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id="thebody" style="defaultCaption">Mike
Massimino: You go.
You got to go right down to zero.
Boom!
The thing launches, right?
And then you'll take it, you'll- the engines will cut after eight and a half minutes.<p
begin="00:00:17.433" end="00:00:23.766">MM: And either you're in orbit, or- on the real
day you'll probably be in orbit after those eight and a half minutes.<p begin="00:00:22.266"
end="00:00:24.800">Richard Jones: Yeah.
Gosh, yes.MM: And then, but if- But, what will happen today
is probably not that on all the runs, right?RJ:
Not- probably not, you know, there's probably a good spread.<p begin="00:00:31.033"
end="00:00:34.833">MM: So.RJ: You know, I'd say we
practice a transatlantic abort landing.
We'll practice probably an RTLS, Return to Launch Site.MM:
Mm-hm [sic].RJ: We'll practice an abort to orbit.
There's a whole bunch of different flavors.
You know, an ascent, you've got all these different, you know, tangents that you can
take.
Just- all these different options.MM: Yeah.<p begin="00:00:50.466"
end="00:00:59.633">RJ: And you've got to, you know, pick the best option.
Sometimes the best option isn't fun, but it's the safest option of the time, so.<p begin="00:00:58.400"
end="00:01:11.900">MM: Right.
What do you- what do you get out of these sims?
I mean, because obviously, I mean you may, it might be that you'll get a- you it might
be that you're going to get a- you might have to do one of these aborts for real.<p
begin="00:01:10.500" end="00:01:20.033">MM: But, but, you get more than that.
I mean it's not just practicing your abort, right?
What do you look to get out of your team today as the Flight Director?
What are you trying to accomplish?RJ: Well, I mean you know,
I've been working with a lot of these guys for years now.
So I pretty much- they know me, I know them.MM:
You have any ritual you'll do on that day?RJ:
No.MM: Is there any thing you'll have certain for
breakfast?
Or-RJ: You know what?<p begin="00:01:27.600"
end="00:01:32.466">MM: You know, you're going to wear a certain tie or anything?<p begin="00:01:31.166"
end="00:01:36.766">RJ: The tie?
I'll figure that out.
I'm going to have a nice tie on.
You never know.MM: You have a nice one
today actually, very nice.RJ: Oh, thank you very
much.
I appreciate that.MM: Yeah.<p begin="00:01:40.133"
end="00:01:49.666">RJ: But what I'll do is- you know, the drive in, just kind of get my
thoughts together.
That's kind of when I put stuff together.MM:
Listen to Metallica, or something like that?
On the way in.RJ: Sometimes.
It just depends.MM: Really?<p begin="00:01:54.566"
end="00:02:05.466">RJ: Yeah, sometimes.
It just depends on the morning.
But, usually I'll have, you know, a Diet Coke or something.
I've got to get the Diet Coke to me.
So, you know, that's about the biggest ritual, but that's every day.<p begin="00:02:04.433"
end="00:02:06.900">MM: Yeah.
How're you doing?Charlie Hobaugh: Good.<p
begin="00:02:06.133" end="00:02:08.566">MM: It's good to see you, man.
Jim.CH: How're you doing?<p begin="00:02:08.233"
end="00:02:10.833">MM: So, where's your tie?CH:
I only wear it on special occasions, since I don't- I don't usually dress up much.
MM: Yeah?CH:
You've got to save it just for the right time, otherwise it's not special.<p begin="00:02:19.833"
end="00:02:22.300">MM: I see.
You know, that's a good point.CH: Yeah.
See, Richard, he looks the same way every time- every day.<p begin="00:02:24.333"
end="00:02:28.933">MM: You don't wear your game jersey on- when you're practicing in
the mud.MM: He's got a good point there.<p begin="00:02:27.833"
end="00:02:30.100">CH: That's right.CH:
I get dirty.
I roll my sleeves up.
I get ready to swarm, I get ready to go.MM:
That's right.
That's.
right.
Alright.
Well, we don't want to distract you.
Because, what are you doing?
You're going to sign in and stuff?CH: No, you're good.
You're good.
Just- yeah.
Just getting everything set.MM: Alright.<p begin="00:02:40.666"
end="00:02:46.900">Bill Foster: So we are getting set for the asset sim this morning.
