It's official. Christmas is over for our house. Today the tree came down, the stockings were lovingly put away, and the boxes (only 6!) are ready to be stuffed in the attic for their long hibernation. The saddest part - the house looks so empty now! It's amazing how big your room gets when all of the green goes away.
*Sigh* So long Christmas ... it was a good year. But Happy New Year all!
I get in my car, with a topic in mind. I'm composing as I drive (granted the stories always sound better in my head) and bam! I walk in the door, get a drink, sit down at the laptop and stare at the screen. Where the story went ... if only I knew. What the topic was ... I wish someone could remind me.
I shed a tear this week for the Christmas I made my family leave at home for the 70+ degree weather out here in Houston. My sister probably loves me for it, but for me ... I'd rather be digging out little brother's car.
I've noticed that there are a lot of references to work here without very many words describing what I mean... So I'm going to give a quick little 101 on Space Station operations.
ISS = International Space Station = vehicle that I work for.
Increment = Length of time that a given Space Station Crew is onboard. Currently we are operating in Increment 14.
Flight = Space Shuttle flight. This one is STS 116/12A.1. STS 116 refers to the shuttle manifest number, while 12A.1 refers to the ISS assembly number.
FCR = Flight Control Room = Mission Control. This is where you will usually see people work on TV. Whenever you see the blue desks with the big screens in the front of the room you are looking at a FCR. There are two of them - the Station FCR and the Shuttle FCR. I will only be seen in the Station FCR. :)
ADCO = Attitude Determination and Control Officer = group that I work with. We are in charge of tracking, steering, and coordinating the vehicle's location in space. It is also our call sign in the FCR.
MPSR = MultiPurpose Support Room = Backroom support. This is where I will spend the first few years of my career. The back room is the "starting place" where people are responsible for knowing their systems very well, but they aren't expected to be as well versed in recognizing and planning for the complete vehicle impacts and situation. They are responsible for their systems whereas front room controllers are responsible for knowing how their system impacts the vehicle as a whole. Subtle difference, but very key in making the transition from one to the other.
HawkI (pronounced Hawk-eye) = Way too many engineering terms mashed together to describe here. Ask me sometime if you are feeling nerdy. This is the backroom call sign for our group. Right now I am training to be a HawkI.
Simming = Training with the simulators. We spend months learning about our systems in training manuals, tests, and written workbooks. Once we have a solid knowledge foundation, we learn to apply it with the simulators. This is our first real taste of what it is like being a flight controller and where you learn things like communication and listening skills. Eventually I will learn to follow 4 conversations at the same time... Right now I'm only good at about 2. (If that.)
OJTing = Training by watching. When there are flights going on, or before I am assigned to my own sims, I will train by watching other people work and asking a lot of questions. This is know as On the Job Training or OJT. Right now with the flight I am OJTing all the time. When there isn't a flight going on, I am spending time each week OJTing with the people who are simming. Confused yet? :)
Somewhat random post, but if you see any other terms here that you don't understand, feel free to post a comment and ask! I'll be more than happy to add to the list!
With the successful launch of the shuttle last night, I will start working the night shift this evening! The first couple nights are 1am - 10am shifts, followed by 7 days of 9pm - 6am.
I'm training during the planning shift to get a good feel for the work we nominally do, which is planning, planning and more planning. If you want to try and get a peek at me, I'll be working in the ISS Front Flight Control room tonight and tomorrow. I'll be sitting in the front with Todd until Tuesday when I move to the back room. I will do my best to keep you all posted, but watch the blogs linked on the right and you'll get a pretty good picture of all that is going on. :)
All systems are currently go for the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on the 3rd mission to the Space Station this year! Launch is scheduled for 8:35 CST. For more information on the flight, go here! I get to work the planning shift this mission, which means I don't see the activities (like EVAs and such) but I'll be learning more about the standard activities we do on console every day. It also means I'll be working overnights, so I'll let everyone know when not to call. :)
