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Mission Control Center

 
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A Mission Control Center (MCC) is an entity that manages aerospace
Aerospace engineering

Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering behind the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. Aerospace engineering has broken into two major and overlapping branches: Aeronautics engineering and Astronautics engineering....
 vehicle flights. The MCC is often part of a national aerospace agency or a large aerospace company. There are several such national agencies in the world, the three biggest ones being:



The main task of an MCC is to manage space missions, usually from the point of liftoff until the landing or the end of the mission.






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A Mission Control Center (MCC) is an entity that manages aerospace
Aerospace engineering

Aerospace engineering is the branch of engineering behind the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. Aerospace engineering has broken into two major and overlapping branches: Aeronautics engineering and Astronautics engineering....
 vehicle flights. The MCC is often part of a national aerospace agency or a large aerospace company. There are several such national agencies in the world, the three biggest ones being:

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
    NASA

    The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the Federal government of the United States, responsible for the nation's public list of space agencies....
     (NASA)
  • Russian Federal Space Agency
    Russian Federal Space Agency

    The Russian Federal Space Agency , RKA, or RSA, formerly the Russian Aviation and Space Agency , is the government agency responsible for Russia's space science programme and general aerospace research....
     (FKA)
  • European Space Agency
    European Space Agency

    The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmentalism organisation dedicated to the Space exploration, currently with 18 member states....
     (ESA)


The main task of an MCC is to manage space missions, usually from the point of liftoff until the landing or the end of the mission. A staff of flight controllers
Flight controller

Flight controllers are personnel who aid in the operations of a space flight, working in Mission Control Centers such as NASA's Mission Control Center, or ESA's European Space Operations Centre....
 and other support personnel monitor all aspects of the mission using telemetry
Telemetry

Telemetry is a technology that allows the remote measurement and reporting of information of interest to the system designer or operator. The word is derived from Greek language roots tele = remote, and metron = measure....
, and send commands to the vehicle using ground stations. Personnel supporting the mission from an MCC can include representatives of the attitude control system
Attitude control system

In spaceflight, the attitude control system or attitude determination and control system of a spacecraft consists of equipment to measure, report and change the orientation of the vehicle....
, power
Electric power

Electric power is defined as the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt .When electric current flows in a circuit, it can transfer energy to do mechanical work or work ....
, propulsion
Spacecraft propulsion

Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to accelerate spacecraft and artificial satellites. There are many different methods. Each method has drawbacks and advantages, and spacecraft propulsion is an active area of research....
, thermal, attitude dynamics
Attitude dynamics and control

The attitude of a vehicle is its orientation with respect to a defined frame of reference.Attitude dynamics is the modeling of the changing position and orientation of a vehicle, due to external forces acting on the body....
, orbital operations and other subsystem disciplines. The training for these missions usually falls under the responsibility of the flight controllers, typically including extensive rehearsals in the MCC.

NASA's Mission Control Center

NASA's Mission Control Center (MCC-H), at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight activities. The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on located in southeast Houston, Texas....
, in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city within the state of Texas. As of the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, the city has a population of 2.2 million within an area of 600 square miles ....
 manages all manned spaceflight of NASA, including the U.S. portions of the International Space Station
International Space Station

The International Space Station is a research facility Assembly of the International Space Station in outer space. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998, and is scheduled to be complete by 2011, with operations continuing until around 2015....
 (ISS) and the space shuttle
Space Shuttle

NASA's Space Shuttle, officially called the Space Transportation System , is the spacecraft currently used by the United States government for its human spaceflight missions....
.

FKA's Mission Control Center

The Mission Control Center of the Russian Federal Space Agency
Russian Federal Space Agency

The Russian Federal Space Agency , RKA, or RSA, formerly the Russian Aviation and Space Agency , is the government agency responsible for Russia's space science programme and general aerospace research....
 , also known by its acronym ??? ("TsUP") is located in Korolyov
Korolyov (city)

Korolyov or Korolev is an industrial types of settlements in Russia in Moscow Oblast, Russia, well-known as the cradle of Soviet and Russian space exploration....
, near the RKK Energia plant. It contains an active control room for the ISS, and a memorial control room for the Mir
Mir

Mir was a Soviet Union orbital station. Mir was the world's first consistently inhabited long-term research station in space, and the first 'third generation' type space station, constructed over a number of years with a Space station#Modular....
. In the latter the last few orbits of Mir before it burned up in the atmosphere are shown on screen.

