Feb 2 2001
From The Space Library
NASA opened a new command and control center that would allow researchers on Earth to participate in scientific research conducted aboard the ISS. The new facility, located at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, featured state-of-the-art communication and research technologies. Director of MSFC Arthur G. Stephenson described the new center as a significant part of NASA’s ongoing plan to make space research more efficient and useful: “From this facility we will manage fundamental scientific research that can only be done in space research that will lead to knowledge to benefit all humanity here on Earth.” NASA planned to staff the 13,000-square-foot (1,200-square-meter) facility 24 hours per day to support research aboard ISS. In addition to its link to the ISS, the new facility was equipped to monitor payload resources, facilitate data transfer, and communicate with universities and research centers throughout the world. The new command post opened only days before Space Shuttle Atlantis’s scheduled trip into space to carry the Destiny research laboratory module to the ISS. (NASA, “NASA Opens Space Station Command Post,” news release 01-15, 2 February 2001; Shelby G. Spires, “MSFC Opens Science ‘Mission Control’ Today,” Huntsville Times (AL), 2 February 2001.)
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