CHAPTER 4 DAY IN THE LIFE: THE MAKING OF A MISSION 64 of a mission, the teams of a flight controller and a flight director would be assigned for the other two shifts (missions always worked with three 9-hour shifts around the clock). Several flight controllers had to be assigned more than 2 years prior to the STS-130/ISS-20A mission. These assignments included the leads for EVA, Operations Support Officer (OSO), and the Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). The lead EVA officer is usually one of the first to be assigned to a mission because spacewalks take a long time to plan, train for, and execute. However, the lead OSO would also be busy on this flight because the STS-130/ISS-20A mission involved a lot of hardware changes and the berthing of a module. In fact, because the OSO task was so large, several people were assigned at an early stage, including one whose main job was to focus on the Node 3 module whereas a separate person focused on the Cupola. Major changes to the ECLSS, including additional components in the regenerative environmental control system, were scheduled to occur during and after 20A. Cupola on Node 3 Nadir Port prior to relocation Node 1 US Lab Node 2 Cupola on Node 3 Forward Port after relocation Node 1 US Lab Node 2 Figure 1. Initially, the Node module was supposed to project nadir (teal blue silhouette) however, it was changed to the port side. The Cupola would be launched on the end of Node 3 to fit in the cargo bay of the orbiter, and then relocated to its permanent position through use of the robotic arm. Inset: launch configuration of the module pair with Cupola on the end of Node 3. Images courtesy of MAGIK Robotic Analysis Team Normally, mission preparation ramped up slowly as the plan was developed, first taking the major objectives listed above and creating a timeline as tasks were added. Preparation for 20A got off to a busy start as the ISS Program officials considered changing the location of Node 3 on the ISS. Originally, the module was to hang down in the nadir direction, pointing toward the Earth with the Cupola facing forward (the direction the ISS flies around the Earth), as shown in Figure 1. In this configuration, NASA’s crewed vehicle, Orion, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s uncrewed cargo ship, H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV), were to