1 00:00:04,690 --> 00:00:02,919 we're here in the space station flight 2 00:00:07,300 --> 00:00:04,700 control room and today joining us is a 3 00:00:09,730 --> 00:00:07,310 special guest how get suleman who is the 4 00:00:11,530 --> 00:00:09,740 lead Capcom as well as the chief 5 00:00:13,749 --> 00:00:11,540 engineer for the Capcom thanks so much 6 00:00:15,789 --> 00:00:13,759 for joining us I'm glad to be here 7 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:15,799 Nicole it's been a busy day here in the 8 00:00:19,269 --> 00:00:17,090 flight control room so we're really glad 9 00:00:20,980 --> 00:00:19,279 you're here to kind of talk to us so a 10 00:00:22,300 --> 00:00:20,990 lot of people have heard about Capcom's 11 00:00:23,769 --> 00:00:22,310 they're familiar with that console 12 00:00:25,630 --> 00:00:23,779 position I always describe it as the 13 00:00:26,830 --> 00:00:25,640 voice of the flight control team but can 14 00:00:30,009 --> 00:00:26,840 you tell us a little bit more about what 15 00:00:31,900 --> 00:00:30,019 that job entails well really we're just 16 00:00:34,150 --> 00:00:31,910 another member of the team we work for 17 00:00:35,920 --> 00:00:34,160 the flight director but our job is to 18 00:00:38,220 --> 00:00:35,930 listen to what all the experts on the 19 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:38,230 control team are talking about 20 00:00:42,670 --> 00:00:41,090 understand as best we can what impact 21 00:00:45,070 --> 00:00:42,680 that will have on the crew and then 22 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:45,080 communicate those impacts sometimes 23 00:00:48,550 --> 00:00:46,970 those impacts are significant and we 24 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:48,560 have to have the crew react to those 25 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:51,650 problems or issues and so we try to boil 26 00:00:56,260 --> 00:00:53,330 it down to the essential information 27 00:00:58,900 --> 00:00:56,270 that perhaps the controllers are talking 28 00:01:01,180 --> 00:00:58,910 in a language that is not familiar to 29 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:01,190 the crew and we translate that into 30 00:01:05,650 --> 00:01:03,170 information that's useful and then I get 31 00:01:07,570 --> 00:01:05,660 that they can act on the other thing 32 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:07,580 that I think is important that some 33 00:01:10,930 --> 00:01:09,050 people may not realize about the Capcom 34 00:01:12,940 --> 00:01:10,940 position is that you are representing 35 00:01:14,230 --> 00:01:12,950 the crew office you're working behind 36 00:01:16,630 --> 00:01:14,240 the scenes on days that you're not on 37 00:01:18,580 --> 00:01:16,640 console on procedures and that type of 38 00:01:19,990 --> 00:01:18,590 thing you have the chief role for that 39 00:01:21,910 --> 00:01:20,000 within the Capcom office can you talk a 40 00:01:25,420 --> 00:01:21,920 little bit about that scope of the job 41 00:01:27,820 --> 00:01:25,430 yeah we have a whole group of engineers 42 00:01:30,370 --> 00:01:27,830 that support the crew and review their 43 00:01:33,100 --> 00:01:30,380 procedures and displays and make sure 44 00:01:35,620 --> 00:01:33,110 that those are as good as we can make 45 00:01:37,810 --> 00:01:35,630 them a lot of the work we do we're 46 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:37,820 scheduling continually doing that work 47 00:01:44,550 --> 00:01:41,090 so we have particular expertise that we 48 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:44,560 bring to that equation we have a 49 00:01:50,950 --> 00:01:47,810 increment lead Capcom they follow the 50 00:01:52,980 --> 00:01:50,960 crew scheduling they participate and 51 00:01:55,660 --> 00:01:52,990 give input to the scheduling process 52 00:01:57,370 --> 00:01:55,670 also we review the procedures that are 53 00:01:59,080 --> 00:01:57,380 going to be uplink to the crew to make 54 00:02:01,660 --> 00:01:59,090 sure that they're easy to understand 55 00:02:03,330 --> 00:02:01,670 they have the proper illustrations the 56 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:03,340 proper call outs and all that 57 00:02:09,870 --> 00:02:07,170 information as part of our job 58 00:02:13,350 --> 00:02:09,880 earlier today for the crew they actually 59 00:02:16,740 --> 00:02:13,360 did the full-on integrated sim the 60 00:02:18,570 --> 00:02:16,750 onboard training as it were to simulate 61 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:18,580 or replicated on board emergency and 62 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:21,370 this morning's was replicating a ammonia 63 00:02:25,770 --> 00:02:23,170 leak in the Destiny lab can you tell us 