Our fourth one with the 133 crew.MM: Okay.
Alright.
And what are you guys going to be doing during this sim?MM:
You're Ground Control.
Here's the thing, right?
It says Ground Control.BF: Yeah.<p begin="00:02:52.833"
end="00:02:55.033">MM: So what does that mean?BF:
Ground Control is responsible for the building itself, making sure that everything is operating
so that the rest of the team can get telemetry into the building, we can get commands up
to the orbiter.BF: Also getting things
coordinating with the network.
In this case a simulated network that's generated by a model over in Building 5 where the other
simulators are.BF: And our job is to make
sure we have telemetry, command, and voice capability with the orbiter.
And whenever that breaks, which we're expecting to happen several times this morning, then
we've got to work with the team-MM: Okay.<p begin="00:03:23.000"
end="00:03:25.533">BF: To restore it as quickly as possible.MM:
Alright, and it's the same thing during the flight on launch day?<p begin="00:03:27.300"
end="00:03:30.433">BF: Same thing during the flight.MM:
Tell us your name, and what are you doing?Mark
Mcdonald: I am Mark Mcdonald.
My name is Mark Mcdonald, asset flight out.
This is our trajectory officer, Jenny Gruber.Jenny
Gruber: Thanks.
MM: Did you go to Boston?
You went to Boston University?JG: I did.<p begin="00:03:41.166"
end="00:03:45.133">MM: That's pretty cool.
Because most people go to Texas, Texas A&M around here.JG:
There's a lot of those, yeah.MM: Yeah.<p begin="00:03:45.566"
end="00:03:48.400">Mark Mcdonald: And I went to Colorado.MM:
You went to Colorado?
What did you say?Mark Mcdonald: Along with
our Guidance Officer.MM: Really?
You went to Colorado, too?Guidence Officer: It's
the Buff Trench.MM: So this is like the
none-JG: Hey.
I grew up in Nebraska.
No.Mark Mcdonald: We are-<p begin="00:03:58.666"
end="00:04:02.600">MM: Wait a minute, I want to know what he talked about.
The Buff Trench?
What does that mean?JG: Yeah.
Buffaloes.MM: Oh, I see.
But you grew up in-JG: There's a bit of a
Nebraska Colorado rivalry in football.MM:
Is there?
See, I'm from New York.
I have no idea.
We just have fights between families.
Alright, so what do we got going here?
What are you doing right now?
What's going to be your job this morning?Mark
Mcdonald: What we typically do, both pre-launch, and pre-simulation is we get the- the targets,
the guidance targets ready for launch based on the station state records.<p begin="00:04:25.466"
end="00:04:32.366">Mark Mcdonald: So, that's- And that's called the IY's.
So, that's where the Shuttle is going to steer to.MM:
Okay.
So, by target you mean, like where you want to put the Space Shuttle so that it can hit
the Space Station.Mark Mcdonald: Correct.
Correct.
So, we're sending it up to rendezvous on Flight Day Three.MM:
Okay.
But you already know that, right?
I mean you figured this out for years right?
I mean for a long time, I mean you know where the Station's going to be.<p begin="00:04:48.233"
end="00:04:50.766">Mark Mcdonald: Right, but it's-MM:
But is there something that might be a little bit- you've got to- it might be different
today, or is it going to be different than what you think?<p begin="00:04:51.933"
end="00:04:59.966">Mark Mcdonald: Right.
It's altitude will vary flight to flight.
And our Topo Officers keep track of that very closely.
They have to.MM: Topo, what's that stand for?
That's-?JG: Trajectory Operations Officers.<p begin="00:05:02.033"
end="00:05:05.100">Mark Mcdonald: Thank you.
Trajectory Operations Officer.
MM: Thank you.
I'm glad you're here.Mark Mcdonald: That's the
trajectory person on the station sites.JG:
I'm a Fido lacky, basically.
I provide things like that, and coffee, and-Mark
Mcdonald: And of course they're having to maintain a trajectory and coordination with
the Russians and other partners to make sure that all the visiting vehicles are going to
be able to rendezvous given their performance capabilities.MM:
In relation to the- what's that?
Is that your mom?Mark Mcdonald: What's that?
