The only thing different from a practice simulation, I noticed when I played back a tape of the voice loops, was that everybody’s voices sounded a lot higher pitched. Unlike television dramatizations, nobody in the control center was watching the launch on television. Our data screens kept our attention. Two days later, with our reference books already fully updated and the team refreshed and ready, we counted down again and reached liftoff without any trouble. Disappointment was mixed with more discreet relief that now there was time to get our heads really on straight. A second attempt was made, but the computers froze at the same point. After the previous hectic hours, the pause was actually greeted with relief. There was a synchronization failure between the primary and backup onboard guidance computers. Then, in the final minute of the count, the spacecraft’s computers hiccuped. We could hear the scheduled checks occurring in our headsets, and as the final minutes of the countdown ticked away, we focused our full attention on our displays. The day had been chaotic, as last-minute updates to reference books and procedures were distributed hourly and needed to be inserted into proper pages in the shelf of reference books by each console. We were being prepared at many levels.Įven with an automated test flight of the Dragon crew spacecraft safely under SpaceX’s belt, today’s crewed Dragon flight has its own unique challenges.įor starters, we failed in our first attempt to launch the shuttle on 10 April 1981. But more important was the transmission of a whole ethos, from how to let off steam (demonstrated by a number of failed experiments with Coke cans in the pneumatic tube system), to the dedication required to watch over a crew in space. There were specific tips and “hip-pocket” checklists to be shared. I was a new kid, surrounded by men who in the previous 15 years had won the moon race, operated the first successful space station, and reached across boundaries to link up internationally in orbit with the Soviets. They were eager to tell war stories to the newbies. As the old saying goes, “the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” Between the practice runs and on-console debriefings, we talked among ourselves. How much time the ground and crew had to make a decision in any given crisis had to be determined, and then verified in simulations.īoth flight crews and ground support crews needed training, and then testing in practice sessions scripted by an independent team of creative, diabolically minded simulation supervisors. Then we had to invent methods to detect those emergencies, which sometimes meant dedicated instruments had to be developed and validated. The first step was to imagine as many in-flight emergencies as possible. I was in mission control with the ascent team, looking after the launch.Īside from being a specialist for the shuttle’s auxiliary propulsion system, my experience as a technical writer got me picked as the recording secretary of a special team whose responsibility involved thinking up rapid responses to all credible flight failures. Special preparation is always needed for this kind of first, as I remember well. That was on 12 April 1981 with the space shuttle Columbia. It’s been almost forty years since the last time Americans flew on a completely new spacecraft. But there’s an even longer gap that hasn’t been mentioned, even though it’s probably much more significant for the success of today’s SpaceX launch. Soon, astronauts will fly again from Cape Canaveral. Print run of 1500.Much has been made of the long gap-nine years-since the last human space launch from U.S. Single territory for trade global for academic. Print and/or digital / eBook, including for use in on-line academic databases. Image for Magazines and Journals Book use Image for Website or Social Media Magazines and Journals Web display, social media, apps or blogs. Image for Presentation Website or Social Media Personal presentation use or non-commercial, non-public use within a company or organization only. Not for commercial use, not for public display, not for resale.
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