{"id":37610,"date":"2020-05-13T00:19:36","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T16:19:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/msfc-bringing-long-term-experience-to-the-return-of-us-crewed-spaceflight\/"},"modified":"2020-05-13T00:19:36","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T16:19:36","slug":"msfc-bringing-long-term-experience-to-the-return-of-us-crewed-spaceflight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/msfc-bringing-long-term-experience-to-the-return-of-us-crewed-spaceflight\/","title":{"rendered":"MSFC bringing long-term experience to the return of US crewed spaceflight"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of NASA\u2019s biggest facilities, the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), is bringing its vast experience into play for the long-awaited return of US domestic crew launch capability. The center\u2019s Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) has been conducting reviews and running sims associated with the Demo-2 (DM-2) mission that is scheduled to launch at the end of this month.<\/p>\n

While most fans of the space program are well aware of the key control centers such as Kennedy Space Center\u2019s Launch Control Center (LCC) and the Flight Control Rooms at the Johnson Space Center\u2019s Mission Control Center (MCC), Marshall\u2019s role has a deep history that ranges back to Shuttle missions and continued with the continuous human presence on the International Space Station.<\/p>\n

The HOSC is a two-story building located on the east side of the Marshall Center. During a Shuttle launch, the Engineering Console Room on the second floor received data from the vehicle, displayed on more than a dozen workstations. The HOSC was linked with KSC, JSC and Shuttle propulsion system contractor plants, receiving more than 11 million measurements to be assessed by teams of experts in the support center.<\/p>\n

While the data stream during the shuttle era consisted of no more than one megabit per second, the support center will receive more than 25 times that amount of data for Space Launch System (SLS) launches. That SLS support center room has received a major upgrade to be ready for the 2021\/22 launch of Artemis-1.<\/p>\n

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The SLS support room at MSFC \u2013 via NASA<\/p>\n

Marshall also has a dedicated room for the ISS called the Payload Operations and Integration Center, which runs 24 hours a day, as it has during the lifetime of the orbital outpost. It was also involved with the payloads on the Shuttle missions in coordination with their trips to the Station.<\/p>\n

This Control Center links researchers and developers from around the world with their experiments and astronauts. It was also a key point of contact with international partners and their control rooms associated with the ISS, such as ESA, Roscosmos and JAXA.<\/p>\n

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Marshall\u2019s ISS support \u2013 via NASA<\/p>\n

Now, the HOSC is part of the next generation of US astronauts, not just with SLS, Orion and the Artemis missions, but also the Commercial Crew Program.<\/p>\n

The opening crewed launch will be SpaceX\u2019s Demo-2 (DM-2) mission, scheduled to launch from KSC\u2019s 39A, adding yet more synergy to the control center\u2019s role that included being involved with STS-135 that also launched from 39A \u2013 the last crewed mission to launch from US soil.<\/p>\n

DM-2\u2019s Doug Hurley flew with Atlantis and will fly again \u2013 alongside Bob Behnken \u2013 on the Crew Dragon, with the HOSC watching the data, alongside KSC, JSC and SpaceX\u2019s own \u201cMCC-X\u201d in California.<\/p>\n

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STS-135 and DM-2<\/p>\n

Marshall\u2019s role with DM-2 has already begun ahead of the launch, with the Center\u2019s Human Exploration Development & Operations Office supporting the Commercial Crew Program with engineers that have helped review critical design and development documentation. This will prove to be a key role ahead of the milestone Flight Readiness Review (FRR) that will formally approve the path to launch.<\/p>\n

The team is also helping to provide oversight to safety standards for the spacecraft and verifying data.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Commercial Crew Program has challenged the traditional way of developing human spaceflight launch vehicles by shifting the way we think,\u201d said Bobby Watkins, manager of the Human Exploration Development & Operations Office at Marshall. \u201cThis is a huge moment for NASA and its partners, and we are proud at Marshall to be a small part of this monumental mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

See Also<\/h4>\n