That's a ring back host.
Mom, I'm right in the middle of something.MM:
Alright, tell them you're busy.
Who is it?
Alright, so, you really need to pick that up?
Who is that?
You sure?Mark Mcdonald: No, I don't need to pick that up.
The Topo, our Trajectory Operations Officers.MM:
Maybe it's the guy telling you that the Space Station is in the wrong orbit.<p begin="00:05:40.233"
end="00:05:44.600">MM: Alright, so we've got Bryan Lunney here.<p begin="00:05:43.066"
end="00:05:45.566">Brian Lunney: Good morning.MM:
You're a Flight Director.BL: Yes, sir.<p begin="00:05:47.100"
end="00:05:50.033">MM: Good morning, Brian.
Thanks for that.
I mean you're very busy, but we appreciate your taking a break here.<p begin="00:05:48.900"
end="00:05:53.400">BL: Glad to be here.MM:
And you're a Flight Director.
You've done, Shuttle Station.
You're also an asset- Is that right?BL:
Yes.MM: If you can tell us, what's going on back here?<p
begin="00:05:59.300" end="00:06:11.100">BL: So for each front room person, there's usually
a couple of back room people helping them out.
The back room position is usually a smaller piece of the front room position so that that
individual can come in from college, or whatever, a newer guy, and learn that smaller piece.<p
begin="00:06:09.733" end="00:06:15.266">BL: Learn the other smaller piece, then move out
to the front room.
Right here we have the flight dynamics.MM:
The front room being that room?BL: Yes, sir.
Out there, Mission Control.MM: Alright, alright, alright.<p
begin="00:06:19.600" end="00:06:23.800">BL: In the back rooms we have the Flight Dynamics
MiPSer.
Multi-purpose support room we call them.MM:
Okay.BL: And these folks are supporting the flight
dynamics and the guidance and procedures officer.
Here we have our navigation folks.BL: Helping us figuring
out where we're at, which is an important function we think, right?<p begin="00:06:31.966"
end="00:06:37.600">BL: So these guys help us determine where we're at, so that we know
where we need to go.MM: That's good.<p
begin="00:06:37.000" end="00:06:41.066">BL: Here we have dynamics folks.<p begin="00:06:38.466"
end="00:06:41.766">MM: Okay, they feed into who?
Who do they-BL: FiDO.
Flight Dynamics Officer, and the 2 guys down front.MM:
Okay.
That's so- All these folks back here feed into those two positions in front.<p begin="00:06:47.800"
end="00:06:54.266">BL: Yeah.
Most disciplines, the systems disciplines will have one or two guys in the back room.<p
begin="00:06:53.100" end="00:06:55.466">MM: Okay.BL:
Flight Dynamics has a whole lot more.MM:
Because?BL: Because there's a whole lot more going on
at those consoles and what they're supporting.
And plus it's only for ascent and entry that they do that.MM:
But why is it so important during ascent?
And why is this- state the obvious for me.BL:
It's so dynamic.
You've got your three main engines driving, you've got your two big SRV's driving, and
the vehicle's going, hopefully in the right direction of course.<p begin="00:07:14.533"
end="00:07:22.466">BL: And they're monitoring their performance to be sure that we hit our
MECO targets at the right time.
And if you don't hit your MECO targets, your velocity-MM:
The main engine cut off?
Sorry, go ahead, right.BL: Your Main Engine Cut
Off targets, your velocity, your glide path angle, a couple of other important primers,
to make sure that you're going in the right direction in order to get to Station.
BL: If you don't do that correctly, you may not
even get to orbit.MM: Right.
And what can they- what can they control, because they, you know, when you're inside
the Shuttle, and the thing goes, it's kind of like, "Wow, this things on it's way,
and we can go wherever we want." MM:
But they can actually adjust what's going on while we're sitting there taking our ride?<p
begin="00:07:43.733" end="00:07:48.366">BL: They will ask the pilot to adjust, for example,
a throttle setting.MM: Okay.<p begin="00:07:47.800"
end="00:07:56.600">BL: Change how fast, up from one oh four percent down to sixty-six
percent, for example.
Or whatever they need to do.MM: Right.