64 00:02:28,110 --> 00:02:25,780 a little bit about how those sims are 65 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:28,120 created and what types of things go into 66 00:02:30,690 --> 00:02:29,530 these sims when they're doing them with 67 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:30,700 the flight control team in the onboard 68 00:02:37,380 --> 00:02:35,170 crew sure the onboard training is just 69 00:02:39,990 --> 00:02:37,390 an extension of the normal crew training 70 00:02:42,030 --> 00:02:40,000 that they have on the ground but now 71 00:02:44,430 --> 00:02:42,040 they're actually in the environment up 72 00:02:47,670 --> 00:02:44,440 there and this is an opportunity to 73 00:02:50,370 --> 00:02:47,680 refresh that training to give the the 74 00:02:52,710 --> 00:02:50,380 crew and the ground team a chance to 75 00:02:56,009 --> 00:02:52,720 work together as you know there's three 76 00:02:59,640 --> 00:02:56,019 basic emergencies a toxic release a fire 77 00:03:01,440 --> 00:02:59,650 event or a depressurization and because 78 00:03:03,690 --> 00:03:01,450 we're in the environment of space these 79 00:03:05,940 --> 00:03:03,700 take on a different characteristic than 80 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:05,950 people might be used to if you had a 81 00:03:10,770 --> 00:03:07,450 fire in your house the first reaction 82 00:03:14,789 --> 00:03:10,780 would be to leave the house we can't do 83 00:03:16,500 --> 00:03:14,799 that if you have a toxic release again 84 00:03:19,500 --> 00:03:16,510 it'd be best to probably get out of the 85 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:19,510 house but we can't do that and what we 86 00:03:23,910 --> 00:03:21,370 have to do is we have to isolate the 87 00:03:26,819 --> 00:03:23,920 problem to a particular module and make 88 00:03:30,810 --> 00:03:26,829 sure the crew is in a safe area and then 89 00:03:34,050 --> 00:03:30,820 after the initial incident is taken care 90 00:03:36,870 --> 00:03:34,060 of then we take remediation action and 91 00:03:40,199 --> 00:03:36,880 so this these onboard crew training 92 00:03:42,870 --> 00:03:40,209 exercises are just that practice so the 93 00:03:45,270 --> 00:03:42,880 crew is a very proficient and should 94 00:03:49,710 --> 00:03:45,280 something like this happen on orbit they 95 00:03:52,259 --> 00:03:49,720 can react quickly and effectively one 96 00:03:54,060 --> 00:03:52,269 thing I noticed about the scenario today 97 00:03:56,849 --> 00:03:54,070 was that the crew did not know until 98 00:03:58,349 --> 00:03:56,859 they started that's when it you know is 99 00:03:59,789 --> 00:03:58,359 revealed to them what the scenario is 100 00:04:02,940 --> 00:03:59,799 which of course you know to replicate 101 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:02,950 the legis the urgency of the situation 102 00:04:06,870 --> 00:04:05,170 is it the same for the flight control 103 00:04:08,699 --> 00:04:06,880 team here do they likewise not know what 104 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:08,709 the scenario is until it's all about to 105 00:04:14,610 --> 00:04:12,250 start that we're evolving these training 106 00:04:17,280 --> 00:04:14,620 sessions and this is one of the first 107 00:04:17,670 --> 00:04:17,290 where the crew is sort of surprised by 108 00:04:21,270 --> 00:04:17,680 what 109 00:04:24,150 --> 00:04:21,280 the scenario is in their earliest 110 00:04:25,890 --> 00:04:24,160 training and earlier in the program we 111 00:04:28,110 --> 00:04:25,900 had these things well scripted out 112 00:04:30,090 --> 00:04:28,120 people had an opportunity to read 113 00:04:33,090 --> 00:04:30,100 through the scripts to understand them 114 00:04:34,620 --> 00:04:33,100 and then ask questions and all that now 115 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:34,630 we're moving up to more advanced 116 00:04:39,930 --> 00:04:37,090 scenarios where the crew doesn't know 117 00:04:42,420 --> 00:04:39,940 and all that we eventually make it to 118 00:04:45,180 --> 00:04:42,430 the point where there'll be some trusted 119 00:04:47,310 --> 00:04:45,190 agents and only they will know and it'll 120 00:04:49,469 --> 00:04:47,320 be surprised both to the ground team and 121 00:04:51,540 --> 00:04:49,479 the folks on work we're still working 122 00:04:54,060 --> 00:04:51,550 out the details on how to conduct those 123 00:04:55,950 --> 00:04:54,070 kind of training sessions well it seems 124 00:04:57,510 --> 00:04:55,960 you know really exciting to be here in 125 00:04:59,219 --> 00:04:57,520 the room clearly everybody was fully 126 00:05:03,029 --> 00:04:59,229 engaged and getting a lot out of it so 127 00:05:05,580 --> 00:05:03,039 very valuable exercise yes I mean all of 128 00:05:07,499 --> 