The Launch Control Center (LCC) is a four-story building located at NASA

NASA

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

's Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center

The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...

 on Merritt Island, Florida

Merritt Island, Florida

Merritt Island is a census-designated place in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located on the east coast of the state on the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2000 census, the population was 36,090. It is part of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 used for the supervision of launches from Launch Complex 39

Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39

Launch Complex 39 is a rocket launch site at the John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida, USA. The site and its collection of facilities were originally built for the Apollo program, and later modified to support Space Shuttle operations. NASA began modifying LC-39 in 2007 to...

. In practice, this means that the LCC handles all American manned space flights. Attached to the southeast corner of the Vehicle Assembly Building

Vehicle Assembly Building

The Vehicle Assembly Building, or VAB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center was used to assemble and house American manned launch vehicles from 1968-2011. It is the fourth largest building in the world by volume...

, the LCC contains offices; telemetry, tracking and instrumentation equipment; the automated Launch Processing System

Launch Processing System

The Launch Processing System is an automated, computer-controlled system at the Kennedy Space Center which oversees and coordinates the processing and checkout of systems and components for the Space Shuttle launch vehicle and its payloads...

; and four firing rooms.

Launches have been conducted from the LCC since the unmanned Apollo 4

Apollo 4

Apollo 4, , was the first unmanned test flight of the Saturn V launch vehicle, which was ultimately used by the Apollo program to send the first men to the Moon...

 (Apollo-Saturn 501) launch on November 9, 1967; its first manned launch was Apollo 8

Apollo 8

Apollo 8, the second manned mission in the American Apollo space program, was the first human spaceflight to leave Earth orbit; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crewed voyage to return to Earth from another celestial...

 on December 21, 1968.

Firing room

Launch operations are supervised and controlled from the firing room. Responsibility for the booster and spacecraft remains with the LCC until the booster has cleared the launch tower, when responsibility is handed over to the Mission Control Center

Mission Control Center

A mission control center is an entity that manages aerospace vehicle flights, usually from the point of lift-off until the landing or the end of the mission. A staff of flight controllers and other support personnel monitor all aspects of the mission using telemetry, and send commands to the...

 at Johnson Space Center.

Extensive renovation of Firing Room 4 was finished in 2006.

Launch Director (LD)

The Launch Director is the head of the launch team, and is responsible for making the final "go/no go" decision for launch after polling the relevant team members.

Flow Director (FD)

The Flow Director is responsible for the preparation of the spacecraft for launch, and remains in the LCC in an advisory capacity.

NASA Test Director (NTD)

The NASA Test Director is responsible for all pre-launch testing, whether involving the flight crew, the orbiter, the external tank/solid rocket booster, or ground support equipment. The NTD is also responsible for the safety of all personnel on the pad after fuelling has occurred. Reports to the Launch Director.

Orbiter Test Conductor (OTC)

The Orbiter Test Conductor is in charge of all pre-flight checkout and testing of the orbiter, and manages the engineers in the firing room who monitor the orbiter's systems. OTC is an employee of a contractor rather than of NASA.

Payload Test Conductor (PTC)

The Payload Test Conductor is responsible for the pre-flight test and checkout of payloads carried by the orbiter and manages the engineering and test teams responsible for monitoring and controlling payload ground operations. PTC is a contractor member of the Space Shuttle Team.

Launch Processing System Coordinator (LPS)

The LPS Coordinator monitors and oversees the LPS System; specifically, the desired launch rate, Space Shuttle stacking (assembly), and all safety requirements. This is made possible by the Launch Processing System, or LPS — a highly automated, computer-controlled system that oversees the entire checkout and launch process.

Superintendent of Range Operations (SRO)

The Superintendent of Range Operations ensures downrange airspace and splashdown areas remain clear for launch, and monitors weather near the launch site.

Ground Launch Sequencer Engineer (CGLS)

The Ground Launch Sequencer Engineer is responsible for monitoring the operation of the automated Ground Launch Sequencer system, which controls the countdown from T-9 minutes until launch. After this point through to T-31 seconds, they are in charge of implementing a manual hold if necessary. After T-31 seconds however only cutoff is available and will result in a recycle of the countdown to T-20 minutes and a scrub of the launch. The request for a cutoff is phrased "CGLS, give cutoff."

Sources

• Launch Control Center
• Launch Control Center Main page.
• Launch Team

External links

• Firing Room Tour
• New Launch Control Room Ready for STS-121 Liftoff
• KSC Launch Processing System