39.160 if if he's like, okay, so who here likes pepperoni 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:44.440 and there piece? Fine? Fine, all right, no, no, Johnson, 0:22:44.480 --> 0:22:47.520 I told you we're not putting ham and pineapple on 0:22:47.560 --> 0:22:51.119 all the pizza exactly. It's like, well, it is my 0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:54.760 space center. Um, so do you make me turn this 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:58.359 mission around? Yeah? I mean serious as they are, they 0:22:58.440 --> 0:22:59.879 do get to have a little fun in the fly 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:02.840 director does have that does get to UH to buy 0:23:02.880 --> 0:23:06.280 when it's time for dinner once. Apparently it just happens once. 0:23:06.400 --> 0:23:10.040 That's good. Still, that's pretty cool. Yeah. So so next 0:23:10.080 --> 0:23:13.000 next to the flight director on the other side is 0:23:13.080 --> 0:23:18.640 the spacecraft communicator or capcom. And you might think, why 0:23:18.720 --> 0:23:22.560 is it called capcom when it's the actual name of 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:25.400 the consoles, the Spacecraft Communicator. Well, it's because they really 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:28.199 love playing Resident Evil. And you know, Resident Evil was 0:23:28.280 --> 0:23:33.960 made by Capcom, so real those big screens. It's true 0:23:34.000 --> 0:23:36.760 that it's true that Capcom makes Resident Evil. That's the 0:23:36.800 --> 0:23:39.480 only true part of that statement though, So why is 0:23:39.520 --> 0:23:42.400 it called Capcom. Well, it's because back in the day 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:47.600 when when the earliest space flights were manned, space flights 0:23:47.600 --> 0:23:53.000 were being tested, the first capsule they were using was 0:23:53.000 --> 0:23:57.760