00:05:05,590 these training sessions we try to make 129 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:07,509 them as realistic as possible because 130 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:10,090 that's the way you learn where their 131 00:05:16,020 --> 00:05:12,490 gaps and where the faults are in your 132 00:05:18,330 --> 00:05:16,030 procedure so if you don't practice the 133 00:05:20,310 --> 00:05:18,340 way you plan to execute you can have 134 00:05:22,890 --> 00:05:20,320 this mismatch in it can come back to be 135 00:05:24,719 --> 00:05:22,900 a problem in the real incident it's 136 00:05:26,879 --> 00:05:24,729 always been fascinating to me too that 137 00:05:28,770 --> 00:05:26,889 the crew training you know pre-flight 138 00:05:30,570 --> 00:05:28,780 they actually have them in the mock-ups 139 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:30,580 in the modules complete with smoke 140 00:05:36,510 --> 00:05:32,770 donning the masks so it is very very 141 00:05:39,029 --> 00:05:36,520 realistic yes that's true and one of the 142 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:39,039 things we see when people put masks on 143 00:05:44,219 --> 00:05:41,530 is it compromises their ability to 144 00:05:46,460 --> 00:05:44,229 communicate between themselves and with 145 00:05:48,870 --> 00:05:46,470 the ground we get sort of that muffled 146 00:05:51,719 --> 00:05:48,880 you know put your hand over your mouth 147 00:05:54,719 --> 00:05:51,729 kind of conversation so that puts an 148 00:05:58,230 --> 00:05:54,729 additional stress in addition to the 149 00:06:01,020 --> 00:05:58,240 stress that comes with the tenseness of 150 00:06:02,969 --> 00:06:01,030 the of the situation on board moving on 151 00:06:05,580 --> 00:06:02,979 to a lighter topic why don't you tell us 152 00:06:07,170 --> 00:06:05,590 what's what's the most fun or something 153 00:06:09,180 --> 00:06:07,180 unexpected that we might not think is 154 00:06:13,050 --> 00:06:09,190 the most enjoyable aspect of being a 155 00:06:16,409 --> 00:06:13,060 Capcom well I guess the thing that's 156 00:06:19,610 --> 00:06:16,419 been kind of fun for me is the fact that 157 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:19,620 I think I've introduced the the 158 00:06:25,230 --> 00:06:22,570 Chancellor of Germany the Prime Minister 159 00:06:27,510 --> 00:06:25,240 of Japan the president of the united 160 00:06:29,820 --> 00:06:27,520 states have introduced all these people 161 00:06:30,650 --> 00:06:29,830 to the crew on orbit over the years that 162 00:06:33,530 --> 00:06:30,660 I've been 163 00:06:36,500 --> 00:06:33,540 doing this so that's kind of a kick when 164 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:36,510 you think about it that you know were of 165 00:06:41,960 --> 00:06:39,210 big interest of national leaders and 166 00:06:44,110 --> 00:06:41,970 they want to talk to our crew and we get 167 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:44,120 to play a small role in that process 168 00:06:48,110 --> 00:06:46,770 absolutely we've had lots of VIPs and 169 00:06:50,030 --> 00:06:48,120 dignitaries and the occasional 170 00:06:52,370 --> 00:06:50,040 celebrities that come through so I 171 00:06:54,230 --> 00:06:52,380 hadn't thought about that aspect what 172 00:06:55,850 --> 00:06:54,240 about the flip side of that what's the 173 00:06:59,030 --> 00:06:55,860 most challenging aspect of being a 174 00:07:01,550 --> 00:06:59,040 Capcom well the most challenging aspect 175 00:07:04,250 --> 00:07:01,560 is just to communicate effectively all 176 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:04,260 the time you know we serve fairly long 177 00:07:10,220 --> 00:07:07,410 shifts we serve odd hours and to try to 178 00:07:13,900 --> 00:07:10,230 keep on top of situations to try to 179 00:07:17,570 --> 00:07:13,910 juggle all the activities that we do 180 00:07:20,210 --> 00:07:17,580 managing the cruise timeline thinking of 181 00:07:23,210 --> 00:07:20,220 the particular ways to help the crew out 182 00:07:27,730 --> 00:07:23,220 and try to stay ahead of them those are 183 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:27,740 the challenging aspects of the job and 184 00:07:32,030 --> 00:07:30,330 one thing I've always been curious the 185 00:07:33,770 --> 00:07:32,040 Capcom's are responsible for knowing a 186 00:07:35,540 --> 00:07:33,780 lot of the same systems in a lot of 187 00:07:37,370 --> 00:07:35,550 cases they do the sims for the 188 00:07:39,110 --> 00:07:37,380 spacewalks with the crew so that 189 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:39,120 everybody is a really integrated team so 190 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:40,770 I think that's another kind of the 191 