USA flight control personnel combine extensive knowledge of hardware capabilities, mission priorities and human factors to develop and direct critical phase operations which, if not managed effectively, pose significant risk to human and material assets.

Our dedicated workforce of flight controllers work around the clock in a variety of positions which support real-time mission operations. Flight controllers have trained during flight simulations, supported numerous Shuttle and Station missions, and have decades of experience with console operations. Technical disciplines include Flight Dynamics, ExtraVehicular Activities, Guidance, Navigation and Control, life support systems, electrical systems, mechanical and robotics systems, data processing systems, propulsion systems, communications systems, and payloads.

USA flight controllers also perform premission planning, working in teams to integrate multidisciplinary inputs into a coherent, well-coordinated plan for complex operations. They are experts at developing system procedures, flight plans, flight rules, and other planning products, including contingency plans and integrated procedures for nominal and system failure scenarios.

Individually and collectively, USA flight controllers execute the plan, coordinate future plans, troubleshoot problems and formulate solutions in a dynamic setting. Console operators developed extensive skills at making time-critical systems management decisions under both normal and contingency situations. They integrate information from multiple sources such as telemetry, graphic displays, and audio/video inputs. With this information, they diagnose problems, monitor trends, and formulate timely systems management actions.

Real-time console support also includes coordination with external partners who provide support in domestic and international locations. USA employees provide the focus to the entire team regardless of the physical locations of the consoles. They ensure all customers know what is occurring and what future operations will occur.

USA flight controllers' simulation training exposes them to critical problems requiring quick response with a recommended plan of action.

The long term operation of a remote facility in an extreme environment poses many challenges to maintaining the proper function of various integrated systems. USA personnel have the technical expertise to manage, train and direct, from a remote location, onboard crewmembers to perform the preventive and corrective maintenance necessary to maintain remote systems. This includes: preventive maintenance scheduling and implementation; fault tree analysis of system failures to correctly identify the failed component; risk assessment and mitigation techniques for repairing hazardous systems; and, where necessary, the diagnosis and repair of failed components using intermediate or depot level techniques.

USA has a decade of expertise in the remote operation of complex facilities located in an extreme environment. This remote facility encompasses highly integrated and complex systems, including life support, thermal, power, data, communication and mechanical systems.

These operational command and control functions to remote facility operations use virtual presence technologies developed, verified, and maintained in-house. These technologies include integrated command and telemetry displays, virtual remote facility digital video, still and 3-D Computer Aided Design (CAD) model representations, and the use of logistics and maintenance databases.

By using large amounts of high rate data telemetry streams from remote facility operations, USA has developed the capability and technologies to collect and archive data, and to mine and analyze the data for complex system health trending and failure analysis.