My last day as a FDO, on console in the
Mission Control Center
was bittersweet.
My career with NASA was ending on a high note.
I was Lead FDO for the
STS-86 Shuttle mission
and the seventh docking between a Space Shuttle and the Russian
space station Mir.
I had worked every Mir mission to that point, so it was an
appropriate way to exit. :)
The overal mission had gone without a hitch, as the crew and the team
in the MCC had performed their jobs as they had been trained.
On my last day, I had expected the time to pass quickly and quietly,
without much in the way of recognition or fanfare.
But... this isn't what happened. (grin)
At the start of my shift, several of my management and some of the other
FDOs brought in a cake for us to share with the rest of the MCC team.
It was wonderful, with the FDO logo (see it above!) drawn onto the
frosting, with Atomic Fireballs (the FDO console candy of choice!)
as decoration!
I was very pleased and surprised by this, but more was to come.
Flight Director Phil Engelauf made a nice speech on the Flight Director
loop letting everyone know, if they hadn't heard already, that this was
my last flight and, indeed, my last shift!
Phil's comments were recorded for me, and I've made them available at
the bottom of this page in RealAudio format:
During the shift, we executed an OMS (Orbital Maneuvering System) Engine
firing over a ground observing station in Peru known as Jicamarca.
So, I was able to make my last
"Flight, FDO... burn complete, no further trim required"
call on my last day!
After that burn, I expected the last couple of hours to go by slowly
and quietly... kind of "riding into the sunset" mode... ;)
I was wrong...
Commander Jim Wetherbee got my attention when he called down on the
Air-to-Ground loop with a
"Houston, Atlantis... with a question for FDO..."
Needless to say, that got my attention very quickly!
When he followed it up with a
"Is it Roger?"
question, I knew something
else was up!!!
He proceeded to give me a nice "send off" on the Air-to-Ground loop as
well, with some bantering between him and our CAPCOM about the
Texas-Oklahoma State football game and how my "trajectory skills" would
be needed on the "field of friendly strife" (football field!), since
my beloved 'Horns were getting beaten that day.
It is a tradition, also, at the end of a FDO's last flight, to take
one side of the "FDO" sign on top of the console.
In addition to STS-86 being my last flight, it was also the
last flight of my good friend, Matt Abbott, who was going to work
for the Canadian Space Agency.
Here's a picture of Matt and me, after STS-86 landed, with our
halves of the FDO sign from the MCC!
There's 27 years of FDO-related experience between us, with
my 12 and Matt's 15 years.
This picture was taken by our friend, and one of the senior
Flight Directors, Bob Castle.
Thanks, Bob, for this great shot!!!
What a great way to finish a long and enjoyable career as a Space Shuttle
Flight Controller...
 |
I have recorded the comments I received on my last day
and converted them to RealMedia format.
If you do not have RealPlayer V5.0 or G2, go to the
RealMedia web site and download it.
It's free!
|
Once you've done that, you can download and listen to the following:
My last day as a
Return to Roger's Space Exploration Page