Okay.BL: Sometimes you go to max throttles for certain
main engine out cases and contingency abort cases.MM:
Alright.BL: One of the counter intuitive things they'll
ask you to do is throttle back so you can burn longer for a tile targets, which always
makes people confused.MM: Transit.
Going over the ocean if we can make it there.BL:
Yes, yes.
If we lose an engine early we end up going over- aiming for a landing in Europe, they'll
ask them to throttle back so that we can go longer.MM:
Save gas?BL: Yeah.MM:
Sort of, kind of?BL: It helps us.
It helps the MECO targets.
Again, the Main Engine Cut Off targets.BL:
So on this side of the back room-MM: Yes.
What have we got here?BL: We have the system.
One of the systems back room personnel.
And, for example right here we have one of the computer folks.
The data processing system supporting the DPS officer up front.<p begin="00:08:39.833"
end="00:08:45.800">BL: We have the NCO back room, who take care of the communications,
instrumentation on board.MM: Okay.<p begin="00:08:45.333"
end="00:08:51.233">BL: Making sure them SPN and the TTRs and the- And the- Talking to
the MILA ground sites are working well.BL:
Over on the far end you have the MACs, mechanical folks taking care of all the mechanical devices
on board, the vent doors, the landing gear, all those big things like that.<p begin="00:08:59.800"
end="00:09:10.733">BL: And then the electrical folks are kind of in between there.
Eagles supporting Eagle, they take care of the electrical fuel cells and distribution
of electricity throughout the vehicle.BL:
Then the life support guys and the thermal guys support the ECOM.
They take care of, of course, life support.
Make sure the cabin air is good.BL: And the thermal makes
sure we're doing cooling on the vehicle.
Of course the inside the vehicle, you generate a tremendous amount of heat from all the computers
that are turned on.MM: Yes.
Lot of a equipment.BL: So we've got water
loops and freon loops that pull that heat out of the vehicle and dump it out in the
radiators.
And also through the vents.MM: Alright.<p begin="00:09:34.833"
end="00:09:37.500">BL: And then over here-MM:
Flap evaporating system.
Alright.BL: Yes.
I keep using the acronyms.MM: Okay.
Acronyms.
Lots of acronyms.BL: Guidance Navigation
Control.
This is the back room that makes sure they can control the vehicle.
When we get sensors and controls takes both.
So they're sort of the steering wheel, if you will, of the vehicle for the car.<p
begin="00:09:52.466" end="00:10:04.000">BL: And then on the far side you have the propulsion
guys and the booster guys.
The prop guys do the ohms RCS which are the small rocket engines you don't see during
launch, but you do use during entry.BL:
To the left of them is the booster back room that does the main engines that are the big
rocket engines we see at launch.
So again, the same idea.BL: Take your one discipline,
one systems guy out front, break his system up in a couple of small pieces, and then divvy
it up here in the back room for someone to specialize in.<p begin="00:10:18.600"
end="00:10:25.300">BL: So they can learn that discipline, and then train them to help you
out during the flight.MM: Who made the cake?
Did you make the cake?Cathy Bupane: I make the
cakes.MM: What's your name?<p begin="00:10:27.566"
end="00:10:30.133">CB: Cathy Bupane.MM:
Cathy?
What's your last name?CB: Bupane.<p begin="00:10:30.766"
end="00:10:33.266">MM: Bupane.CB: Ah-huh [sic].<p
begin="00:10:32.900" end="00:10:36.766">MM: And you make every one of these cakes?<p
begin="00:10:34.100" end="00:10:37.666">CB: I do indeed.MM:
You do?CB: I do.
Every mission.MM: This is the special
Launch Cake?CB: Yeah.MM:
Which is a carrot cake.CB: Yes.
We've only changed it a couple times.
And they don't like it when we change it.MM:
Okay.
Alright.
So this is one of the reasons you simulate, you have a simulation as well.
This makes sure everybody likes the cake.CB:
Yeah.
It's kind of a sim.
Well, we haven't had a mission in quite a while.MM:
Is that right?
