Space Consoles Rooms and their Roles in Space Exploration

Talks about space bring to us thoughts about faraway planets, spaceships, galaxies, aliens, UFO’s, astronauts and the moon. But did you know that those men who work below are just as important as the men who landed in the moon? In 1969, the very first man Neil Armstrong landed in the moon and changed history’s mankind forever. It’s an event that will forever be recorded and remembered by many people and will be taught for many generations. But while they are celebrated, men like flight controllers in what we call “Mission Control Centers” are forgotten. They aid in the success of missions or flights, and thus play a very critical role.

• Flight controllers play an important role in space explorations. The success of the mission lies in the support that they provide, especially ensuring that the astronauts are safe. Their main role is to aid the astronauts in the mission while ensuring the safety of their lives.

• Flight controllers are experts in their fields and are quick to detect any anomalies in the system. In case something goes wrong, they can advise the astronauts to “abort the mission”. Some few examples that saved lives of the crew and the shuttle are: Steve Bales helped determine that it was safe to land on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission to go to moon. Controller John Aaron was quick to decide that switching to back up power was best for Saturn V when it was hit by a lightning during the launch of Apollo 12. Jenny Howard, a Booster officer detected the anomalous readings on the second engine during the launch of mission shuttle STS-51-F. This saved the lives of the crew and the shuttle.

• Flight controllers preempt failure of a mission by monitoring any indications of future possible catastrophic failures. The Space Shuttle Flight control team based at Houston’s Johnson Space center works 24 hours a day for a whole year to foresee any possible loopholes in the space exploration.

• There are many roles inside the space control rooms or mission control centers and each of them are very crucial in space explorations. For example an Organizations and Procedures officer helped establish rules for the astronauts on how to conduct the flight and some techniques for them to successfully complete their mission. Instrumentation and Communications Officer for example helped ensure that communication between the shuttle and the ground controllers are open and working. Without their guidance, the mission will not end successfully and the crew may even encounter some mishaps while in the space.

Space exploration made it possible for us to know the existence of different constellation, galaxies and all other planets. In the future, space exploration can bring many discoveries that were not thought to be possible years ago very much possible. But without the help of those people working behind every space console in Mission control centers, these expeditions will not be possible. We enjoy these human triumphs because of their dedication in the jobs that they do.