85 DAY IN THE LIFE: THE MAKING OF A MISSION CHAPTER 4 things in place during the tremendous vibrations during launch, removing items stowed in Node 3, moving the life support racks and exercise equipment into place, and trying to secure all the elements. It was slow work. Each rack was shut down and carefully moved to the new location (Figure 21). The flight control team then powered the system back up. Every rack experienced some small hiccup during the relocation—a cable not connected properly, the software not exactly as it had been tested on the ground, air bubbles in the plumbing—and the team had to work through each issue. As with the OSO position, the ECLSS team had so much going on that two front room flight controllers had to work the various rack activities. Each system was so busy with its own activities. The flight director had to ensure everyone worked as a team in completing the critical activities on the timeline while deferring, and replanning, those that needed to be moved, and while working with the engineering support team and the Europeans on the various other working issues. The role of the flight director is not unlike that of a Chinese acrobat who balances several spinning plates on poles. Every shift presents a new wrinkle, such as when the lead EVA officer came down with food poisoning and had to go home for a while, creating yet one more issue for the flight director to balance and work through. Figure 20. Cupola being maneuvered into position on the nadir side of Node 3 (left), and astronaut Patrick, during the third spacewalk, after removing the insulation that protected the module from launch until its heating system was operational (right). Figure 21. Astronauts maneuver one of the many racks relocated to Node 3 module during the mission. As two crew members pushed a rack into a place, a third crew member helped guide it. All the power, data, and cooling cables would then be mated.