Launch Control Center: Difference between revisions

{{About|the Launch Control Center at Kennedy Space Center|underground facilities used to launch ICBMs|Missile launch control center|other topics|launch control (disambiguation)}}

The '''Rocco A. Petrone Launch Control Center''' (commonly known as just the '''Launch Control Center''' or '''LCC''') is a four-story building at [[NASA]]'s [[Kennedy Space Center]] on [[Merritt Island, Florida]], used to manage launches of launch vehicles from [[Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39]]. Attached to the southeast corner of the [[Vehicle Assembly Building]], the LCC contains offices; telemetry, tracking, and instrumentation equipment; and firing rooms.

LCC has conducted [[rocket launch|launch]]es since the unmanned [[Apollo 4]] (Apollo-Saturn 501) launch on November 9, 1967. LCC's first launch with a human crew was [[Apollo 8]] on December 21, 1968. NASA's [[Space Shuttle program]] also used LCC. NASA has renovated the center for the upcoming [[Space Launch System]] (SLS) missions, which are scheduled to beginbegan in 2022 with [[Artemis 1]]. In February 2022, the center was renamed after former launch director [[Rocco Petrone|Rocco A. Petrone]].<ref>{{cite press release |last1=Cawley |first1=James |title=NASA Kennedy's Control Center Named for Apollo-Era Launch Director |url=https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-kennedy-s-control-center-named-for-apollo-era-launch-director |access-date=3 April 2022 |work=NASA |date=22 February 2022}}</ref>

==ControlFiring rooms==

[[Image:KSCFiringroom1.jpg|300px|right|thumb|ControlFiring Room 1 configured for [[spaceSpace shuttleShuttle]] launches]]

[[Image:Firing Room -2 During Apollo 12 CDDT - GPN-2000-000632.jpg|300px|right|thumb|ControlFiring Room 2 as it appeared in the Apollo era]]

Launch operations are supervised and controlled from several control rooms (also known asa firing room)rooms. The controllers are in control of pre-launch checks, the booster and spacecraft. Once the rocket has cleared the launch tower (usually within the first 10–15 seconds), is when control is switched over to the mission's relative mission control center. (The [[Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center]] at the [[Johnson Space Center]] in [[Houston, Texas]] for NASA launches or [[SpaceX]] Mission Control Center in [[Hawthorne, California]] for SpaceX launches.)

Extensive renovation of ControlFiring Room 4 was finished in 2006.<ref>{{CitationCite web needed|date=December2019-09-24 2018|title=Firing Rooms at Kennedy Space Center |url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/714795main_firing-rooms.pdf}}</ref>

Firing roomRoom 4 is currently{{When|date=April 2021}} leased by [[SpaceX]] and serves as their primary launch control centrecenter for [[Launch Complex 39A]].<ref>{{cite press release |date= May 30, 2020 |title= NASA Astronauts Launch from America in Historic Test Flight of SpaceX Crew Dragon |url= https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronauts-launch-from-america-in-historic-test-flight-of-spacex-crew-dragon

The Launch Director is the head of the launch team, and is responsible for making the final "go" or "no go" decision for launch after polling the relevant team members. There have been eight different Space Shuttle launch directors between 1981 and 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Space Shuttle Launch Directors|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/space-shuttle-launch-directors.pdf {{Bare URL PDF |access-date=JanuaryNovember 7, 2022|publisher=NASA}}</ref>

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 &mdash; a highly automated, computer-controlled system that oversees the entire checkout and launch process.<ref>[http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/facilities/lps.html NASA: ''KSC Launch Control Center'']</ref>

File:NASA Launch Control Center renovated control room.jpg|Interior of the recently renovated controlfiring room 21 in 2018.