(or: It doesn't take a rocket scientist...)

Federal Judges Dolores K. Sloviter,
Ronald L. Buckwalter and Stewart Dalzell,
striking down portions of the CDA on 6-12-96

Between September 1991 and October 1995, I worked as a flight controller in Mission Control for 11 launches. My position was called "Targeting" (that's my position nameplate below, rescued from the old MCC before they tore it down in 1996), and I was responsible for expert support to the Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO) during shuttle ascents. I wrote up an account of what it was like to sit on console for one of those launches (STS-63 in Feb. 1995): the first shuttle flyby of the Russian Space Station Mir. This page was the recipient of a "sunglasses" from Yahoo!
Since October 1995, I have been working at the second coolest job in the world: I train astronauts how to operate the space shuttle. The coolest job, of course, is being an astronaut. My role in training is teaching astronauts, flight controllers, and other instructors about the various shuttle systems; thus, I'm called the Systems instructor. More specifically, I train the shuttle's Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS), Electrical Power Systems (EPS), Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)/ Hydraulic systems, Mechanical (Payload Bay Doors and Landing Gear) Systems, and Caution & Warning System. In the 4 years I've been working here, I have been fortunate enough to have been associated with four great crews:
STS-80 in orbit Nov. 8 through Dec. 7, 1996: The crew: Ken Cockrell, Kent Rominger, Tammy Jernigan, Tom Jones, and Story Musgrave	STS-87 in orbit Nov. 19 through Dec. 5, 1997: The crew: Kevin Kregel, Steve Lindsey, Winston Scott, Kalpana Chawla, Takao Doi, and Leonid Kadenyuk	STS-91 in orbit June 2 through June 12, 1998: The crew: Charlie Precourt, Dom Gorie, Wendy Lawrence, Janet Kavandi, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Valery Ryumin, and Andy Thomas (down from Mir only)	STS-101 in orbit May 19 through 29, 2000: The crew: Jim Halsell, Scott Horowitz, Jeff Williams, Mary Ellen Weber, Susan Helms, Jim Voss, Yuri Usachev
Mission Info from KSC Payload info: Wake Shield 3 ORFEUS II Additional info: The Utterly Unofficial STS-80 Home Page KSC STS-80 Image Directory STS-80 Movies STS-80 News Releases NASA Spacelink STS-80 Directory	Mission Info from KSC Payload info: Spartan 201-04 Additional info: The Utterly Unofficial STS-87 Home Page STS-87 Image Directory (KSC) STS-87 Movies (KSC) STS-87 News Releases (KSC) NASA Spacelink STS-87 Directory	Mission Info from KSC, and JSC's Shuttle Web Payload info: Space Station Mir Additional info: STS-91 JSC Image Directory STS-91 Image Directory (KSC) STS-91 Movies (KSC) STS-91 News Releases (KSC) NASA Spacelink STS-91 Directory	Mission Info from KSC Payload info: ISS logistics 2A.2 Additional info: TBD NASA Spacelink STS-101 Directory
Go to my regular page: The Official Michael R. Grabois Home Page

Also please take a look at the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list for the sci.space.shuttle newsgroup.