CHAPTER 14 DAY IN THE LIFE: VITAL VISITING VEHICLES—KEEPING THE REMOTE OUTPOST CREWED AND OPERATING 238 in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California so that a vehicle could land safely and be recovered, the position of the sun relative to the ISS orbit (known as the beta angle) due to the impact of lighting on key sensors on a spacecraft, and the failure of an external pump on the ISS that took out cooling to half of the space station—including the equipment needed for safely berthing a vehicle. Because of the number of constraints, it is common for the dates of a visiting vehicle mission to change several times. Operationally, this can mean planning the mission multiple times prior to execution. Once the international community sets a date for a mission, the preparations begin. “Piece by Piece Step by Step” Jeff Williams, STS-101, ISS Expeditions 13, 21, 22, 47, 48 Among the most impressive—and sometimes overlooked—aspects of the history of the ISS assembly and ongoing operations are the visiting vehicles necessary to build and sustain the space station. Napoleon Bonaparte is credited with the quote, “an army marches on its stomach,” emphasizing the criticality of logistics to ensure mission success of a deployed military. The same is true of the space station and her continuously deployed crew. As of mid 2017, 178 rocket launches were dedicated to building, manning, and maintaining the ISS. Food, of course, is just one element of the vast logistics train necessary in keeping the ISS and its crew going strong over the many years away from the planet. My first visit to the orbital outpost on a Space Shuttle crew in 2000 was, in part, dedicated to stockpiling the supplies and equipment necessary to prepare for the arrival of Expedition 1. Over the years since, during long-duration expeditions to the growing complex, I experienced visits by four additional Space Shuttles and stays of seven Soyuz spacecraft besides my own three, and I watched eight Progress, one HTV, one Cygnus, and two Dragon spacecraft come and go. Food—including fresh fruits and vegetables and, occasionally, even ice cream—was present on every vehicle. So was clothing, general supplies, repair parts and tools, large and small elements of the growing complex, science and research experiments, new technology demonstrations, and even “cards and letters” from home. Several of the shuttles and Russian rockets delivered major components of the ISS, including module and truss elements. Most significantly, the Space Shuttles and Soyuz spacecraft enabled the coming and going of crewmates. Spaceflight is inherently hard, and access to space from Earth and the return to Earth are particularly hard phases. That is what makes the ISS visiting vehicle story so impressive. The loss of several supply ships during the launch and ascent phase gives testimony to the particular challenge of sustaining the orbital outpost. The loss of our friends on the Space Shuttle Columbia, which grounded the fleet during the ISS assembly, makes it a particularly human challenge. What we have learned from the critical role of visiting vehicles and the logistics train supporting the ISS will be an essential enabler for future exploration beyond Earth orbit. We will, of course, improve regenerative efficiencies for things such as water and atmosphere, and we will even find ways to draw from natural resources at the location of future destinations. However, there will always be a dependency on resources and consumables from Earth, especially those required for life support. Regardless of future ends in space exploration, launching and returning vehicles will always be among the required means to accomplish the goals and objectives. As with the space station, that will be piece by piece, step by step, by way of visiting vehicles. Flight Controller Training A flight-specific team of controllers will be assigned to each visiting vehicle mission no later than approximately 6 to 8 months ahead of the scheduled event. A team of flight controllers, led by a flight director, will be at MCC-H, and a team of flight controllers will be at the home