xii The foundations of flight control were born out of the ashes of failure. Shortly after the Apollo1 fire in 1967 that killed three astronauts on the launch pad, Flight Director Gene Kranz told his team that henceforth they would need to be “tough” and “competent” to ensure such an accident would not happen again. “From this day forward, Flight Control will be known by two words: ‘Tough’ and ‘Competent.’ Tough means we are forever accountable for what we do or what we fail to do. We will never again compromise our responsibilities. Every time we walk into Mission Control we will know what we stand for, “Competent means we will never take anything for granted. We will never be found short in our knowledge and in our skills. Mission Control will be perfect.” Gene Kranz (2000) Out of this grew what is called the Foundations of Mission Control. The majority of flight controllers have this on their wall or desk, or have committed it to memory. This is the creed to which the team literally lives by every second of the day. The current version is shown below. This “tough” and “competent” stance was exhibited during the Apollo 13 mission whenever everyone gave their all to save the crew, and it has continued. Although Kranz is not sure whether he ever really uttered “failure is not an option” during the mission, it applied then and has been the mantra repeated throughout the FCT ever since. Foundations of Flight Operations 1. To instill within ourselves these qualities essential to professional excellence Discipline…Being able to follow as well as to lead, knowing that we must master ourselves before we can master our task. Competence…There being no substitute for total preparation and complete dedication, for flight will not tolerate the careless or indifferent. Confidence…Believing in ourselves as well as others, knowing that we must master fear and hesitation before we can succeed. Responsibility…Realizing that it cannot be shifted to others, for it belongs to each of us we must answer for what we do or fail to do. Toughness…Taking a stand when we must and to try again and again, even if it means following a more difficult path. Teamwork…Respecting and using the abilities of others, realizing that we work toward a common goal, for success depends upon the efforts of all. Vigilance...Being always attentive to the dangers of flight never accepting success as a substitute for rigor in everything we do. 2. To always be aware that, suddenly and unexpectedly, we may find ourselves in a role where our performance has ultimate consequences. 3. To recognize that the greatest error is not to have tried and failed, but that, in the trying, we do not give it our best effort. The Foundations of Mission Control NASA is not unique in having a Mission Control. The others, either in another country or staffed by a private company, were inspired by the Mercury control center built by Kraft. These control centers share the same approach and mentalities, but with the influences of different cultures. Although the space station is international in scope, this book focuses on the US systems. High-level interfaces are discussed so that the reader can get a good understanding of the vehicle and operations however, NASA defers to the experts among its partner organizations to tell their own story—e.g., the nice summary of the European Columbus module in Uhlig, Nitsch, and Kehr (2010), and the story of the Automated Transfer Vehicle by Castel and Novelli (2015). Each partner has its own control team, as shown in Table 1. The call signs are important since the flight directors and their teams change personnel throughout the day. The job of flight control is to ensure the mission goes as smoothly and successfully as possible. The whole purpose of the space station is to conduct research that cannot be done on the Earth as well as developing the capabilities to return to the moon and go to Mars. NASA’s job is to facilitate the research getting done, again as with the stage crew ensuring a theatre production executes smoothly. This means ensuring the systems are working properly, and minimizing the impact (usually in the form of available crew time) when systems encounter problems. Although not