Doing my best impressions in the Firing Room

Mike Ciannilli invited us into Launch Control Room 1	The center shot is looking towards the windows, out of which you can see the launch pad. The picture on the right is taken close to the same spot looking back toward Mike's console.

The two Mikes seated at the consoles with their thick procedures manuals.

Mike patiently tried to explain the process of powering up Columbia to me and what all the colors and categories stand for.

This screen features video feeds: on left from the OPF (Orbiter Processing Facility) bay 1 - you can just see the nose of Columbia. On the right from the VAB (Vehicle Assembly Building) where you can see Discovery complete with rocket boosters and external tank ready for the trip to the launch pad.

Then I got my chance!

I got to say into my headset, " OTC....TPE..... Power up of Columbia is complete at 12:27." Translation: I was calling OTC or the Orbiter Test Conductor. I was pretending to be the Test Project Engineer reporting the time of this almost daily powering up of Columbia's onboard systems.