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Sitting Console: A Typical Day in the Flight Director’s Seat

Ahhh, sitting console. The wind in your hair. The smell of the sea.

Well, that is something else but it is hard to describe the feeling that captures the intangible sentiment of “being on console”.

Sitting console, as we say, technically means sitting in front of our workstations monitoring the systems of the ISS. This may sound pretty boring but it is actually very exciting. Today we have a lot of live video from the crew so I am watching them as they go about their tasks. Even though it is Saturday, actually a day off for the crew, Suni is voluntarily working on a payload experiment while Fyodor is talking on the internet phone to a friend or family member. At the same time, the ground control team is planning the very difficult task of a space walk or extravehicular activity (EVA) this coming week.

Even on a slow day like today the flight director is pretty busy. Sometimes you are talking to the Russian flight control team coordinating some operation coming up later today or for the upcoming EVA. Someone has realized that the configuration to downlink live video of the crew preparing for the EVA is not right and we need to plan it correctly. Even a simple task like this can get complicated. It will take about 20 minutes for a crew member to set up the cables of the video camera. But the crew’s schedule is already very full. So we have to decide what can be moved around, a task made difficult by the fact almost everything is required to support the EVA. Perhaps we can move an activity from one of the cosmonauts onto Suni’s schedule. But then we have to move one of her tasks. And any schedule change requires a lot of coordination with the Russian flight director.

At the same time, the flight control team is looking ahead to make sure the power and thermal systems are ready for the EVA. During the EVA, the cosmonauts will need to release some atmosphere from the airlock. While only a small amount, this release will act like a small rocket thruster trying to push the ISS out of its proper configuration. Therefore, instead of using the normal control moment gyroscopes to orient the station, the Russian system thrusters will be used. But since the thrusters release gas that can contaminate the delicate U.S. solar arrays, or jerk them in a way to potentially cause structural damage, they need to be positioned in a safe configuration. Thus they are pointed away from the thrusters and locked so they cannot be jerked too much. But when the arrays are not automatically tracking the sun, they produce less power. This in turn means we have to power some systems off. So the team is calculating how much power will be generated and what can be powered off, making sure that critical systems like life support or communication are not impacted.

Every now and then the crew calls down with a question. Suni needs to find some equipment for the payload; can we help her find where it is? Fyodor calls noting that the internet phone does not appear to be working and could we please reboot the computers on the ground. And of course, at any time, a serious problem could occur so we always have to be ready for the unexpected.

While sitting console can at times be tedious -- especially if you are working the middle of the night and not much is going on -- I have missed it. As increment lead, I spend most of my time in meetings planning upcoming activities. Therefore, I don’t work the console much these days; only when someone is not available since I am supposed to focus on the whole increment. But I miss it. It is like a breath of fresh air to return to the flight director’s seat.

- Bob Dempsey, Expedition 15 Lead Flight Director