Payload Operations and Integration Center

Also know as Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC) or Payload Operations Center, it is a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) facility that works in conjunction with the Space Station and Space Shuttle Control Centers in Houston, TX. The Payload Operations Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is the headquarters for International Space Station science operations. This Control Center links Earth-bound researchers and developers from around the world with their experiments and astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Here is a list of every day tasks for this center during the life of the International Space Station:

• Integrates research requirements
• Plans science missions
• Ensures the safe execution of science
• Integrats the crew and ground team training and research mission timelines
• Manages use of space station payload resources
• Handles science communications with the crew
• Manages commanding and data transmissions to and from the orbiting research center.

The Operations Center is staffed around the clock by three shifts of flight controllers.

Payload Operations Center

Console Positions

A total of seven flight controllers staff the Payload Operations Center front room. They are:

• Payload Operations Director (POD)
• Operations Controller (OC)
• Payload Rack Officer (PRO)
• Data Manager Coordinator (DMC)
• Payloads Communication Manager (PAYCOM)
• Lead Increment Scientist Representativ (LIS Rep)
• Shuttle Operations Coordinator (SOC)

See also

* Flight controller
* Manned Space Programs
* Space Shuttle program
* International Space Station program

External links

* [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/payload_ops.html NASA's Payload Operations Center page]