To give you a little practice?CB: So I sim them every
once in a while.MM: Okay.<p begin="00:10:53.800"
end="00:11:00.233">CB: And I discovered I have a thermal issue with my- with my ovens,
so it will have to be fixed before we go to launch.MM:
Is that- that's why we simulate, it's not just to make sure that we know what we're
doing with the Space Shuttles, it's that you get the cake right.<p begin="00:11:05.133"
end="00:11:07.566">CB: That's right.MM:
You can make changes, you can adapt to the- alright, so.CB:
So they can't fly without my cake.MM: Right.
What else do you do here beside the cake though?CB:
I used to be a TAO.MM: Which is what?
What is that?CB: I used to sit down.
The Trajectory Applications Officer.
We manage the server that produces the trajectory during the flight.
But now I work for F-Dock and so I-MM:
What's that?
That's-CB: Well, what does- yeah, this is a new contract.
So I do mostly sustaining work, and contract paperwork.MM:
Okay.
And the cakes.CB: And the cakes.
Oh yeah.
I come to do support for missions.
So I support the three primary phases, so.MM:
And the cakes on the side.
So it's the carrot cake for ascent.CB:
There's a coffee cake for rendezvous, and there's a chocolate cherry cake for landing.<p
begin="00:11:45.666" end="00:11:51.900">G: Let's see, why don't you turn around for run
number three.
Column 818.MM: Alright, so how did it go?<p begin="00:11:53.100"
end="00:12:01.200">Richard Jones: Wow.
That was a- that was probably the oddest RTLS I have ever seen.
I don't know if you guys saw the trajectory up front.
But-MM: We- We were following it.
I don't think we got any film of it, but we can see a little bit of it here.
Can you see it?
What are we seeing here?
That's just the-RJ: That breaks the nominal
part, but the crew had to take manual control of the- to over come the engine out that was
not recognized.
And gosh, it was- it was a rough one.
But successful.MM: But you made it back.<p
begin="00:12:21.133" end="00:12:24.100">RJ: Yeah, from a sim perspective, yes.
Yes.Sarah Macgregor: I am the Asset Entry EECOM for
133.MM: Okay.
Which means what?SM: Which means that I
work launch and landing, and I take care of all the environmental control systems for
the Shuttle.MM: You got- which is?<p begin="00:12:33.733"
end="00:12:36.566">SM: The air they breath, their temperature control.<p begin="00:12:36.066"
end="00:12:37.600">MM: Right.SM: The water they drink.
All the good stuff.MM: Alright.
All that stuff for the crew.
And what happened?
You've had- This is sim day.
MM: Simulation day, morning.
But you can fit a few different runs of simulations into those 4 hours.
So you've had two so far.
How's it going so far?SM: So far it's been pretty
good.MM: Yeah?SM:
We had a cabin leak the first run, and we were able to isolate.<p begin="00:12:58.600"
end="00:13:01.300">MM: Oh.
That was coming out of the cabin?
Were they able to stop it?SM: Yeah.<p begin="00:13:01.500"
end="00:13:02.866">MM: That's good.SM:
Well, it turned out it was an air lock, so thank goodness we were able to stop it.<p
begin="00:13:04.666" end="00:13:08.900">MM: Well, then you can't use the air lock, right?
Or can you?
I guess you can.SM: Well, it depends on
the leak size.MM: All right.<p begin="00:13:09.433"
end="00:13:16.866">SM: If you have enough consumables on board to be able to feed the
leak, then sometimes you can re-open the air lock just to get certain things out, and then
close it back up tight.MM: Okay.
Right.
Okay.
Because you need that for the tunnel to get to the Space Station, don't you?<p begin="00:13:18.566"
end="00:13:21.100">SM: Exactly.
If you dock that could be an issue.MM:
Okay.
So if you have- if this was a real problem you'd be figuring out whether or not you could-<p
begin="00:13:25.533" end="00:13:29.233">SM: If we had enough gas on board to be able to
feed the leak.MM: Yes.
Right.
Okay.SM: Yeah, and get things out.
And we have to go in there anyway and get out the suits.
Because you don't want the suit- The EDA suits to get down to vacuum.<p begin="00:13:33.666"
end="00:13:36.233">MM: Yeah.
No.SM: Because that can decertify them.<p begin="00:13:36.666"
end="00:13:38.066">MM: Right.SM: So we had to go in
there and pull those things out.MM: Okay.<p begin="00:13:39.333"
end="00:13:42.000">SM: And close it all back up.MM:
Alright.