00:07:44,390 --> 00:07:42,810 unseen side of the story that you know 192 00:07:46,370 --> 00:07:44,400 capcom's are really responsible for a 193 00:07:48,380 --> 00:07:46,380 lot yeah I mean that's really the key 194 00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:48,390 expertise that we bring to the control 195 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:52,410 team is the mindset of the crew and all 196 00:07:57,230 --> 00:07:54,810 of our other controllers here are 197 00:07:59,030 --> 00:07:57,240 experts in their particular systems 198 00:08:01,990 --> 00:07:59,040 whether that be thermal control or 199 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:02,000 environmental control or attitude 200 00:08:07,580 --> 00:08:04,650 control of the vehicle we bring the 201 00:08:09,950 --> 00:08:07,590 expertise of the crew perspective and so 202 00:08:12,590 --> 00:08:09,960 that means not only knowing how the crew 203 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:12,600 does their job but also some of the 204 00:08:17,120 --> 00:08:14,610 personalities of the crews and how they 205 00:08:19,130 --> 00:08:17,130 like to work so when we have some 206 00:08:21,380 --> 00:08:19,140 decisions in real time about whether we 207 00:08:23,390 --> 00:08:21,390 should work a little late today or save 208 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:23,400 that work for tomorrow is the person 209 00:08:28,250 --> 00:08:26,010 tired or whatever we help make that 210 00:08:31,909 --> 00:08:28,260 decision help contribute to making that 211 00:08:33,230 --> 00:08:31,919 decision one last question in your 212 00:08:35,270 --> 00:08:33,240 previous life you were with the Air 213 00:08:36,680 --> 00:08:35,280 Force and you've had a lot of flying 214 00:08:38,060 --> 00:08:36,690 experience can you tell us a little bit 215 00:08:40,790 --> 00:08:38,070 about your background in the path to 216 00:08:41,900 --> 00:08:40,800 working here at NASA well like a lot of 217 00:08:44,150 --> 00:08:41,910 people I molding 218 00:08:46,580 --> 00:08:44,160 to remember the early missions of space 219 00:08:49,430 --> 00:08:46,590 and I can remember Apollo 8 going around 220 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:49,440 the moon and when I watched that on 221 00:08:53,450 --> 00:08:51,690 Christmas Eve you know I was just 222 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:53,460 mesmerised and thought this would be 223 00:08:57,890 --> 00:08:56,130 something that I wanted to do and when I 224 00:08:59,420 --> 00:08:57,900 looked around all that at all the 225 00:09:02,510 --> 00:08:59,430 astronauts at that point they were all 226 00:09:05,300 --> 00:09:02,520 military test pilots and so I thought my 227 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:05,310 path to getting into space would be to 228 00:09:09,740 --> 00:09:07,770 become a military test pilot and so I 229 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:09,750 went to the Air Force Academy got a 230 00:09:15,020 --> 00:09:12,210 degree in mechanical engineering went on 231 00:09:17,690 --> 00:09:15,030 to fly a lot of different airplanes some 232 00:09:19,970 --> 00:09:17,700 most are no longer being flown by the 233 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:19,980 air force tried to do the best I could 234 00:09:25,070 --> 00:09:22,170 in all those I went to graduate school 235 00:09:26,450 --> 00:09:25,080 got a degree in space operations and 236 00:09:28,460 --> 00:09:26,460 then came down here to work at the 237 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:28,470 kennett are at the Johnson Space Center 238 00:09:34,310 --> 00:09:31,290 for two years in the training division 239 00:09:37,370 --> 00:09:34,320 and then we kind of decided after 240 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:37,380 challenger two separate military space 241 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:40,530 from civilian space and I went back to 242 00:09:47,180 --> 00:09:44,010 flying in Korea and then back in America 243 00:09:50,660 --> 00:09:47,190 I served in the first Gulf War fly-in 244 00:09:52,730 --> 00:09:50,670 f-15s and then eventually ended up as an 245 00:09:56,060 --> 00:09:52,740 instructor pilot teaching new students 246 00:09:58,120 --> 00:09:56,070 in out in lubbock texas and then after I 247 00:10:00,680 --> 00:09:58,130 retired I came back down here and 248 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:00,690 eventually worked into the job I have 249 00:10:05,030 --> 00:10:03,210 today as a Capcom it's fascinating 250 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:05,040 background thanks so much for taking 251 00:10:09,950 --> 00:10:07,170 time to join us again this is he'll get