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Random Ramjet Ramblings

Various thoughts and musings that tumble from my brain onto Ye Olde Interwebbes.
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50 Years

50 Years

The Artemis I mission occurred 50 years after Apollo 17. What will it take to not have this happen again?

Becoming Santa

Becoming Santa

Santa Claus. Father Christmas. Kris Kringle. St. Nicholas. Papa Noel. Me.

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-THE TRENCH-
FLIGHT DYNAMICS OFFICER
MISSION CONTROL
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-THE TRENCH-

The space exploration advocacy website of Roger Balettie, former Flight Dynamics Officer in NASA’s Space Shuttle Mission Control Center.

Select a menu tab to the left for detailed links or one of the main sections below:

FLIGHT DYNAMICS OFFICER

The Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO, pronounced “fido”) is a Flight Controller in the Mission Control Center responsible for the overall trajectory, or flight path, of the Space Shuttle and all related payloads or other space-bound vehicles associated with the Shuttle.

Read about the:

MISSION CONTROL

"Houston… Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

Since 1965, the Mission Control Center (MCC) has been the nerve center for America’s manned space program.

-THE TRENCH- blog

Space- and NASA-based blog entries.

Last 3 blog posts:
50 Years

50 Years

The Artemis I mission occurred 50 years after Apollo 17. What will it take to not have this happen again?

Countdown

Countdown

It’s been 40 years since the launch of STS-1, and the excitement of that day never faded.

entry FDO

The Entry Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO) is the Shuttle pilot counterpart in the Mission Control Center.

Many long hours of simulation in the MCC and certification in the Shuttle simulators, including many simulated entries and landings, gives the Entry FDO a keen awareness of what the Shuttle CDR and PLT are doing throughout both nominal and off-nominal entries and landings.

Entry operations begin long before the actual landing day. Deorbit Opportunities are generated throughout the mission, with orbit adjust maneuvers sometimes planned in conjunction with the Orbit FDO teams in order to shape the trajectory to define landing times and groundtracks that are within Flight Rule limits.


Deorbit Opportunities displayOn the day prior to landing, the Entry FDO officially takes over from the corresponding (usually Orbit 1) FDO and plans any final deorbit and entry trajectory items. Detailed weather forecasts as well as preliminary crew communications about the actual landing data are reviewed.

On landing day, the Entry FDO and the entire entry MCC team come onto console 5-6 hours before the deorbit burn time. After another final review of the landing weather forecasts, the official deorbit burn targets are generated and uplinked to the Orbiter.

Once the Payload Bay Doors are closed and the Orbiter is positioned in the proper tail-first attitude, the two Orbital Maneuvering System (OMS) engines are fired in a precise, closed-loop guidance burn that results in a re-entrant trajectory that takes the Shuttle from 17,500 MPH to wheels-stopped in approximately one hour!


Entry Groundtrack displayThe Entry FDO monitors the trajectory of the Orbiter against the ground predictions all the way down. Several detailed calls at precise times are made from the Entry FDO to the crew (via CAPCOM, of course!) to let the crew know the status of their entry profile.

If anything off-nominal were to have happened (and this occurred ALL THE TIME in simulations!), the Entry FDO could recommend actions for the crew to take, up to and including a Ground Controlled Approach (GCA), where the Entry FDO would essentially “fly the Orbiter” via trajectory headings from the MCC to get the crew within sight of the landing runway.

Orbit FDOs, as part of their extended training, would be certified as Entry Trajectory (TRAJ) Officers, so that they would have basic knowledge and capability to provide support during an off-nominal, unplanned, or emergency deorbit scenario. While this never happened during any actual missions, it always made for fun simulations for those of us on console! 🙂

Make sure to view the rest of the Entry FDO displays!

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