241 DAY IN THE LIFE: VITAL VISITING VEHICLES—KEEPING THE REMOTE OUTPOST CREWED AND OPERATING CHAPTER 14 extra materials have to be sent to the ISS to protect for the case when another cargo vehicle—or three, as mentioned above—cannot make it to the ISS. Once the manifest is finalized, the items are packaged and delivered to the visiting vehicle company for packing into the vehicle. The delivery of the cargo is usually staged. Items that are ready early are sent first. Usually, a late load of items accommodates last-minute changes to the manifest, or there may be science experiments that have strict timing constraints between launch and arrival on the ISS. Once the cargo has been loaded, the spacecraft has been declared ready, and the rocket has been declared ready, it is time to launch. Day of Arrival After a successful launch and orbit insertion, the visiting vehicle will spend 2 to 3 days catching up to the ISS. This is referred to as phasing. During this time, the home control center of the vehicle is in charge of the mission. The flight control team at the home control center (Figure 5) monitors the performance of the spacecraft and performs checkouts of the systems that will be used for the rendezvous with the ISS. Photo courtesy of Ken Peek (Orbital ATK) used with permission by Orbital ATK Figure 5. (Top) The flight control team supports a Dragon mission from the SpaceX Mission Control Center in Hawthorne, California. Photo from Space Corporation, which has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work. (Bottom) Image of the Orbital ATK Mission Control Center in Dulles, Virginia. The ISS Joint Operations commence as soon as the vehicle reaches approximately 35 km (22 miles) behind and 4 km (2.5 miles) below. MCC-H has mission authority from this point, and until the vehicle completes its mission and departs the ISS. Up to this point, the flight-specific team in MCC-H has monitored the progress and performance of the vehicle, reviewed data, and stayed in communication with the team at the home control center of the vehicle. Joint Operations begins while the crew members are still asleep since the capturing and berthing process can take a significant portion of their day. During Joint Operations, the vehicle continues to move closer to the ISS and starts orienting its trajectory relative to that of the ISS. As operations progress into the start of the crew day, crew members on the ISS begin preparing for their monitoring role and the capture.