missioncontrol_russia_000814 "Mission Control" is a phrase and scene familiar to nearly anyone who has watched a shuttle or Apollo mission over the years. Many assume that Mission Control is always "Houston," or NASA's Johnson Space Center.
That's often true but a highly proficient crew at a Russian Mission Control Center outside Moscow has actually had primary responsibility over what should soon be the largest and most ambitious experiment in human spaceflight --
the International Space Station.
The main display wall at TsUP
There is no doubt that the nearly two-year-old International Space Station (ISS), currently orbiting Earth as three connected modules, is a collaborative effort. But the future
habitat owes much of its orbital health to the Russian Mission Control Center (MCC), known also by its Russian acronym TsUP. In the Russian space industry, TsUP is often overshadowed by the nation's main rocket and spacecraft makers --
Khrunichev and RSC Energia. But it is TsUP that has controlled the government's piloted hardware, once aloft, for the past 30 years.Flight engineers and mission planners know this: mission success, post-launch, is contingent really on only two things -- the quality of the hardware and crew up there, and the quality of its control during flight.
Thanks to Buran and H-P
TsUP currently occupies eight control rooms, three of which are directly involved in ISS operations, including a main control room with 27 working stations. Each station can accommodate two flight controllers.
Two other rooms are for the control of the ISS' Zarya module and scientific equipment on various modules. The rooms initially were built for Russia's brief
Buran shuttle operations in the late 1980s."In 1999, the former Buran main control room was totally remodeled and re-equipped for ISS operations," said MCC Director Vladimir Lobachyov.
"Hewlett-Packard computers were installed. This was our only choice because starting in 1993, we had no Russian electronic and computer hardware which could support space operations due to disintegration of the national industrial base for the manufacturing of such hardware."
TsUP is integrated with a world network of mission-control centers, especially those in the United States, France and China.
The benefits of delays
Lately, TsUP is unusually busy -- controlling two huge spacecraft designed for human operations -- Russia's
Mir space station and the ISS. But TsUP Director Lobachyov insists that Mir and ISS operations are separate and do not interfere with each other."ISS control has been made totally independent from Mir," said Lobachyov. "ISS flight controllers do not get involved in Mirs operations."
Total autonomy from the aging Russian outpost is not the only distinguishing feature of the ISS control team.
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Vladimir Solovyov, MCC Flight Director for both Mir and ISS, has recruited "young blood." About 300 controllers are involved with ISS flight operations -- and a similarly sized group is in charge of Mir's flight.
"The two-year delay of the Zvezda (the third ISS module) launch played to our hand in the sense that it gave us time to prepare better for ISS operations, including necessary documentation," said Lobachyov. "ISS controllers also got very good training while working with Mir."
Bursts of work on long shifts
ISS and Mir are supported by four shifts each, with a typical controller working 24 hours straight followed by three days of rest. The work on those daylong shifts comes in 20-minute radio-contact bursts during each 90-minute orbit. Controllers basically can relax during the downtime.
A typical work station at TsUP
The MCC attracts the nation's young men since it is an alternative to the military draft. Also, it gives employees an opportunity to work with cutting-edge technology and prepare for jobs at computer and engineering companies.
Job security is also surprisingly good.
"Financially, TsUP is currently well supported," said Lobachyov. "We are being paid by Rosaviacosmos (the Russian space agency) and RSC Energia. Our employees never experience salary delays. We have no financial problems which could be in the way of us meeting our commitments."
"We anticipate no financial difficulties because we are strongly supported by Rosaviacosmos, which considers us to be its Center."
Back to Houston
Over time, portions of ISS control will be shifted from TsUP to the Johnson Space Center.
"I believe that we will keep controlling the Russian segment," Lobachyov said. "Americans will perform the general coordination of ISS flight. However, the Russians will be in charge of concrete realization of control, particularly when it comes to the control of the Russian segment."
Lobachyov
"If the orbit is corrected by the Russian segment (such as the Zvezda service module), we will do it -- if by the U.S. segment (such as the Interim Control Module that could be launched down the line), the Americans will be in the drivers seat," said Lobachyov.
Cooperation will continue to be crucial.
"Our controllers cannot be replaced by the U.S. specialists because the former have a lot of experience and our U.S. colleagues dont argue with this," Lobachyov said.
Overall, Lobachyov has big plans for the MCC and is optimistic about its future. "We would like to control all Russian civil-space missions, including Earth monitoring and imaging. We want TsUP to become a Rosaviacosmos' central organization."
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