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| Mission Control Answers Your Questions |
| From: Pawel Wartalski, of
Chrzanow, Poland To: John McCullough, lead flight director Question: Hi! I learned that the Apollo MCC teams used to choose various nicknames for themselves. I know that current Shuttle missions' flight directors also pick names for their teams. Are the things the same with Space Station MCC teams or are they just called Orbit 1, 2 and 3 respectively? Thank you. Answer: Pawel, The tradition you speak of is alive and well in the MCC! All flight directors (either ISS or Shuttle) select a symbolic team name once they are officially certified. This team name is historically tracked and used when that flight director is on console, for example I am Eagle Flight, so when I am on console, the team on my Orbit shift (1, 2, or 3), becomes the Eagle Team. We also refer to the Orbit shift designation since that designates which time of day the team is on console. In the ISS, a flight control team is generally on for about a week at a time and then cycles off console at various intervals depending on the flight control position. The next time I am on console, the Eagle team personnel will likely vary somewhat but over the week of console ops it generally stays the same. For Shuttle missions and in the Apollo days, a team stays together and trains for a long time in support of the two-week or less mission, while on the ISS, the flight control team is drawn from a slightly larger community of available real-time support over a given span of time. John McCullough Eagle Flight DA8/Flight Director Office Expedition 7 Lead Flight Director |
Curator: Kim
Dismukes | Responsible NASA Official: John Ira Petty | Updated: 09/03/2003 |