Alright, but you found out where the leak was?SM:
Yeah.MM: Did your sim just stop right then or no?<p
begin="00:13:44.666" end="00:13:48.400">SM: Yeah, we stopped it.
We closed up the air lock completely, made sure that we could completely isolate it.<p
begin="00:13:48.133" end="00:13:50.900">MM: Okay.SM:
And then once we knew that we could close it out, then we re-opened it, got the suits
out, and closed it back up tight.MM: Okay.
You did this after the launch then?
You had them doing this stuff?SM: We had them doing all
this post-MECA.MM: All this?
Post.
Okay.
So that's what you had the crew doing after they- So you had the leak all the way through
the ascent?SM: Well, we picked it up about, I think about
five minutes into the flight.MM: Five minutes.
You had it.
But it wasn't until the crew got out of their seats to close it-<p begin="00:14:08.166"
end="00:14:12.833">SM: Yeah.
There's some valves on the air lock capture that they close, and that'll stop it.<p
begin="00:14:11.233" end="00:14:15.433">MM: Oh, yeah.
Okay.
Good.
Alright.
So.
That was the first story you say.SM: Yeah.<p begin="00:14:15.766"
end="00:14:18.366">MM: What happened on the second?
This second practice run?SM: The second run we didn't
have too much.
It was a RTLS run, and so for us it was just monitoring all the nominal-<p begin="00:14:22.400"
end="00:14:26.166">MM: Return to the launch site.
Come back around.
Okay.SM: Yes.
So we were monitoring all the normal stuff.
We were going through all of our different cooling configurations that we use, going
up hill, and then coming back down.MM:
Right.SM: So we were on the FES going on up hill, which
is the flash evaporator system.MM: Thank you.<p begin="00:14:37.100"
end="00:14:45.766">SM: For a while, and the post-MECA, post engine shut down, then we
go to ammonia.
And we use- we have ammonia cooling to the ground on an RTLS.
So just monitoring all of that.MM: Okay.<p begin="00:14:46.266"
end="00:14:48.533">SM: Nominal stuff.
Making sure everything goes okay.MM: Now, you talked about
breathing air for the crew, and temperature for the crew, but it's temperature for this
equipment too, right?
Because that's really what's- that generates a lot of heat.<p begin="00:14:54.533"
end="00:14:58.133">SM: Oh, right.
Right.MM: I mean, we have a lot of hot air, but it's
also the heat from the equipment, right?MM:
Yeah.SM: From the vehicle, yeah.<p begin="00:15:04.333"
end="00:15:11.300">SM: The first run, actually, we did have some problems with cooling.
The flash evaporator shut down.
So we had to go through and do some restarts on that, and restore cooling.<p begin="00:15:09.700"
end="00:15:15.000">SM: Because if you don't have cooling on the vehicle you have to come
home.MM: That's right.
I mean, you have to have your cooling.SM:
That's very important.MM: Right.
Alright.
So you handle the cooling.
It's not just keeping the crew comfy, but keeping the Space Shuttle- <p begin="00:15:20.800"
end="00:15:23.000">SM: The entire- The entire vehicle.MM:
The Space Shuttle comfy.
You've got your- we saw some of the folks in your back room got to feeding you information
and you're working here with the Flight Director.SM:
Right.
I have two great back rooms.
I have a life support, and a thermal.MM:
Alright.
And they feed you information, so you can help make decisions based on the data here.<p
begin="00:15:34.700" end="00:15:36.300">SM: Exactly.MM:
How do you like doing this stuff?SM: I like it a lot.
It is.
It's great.MM: Is it fun for you?
Did you like coming into work this morning?
Or was it like, "Oh, darn it, I've got to sleep." Or is it fun for you?<p
begin="00:15:42.600" end="00:15:45.033">SM: No.
This has been an exciting day to be able to come and do.MM:
Yeah, come in here and do this?SM: Yeah, it's really great
training.MM: How did you get to do this stuff?
Is it something you wanted to do since you were younger?
Or-SM: I did actually.
I wanted to do it probably since I was in Junior High.
