Still a Booster
For the rest of my life I will remember my days at NASA very fondly. I loved that job and the people that I worked with, and for a rookie aerospace engineer fresh out of college, it was a dream job. For those of you that I have not spoken over the years that may have found me via my blog, I probably should explain.
I worked in the Booster Systems Group when I was at NASA. Booster is one of the many console positions that you see in the Mission Control Center or MCC during a Space Shuttle Mission. The role of the three person Booster team is to monitor the external tank, solid rocket boosters, three Space Shuttle main engines and the cryogenic systems that get liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen from the external tank to the main engines during a launch. Pretty cool stuff. I flew six launches on the Main Propulsion System (MPS) console (tank, boosters, cryo) supporting that team. (hence Booster MPS) The team lead was the Booster Officer that sat in the main room you would see on TV. I sat in another room with the Main Engine Officer and we would communicate over the voice loops with the Booster up front.
One of the coolest accomplishments that I remember from working there during that time is that we were transitioning from the old control center to the new one. What that means is that we were leaving the MCC that you might remember historically from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions to a modern facility with high powered unix workstations and all the bells and whistles of a high-tech control room. The old MCC has a ton of nostalgia and history mostly because of the ugly green consoles with the flashing lights and push button panels that clicked when you press them. When people come to visit NASA, the old MCC is one of the things that everybody wants to see because it is the image of men sitting at these consoles that comes to mind when you think of the lunar missions. I was fortunate to fly the very last mission (STS-76) from the old control center before it was closed and the very first (STS-77) mission from the new MCC.
Well, this morning I got this email from my old boss Ken from the Booster Group.
Folks,
On my annual trip to the Oregon Coast, my family and I stopped by the Evergreen Aviation Air Museum. This year the museum has added a new building just for space related hardware. As I was enjoying the new exhibits, I noticed an old MCC console. The console had been stripped of everything! Well almost everything. The only piece of paper remaining under the glass was the Booster Phone Card!
Enjoy - you are now part of aviation history at the air museum.
Ken
So there you have it. That is the console where I sat during missions now on display in a museum. Funny thing is that I remember after they started to take all of the consoles apart and remove most of the lights and command panels, the MPS console where I sat still had some of our paper notes and cheat sheets on it. I never thought anything of it....
I worked in the Booster Systems Group when I was at NASA. Booster is one of the many console positions that you see in the Mission Control Center or MCC during a Space Shuttle Mission. The role of the three person Booster team is to monitor the external tank, solid rocket boosters, three Space Shuttle main engines and the cryogenic systems that get liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen from the external tank to the main engines during a launch. Pretty cool stuff. I flew six launches on the Main Propulsion System (MPS) console (tank, boosters, cryo) supporting that team. (hence Booster MPS) The team lead was the Booster Officer that sat in the main room you would see on TV. I sat in another room with the Main Engine Officer and we would communicate over the voice loops with the Booster up front.
One of the coolest accomplishments that I remember from working there during that time is that we were transitioning from the old control center to the new one. What that means is that we were leaving the MCC that you might remember historically from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions to a modern facility with high powered unix workstations and all the bells and whistles of a high-tech control room. The old MCC has a ton of nostalgia and history mostly because of the ugly green consoles with the flashing lights and push button panels that clicked when you press them. When people come to visit NASA, the old MCC is one of the things that everybody wants to see because it is the image of men sitting at these consoles that comes to mind when you think of the lunar missions. I was fortunate to fly the very last mission (STS-76) from the old control center before it was closed and the very first (STS-77) mission from the new MCC.
Well, this morning I got this email from my old boss Ken from the Booster Group.
Folks,
On my annual trip to the Oregon Coast, my family and I stopped by the Evergreen Aviation Air Museum. This year the museum has added a new building just for space related hardware. As I was enjoying the new exhibits, I noticed an old MCC console. The console had been stripped of everything! Well almost everything. The only piece of paper remaining under the glass was the Booster Phone Card!
Enjoy - you are now part of aviation history at the air museum.
Ken
So there you have it. That is the console where I sat during missions now on display in a museum. Funny thing is that I remember after they started to take all of the consoles apart and remove most of the lights and command panels, the MPS console where I sat still had some of our paper notes and cheat sheets on it. I never thought anything of it....
posted by Booster MPS at
8:35 AM
4 Comments:
That's awesome. You're historical!
Agreed, that's frigging awesome x 10.
-Pete (I can't sign in to blogger form work)
You are immortal (beware of men with swords).
Sooooooooo cool.
hugs!!
When I worked on my tiny portion of the space shuttle program it was such a sense of pride...even though it was a minor portion, and as a subcontractor.
Always a Booster.
xoxxxoxo
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