The Flight Dynamics Officer (FDO, pronounced "fido") is responsible for the overall trajectory, or flight path, of the Space Shuttle and all related payloads or other space-bound vehicles associated with the Shuttle.

The FDO is a Mission Control Center (MCC) Flight Control position at NASA's Johnson Space Center. There, along with other talented and dedicated individuals, the FDO ensures that the "big picture" mission objectives are obtained.

I maintain a list of the Active FDOs, the Former FDOs, and the FDO "Hall of Fame"

On the following pages are the contents of a presentation that is given by the Flight Dynamics Officers whenever the question "What is a FDO?" is asked. There is quite a bit of detail in this pitch, and I have purposely left it in its original wording. If you have any questions about anything presented here, feel free to contact me.

Orbit/Rendezvous FDO Overview

• Orbit FDO Responsibilities
  • State vector maintenance
  • Translational maneuver targeting
  • U.S. Space Command interface
  • Deorbit opportunities
  • Other external interfaces
• Control Center Operations
  • FDO Certification Levels.
  • TRAJ and MPSR Support Positions.
  • Overview of FDO computational processors
• Role of the Lead FDO
• Spacecraft Deployments
• The Rendezvous FDO

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