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NARRATOR: One of the most recognizable landmarks at Kennedy Space Center is

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the giant digital display clock located near the News Center.

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The clock was specially made to mark the time to liftoff.

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This clock and the American flag are positioned so that

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they are featured in every broadcast of a space shuttle launch.

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The countdown clock and other clocks around the center,

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including those in the Launch Control Center Firing Rooms,

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precisely count down the days, hours, minutes and seconds

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leading up to and after spectacular shuttle liftoffs.

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Steve Payne, NASA Test Director: For a shuttle launch the

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countdown clock timing is absolutely critical.

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We are in effect trying to hit an orbiting space station

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that is traveling at some 17,500 miles an hour with a space vehicle.

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We time the launch countdown to the second.

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The times that are provided to us by Houston flight and

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by the flight dynamics folks are down to the second,

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and that's exactly where we try to get it.

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NARRATOR: The clocks are maintained and exactly set by

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QinetiQ's Timing and Imaging Technical Support Group.

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The group is located in the Launch Control Center,

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in a room that dates back to the era of Apollo rocket launches.

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During launch countdown and preflight tests, the timing room is manned 24/7.

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The group, led by Robert Wright, who is the lead electronic technician,

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sets and monitors several panels of timer controls.

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Above the panels are digital clocks that display various times,

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including the launch window remaining, hold time remaining,

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the countdown clock time and Greenwich Mean Time, or GMT time.

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The Timing Group receives the countdown and count hold signals

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from the Launch Processing System in the firing room and

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redistributes the signals to various users including the Firing Rooms,

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Launch Complex 39, and the Vehicle Assembly Building, among others.

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Even the Eastern Range, and all off-site NASA Centers requiring the countdown receive the signals.

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Steve Payne, NASA Test Director: There's a triple check on the time to

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make sure that everything is just so and we hit it exactly where we should.

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NARRATOR: Timing signals also are sent to a predetermined number

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of universal camera sites located near and around the

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launch pads and the Banana Creek viewing site near the Saturn V center

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Steve Payne, NASA Test Director: For the public,

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that's how they get the cue that it's about to happen.

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There's a lot of expectation. And a lot of status going along the way.

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And the countdown clock will count, and it'll hold,