Lockheed Martin's Consolidated Space Operations Contract has completed the design and installation of a new Customer Support Room (CSR) in the Mission Control Center (MCC) at NASA's Johnson Space Center.

The Customer Support Room/ISS Management Center (CSR/IMC) supports two major NASA programs: the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. It provides a monitoring and participation area during Shuttle flights and ISS Stage operations for Program Managers, Program Integration Managers, and VIPs, as well as for the management and personnel of traditional Shuttle payload customers. Data analyzed in the CSR/IMC provide the information mission managers use to make decisions concerning the many Space Shuttle and ISS payloads.

"Successful delivery of this new capability required a comprehensive project plan that integrated multiple contractors' inputs," said Doug Tighe, program manager for CSOC. "I am proud to say that despite several challenges, we delivered the room on time and budget."

"As with all ventures of this magnitude, customer feedback during all stages of the project was critical to meeting project milestones," said Dianne Murphy, NASA's Increment Manager. "We are very pleased with the design, construction, quality of workmanship and flexibility that this new room provides."

The development of the room required demolishing several previously existing rooms and designing a new infrastructure, which included Signal Reference Grids, power and communications cables, ceiling and floor grids, carpet, support equipment, furniture and environmental controls.

Once the infrastructure was in place, CSOC technicians, engineering and staff support personnel installed a more productive and user-friendly support center which included the installation of state-of-the-art workstations, new flat panel monitors for the workstations, all new flat panel television monitors, new overhead television monitors and new color laser printers. Upon completing the installation of this equipment and performing the necessary functional tests, CSOC turned the room over to NASA for a planned flight simulation.

To date, the CSR has supported two missions and has been supporting ISS operations since May 2001. An official ribbon cutting for the room is being planned for September 28, 2001.

CSOC is a $3-billion-plus contract awarded by NASA to Lockheed Martin, who serves as the prime contractor to provide end-to-end space operations and Mission and Data Services to both NASA and non-NASA customers. CSOC manages NASA's data collection, telemetry and communications operations that support Earth-orbiting satellites, planetary exploration, and human space flight activities. Services include data acquisition from spacecraft, data transmission to end-users, data processing and storage, ground and space communications, and mission control center operations.

Lockheed Martin Space Operations (LMSO) is a business unit of Lockheed Martin Technology Services headquartered in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. LMSO, a high-tech engineering and science services firm, employs about 4,000 engineers, scientists and support personnel. Services include managing CSOC; software and hardware engineering for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station; mission operations and planning systems design, development, and integration; and human life sciences research.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Space Operations