STS-99 - What a Mission!

STS-99 was one of the most interesting missions I've worked from several perspectives. First, we were chasing a potentially serious problem with our command system pre-launch that had a lot of support personnel spun up to make sure we were in a good posture to support ascent. As it turned out, we could not fix the problem without delaying the launch, and due to the levels of redundancy available, decided to proceed with a plan to mitigate the risk. During the last few minutes of the countdown, a minor problem with the command system occurred that looked similar to the problem we were concerned about. Due to the risk mitigation plan, we had a software engineer on console ready to analyze any problems, and she was able to very quickly determine it was not an issue. Launch proceeded very smoothly, with no issues at all.

Following ascent, I moved into the role of shift relief for GC's working the orbit portions of the flight, while my partner moved into one of the orbit shifts. For the next nine days I worked six shifts, two each on midnight, evening and day shifts. Talk about not knowing what day it is; you never get used to a sleep pattern that way. During the mission, I had the privilege of watching the systems flight controllers work the problem with the reaction control thrusters on the end of the SRTM mast. They turned a potential mission-shortening problem into a plan that actually extended the mapping mission several hours. What a team of people to work with!

The MCC was fairly well behaved during the mission. There was a system used to retrieve previously stored data that had persistent problems during the flight, but these were worked as they happened and never became a major issue. We also had one of the three large projectors that drive the front screens die in a blaze of smoke and burning smells. This happened a few hours before I came on for my first orbit shift, so it was all cleaned up with a spare projector in place when I came on. During the event, however, they had to open the doors to the control room and bring in fans to clear the smoke.

As the mission proceeded, the SRTM people began putting huge pictures on the walls around the MCC that were made from images transmitted from the mapping mission. If you got a chance to see any of these on NASA TV during the mission, just imagine how much better they looked in extra large size. They started out in the hallways, but day by day more of them made their way into the control room. During one period of no communication with the orbiter, the flight director recruited me to help him remove one from the wall in the hallway and put it in the control room. It must have been ten feet long as we walked it down the hall into the room. When it came time to put it on the wall, there was no way for us to reach high enough to attach the top border. Thankfully, our Prop officer, Dean Lenort (who went on to hang the mission plaque for his work on overcoming the thruster problem) is exceedingly tall and had no problem finishing the job.

During the missions, I help coordinate team pictures for Mission Control. One of these, with the Orbit 2 team, including lead flight director Paul Dye, gave in to a payload team request to don 3-D glasses used to look at some of the pictures from the mission. The result was a true masterpiece that was later sent up to the crew to give them confidence in their ground support team in the MCC. I thought it would be nice to share with you as well. I was not in this picture since I was not working that particular shift. All team photos are taken during the ZOE (Zone of Exclusion) periods when no data is coming down from the orbiter, and only if all is quiet in the MCC. They are very rushed, with the photographer setting up ahead of time. Then everyone who could came into the room for the photo. Once complete, everyone quickly returns to their console and waits for comm to resume on the other side of the ZOE.

Landing was another story altogether. Lead meteorologist Steve Sokol came into the control room on Sunday with gloomy predictions for landing. By Monday nothing had improved, and we began working contingency plans in case we had to land at Edwards AFB in California or at the White Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. As it turned out, we ended up waving off the first KSC opportunity on Tuesday, and then had acceptable weather for landing on the second opportunity. Endeavour and the STS-99 crew came in for a picture perfect landing Tuesday evening. About an hour after landing, Lead Flight Director Paul Dye awarded the plaque hanging honors to Lead Propulsion Officer Dean Lenort in recognition of the work the Prop team did for the mission. I've included a picture of the Prop team holding the plaque (Dean is the exceedingly tall fellow in the middle) and Dean on the ladder (I still think he did not really need it if he stood on tip toes) hanging the plaque. The whole experience was capped off by heading out to Ellington Field on Wednesday, to welcome the crew back to Houston.

What a flight and what a great job to work with this group of people doing this kind of work!

Space Team Online Note: PROP is the call sign for the Propulsion Systems Engineer. The PROP monitors and evaluates reaction control and orbital maneuvering systems on the shuttle during all phases of flight. The PROP also manages propellants (fuel) and other consumables available for maneuvers.