So.MM: Since you were what?<p begin="00:15:54.000"
end="00:15:55.500">SM: Since I was in Junior High, probably.<p begin="00:15:55.000"
end="00:15:56.666">MM: In Junior High.
Okay.SM: Yeah.
So it's been awhile.MM: What?
Did you grow up around here?
Where are you from?SM: I did.
I grew up in Clearlake.
Went to Clearlake High School.MM: Oh, that's where my
kids go now.SM: Oh, really?MM:
Yes.
Maybe there's hope.SM: Maybe.<p begin="00:16:05.766"
end="00:16:07.666">SM: That's a nice school to go to.SM:
I did.
Yeah.
It was great.MM: Okay.
Alright Sarah.
Well, thanks very much for visiting with us.
You got another one coming up here quickly?SM:
Yeah, a couple more.
I think we might have a break though first.SM:
Yeah.MM: Here?MM:
What's going on, their debriefing with the crew right now?<p begin="00:16:19.100"
end="00:16:21.233">SM: Yeah.MM: Alright, do you need
to pay attention to what's going on?SM:
I didn't have any failures, so I'm probably all right.MM:
Alright, you're in good shape, all right.
Thanks Sarah.SM: Thanks.MM:
And you're the booster guy?Rick Henfling: Correct.
And so we're looking at the three engines.
We're looking at data for the external tank.
Data for the solid rocket boosters.MM:
Yeah.
Alright.RH: And data for some of the valves within the
orbiter.MM: Okay.RH:
And some of our data was telling us that the center engine might have failed.<p begin="00:16:41.266"
end="00:16:43.066">MM: Might have failed?RH:
Might have failed.
We couldn't confirm that it was out.MM:
Okay.RH: And so a lot of the discussion just- just
went on about how we could confirm that it was out if we didn't have some- some back
up cues.MM: All right.RH:
And we ended up going on an RTLS, or return to launch site, trajectory.<p begin="00:16:57.333"
end="00:17:03.300">MM: Okay.
And you should have- was that the right thing maybe to do or what?<p begin="00:17:01.500"
end="00:17:04.033">RH: No, it was the right thing to do.
The engine had failed.MM: It did fail?<p
begin="00:17:04.566" end="00:17:11.333">RH: Yeah, it took us about a minute to figure
out that yes, it was out.
And so we had the crew perform the RTLS abort.MM:
Okay.
So it worked out okay?RH: It did.<p begin="00:17:13.900"
end="00:17:15.266">MM: All right.
What was it like for you?
Was it pretty hairy?RH: It was hairy for the
first couple minutes, because you couldn't tell if that engine was running, and the Flight
Director is looking for you to tell him yes or no, and you just don't have any data telling
you- telling you either way.MM: So what made you to
decide that it actually was out?RH: When we got to near-
When we got near SRB separation, the acceleration was about point six Gs.
And normal-MM: When the solid rockets were going to leave.
Alright.RH: Exactly.
Normally it's about point nine Gs.
So.
MM: Okay.RH:
Our inclination was that, yeah, it had failed, and we told the crew to get ready for the
RTLS abort.MM: Okay, so that's what it was.<p begin="00:17:52.900"
end="00:17:56.366">MM: Alright, cool, so.
So how do you like doing this?
Was it fun for you?
Or-RH: Oh, it's a blast.
It's- it's stressful but-MM: Literally.<p begin="00:17:59.233"
end="00:18:00.800">RH: Yeah.MM: Yeah.
It's stressful but it's fun.RH: Exactly.
Yeah.MM: Alright.RH:
They have to make it stressful on us here in the simulations and give us a lot of crazy
failures, because, you know, when that one thing- if one thing does fail on actual launch
day it can be very stressful.MM: Right.
And how long have you been doing this, Rick?RH:
For just over four years.MM: Four years.<p begin="00:18:19.766"
end="00:18:24.566">RH: And this flight, STS-133 will be my first flight as booster.<p
begin="00:18:24.300" end="00:18:25.966">MM: In the front room.<p begin="00:18:25.433"
end="00:18:26.866">RH: In the front room.MM:
So you're pretty excited?RH: Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
It'll be- it'll be a lot of fun.MM: Alright.
Now you said it is a blast.RH: Yes.<p begin="00:18:31.800"
end="00:18:33.466">MM: Alright, man.