Other Important Mission Control Centers

  • Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center
    Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center

    Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center ?????????? is a command center for the Chinese space program which includes the Shenzhou missions....
     (BACCC) manages the Shenzou missions.
  • Mobile Servicing System
    Mobile Servicing System

    The Mobile Servicing System , better known by its primary component Canadarm2, is a robotic system and associated equipment on the International Space Station....
     Control and Training at Saint-Hubert, Quebec
    Saint-Hubert, Quebec

    Saint-Hubert is a Boroughs of Longueuil in the city of Longueuil, Quebec, located in the Mont?r?gie of Quebec, Canada. It had been a separate city prior to January 1, 2002, when it along with several other neighbouring South Shore municipalities were Municipal reorganization in Quebec into Longueuil....
    , Canada. Supports Canadarm2 robotics operations.
  • The Columbus Control Center
    Columbus Control Center

    The Columbus Control Centre is the Mission Control Center which is used to control the ESA Columbus research laboratory, which is part of the International Space Station ....
     (Col-CC) at the German Aerospace Center
    German Aerospace Center

    The German Aerospace Center is the national centre for aerospace, energy and transportation research of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has multiple locations throughout Germany....
     (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen
    Oberpfaffenhofen

    Oberpfaffenhofen is a village which is part of the municipality of We?ling in the Starnberg , Bavaria, Germany. It is 20 kilometers from the city center of Munich....
    , Germany. It is the mission control center for the European Columbus
    Columbus (ISS module)

    Columbus is a science laboratory that is part of the International Space Station and is the largest single contribution to the ISS made by the European Space Agency ....
     research laboratory at the International Space Station
    International Space Station

    The International Space Station is a research facility Assembly of the International Space Station in outer space. On-orbit construction of the station began in 1998, and is scheduled to be complete by 2011, with operations continuing until around 2015....
    .
  • The ATV Control Center (ATV-CC) is located at the Toulouse Space Centre (CST) in Toulouse
    Toulouse

    Toulouse is a commune of France in southwest France on the banks of the Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea....
    , France. It will be the mission control center for the European Automated Transfer Vehicle
    Automated Transfer Vehicle

    The Automated Transfer Vehicle or ATV is an expendable, unmanned resupply spacecraft developed by the European Space Agency . ATVs are designed to supply the International Space Station with propellant, water, air, payload and experiments....
    s, that will regularly resupply ISS.
  • JEM Control Center and the HTV Control Center at the Tsukuba Space Center (TKSC) in Tsukuba, Japan manages operations aboard JAXA's Kibo
    Japanese Experiment Module

    The Japanese Experiment Module is a Japanese science module for the International Space Station developed by JAXA. Once complete, it will be the largest single ISS module....
     ISS research laboratory and the resupply flights of the H-II Transfer Vehicle
    H-II Transfer Vehicle

    The H-II Transfer Vehicle, or HTV, is a robotic spacecraft intended to resupply the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module on the International Space Station , and the rest of the station, if need be....
    . JAXAs satellite operations are also based here.
  • The Jet Propulsion Laboratory
    Jet Propulsion Laboratory

    Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a List of federally funded research and development centers and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, California, United States....
     (JPL), manages all of NASAs unmanned spacecraft.
  • European Space Operations Centre
    European Space Operations Centre

    The European Space Operations Centre is responsible for controlling European Space Agency satellites and space probes. The centre is located in Darmstadt, Germany....
     (ESOC) responsible for ESAs satellites and space probes.
  • Boeing
    Boeing

    The Boeing Company is a major aerospace and defense corporation, originally founded by William Edward Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997....
     Satellite Development Center (SDC) Mission Control Center in El Segundo, California, USA.
  • Lockheed Martin
    Lockheed Martin

    Lockheed Martin is a large Multinational corporation aerospace manufacturer and advanced technology company formed in 1995 by the Horizontal integration of Lockheed with Martin Marietta....
     A2100
    A2100

    The A2100 is a communications satellite spacecraft made by Lockheed Martin Space Systems for telecommunications in geosynchronous orbit.The Lockheed Martin A2100 geosynchronous spacecraft series is designed for a variety of telecommunications needs including Ka-band broadband and broadcast services, fixed satellite services in C-band and Ku...
     Space Operations Center (ASOC) in Newtown, Pennsylvania, USA.
  • Space Systems/Loral
    Space Systems/Loral

    Space Systems/Loral , of Palo Alto, California, is the wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications. It was acquired in 1990 for $715 million by Loral Corp....
     Mission Control Center in Palo Alto, California, USA.
  • Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre
    Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre

    The Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre is the main Russian military and commercial satellite control centre, responsible also for control of Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles....
    , Mission control center in Krasnoznamensk
    Krasnoznamensk

    Krasnoznamensk is a Closed town Types of inhabited localities in Russia in Moscow Oblast, Russia, known until 1994 as Golitsyno-2. It was granted town status in 1981 and its population in 2007 was 100,500....
    , Russia.


See Also

  • Control center solutions
    Control center solutions

    Control Center Solution is a generic term for different flavors of technical arrangement within command & control facilities. They represent more or less integrated installations that are used to manage resources in order to achieve results in complex environments....
  • Flight controller
    Flight controller

    Flight controllers are personnel who aid in the operations of a space flight, working in Mission Control Centers such as NASA's Mission Control Center, or ESA's European Space Operations Centre....