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Over the last two decades, 15

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countries from around the world,

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led by the United States, have

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combined their resources to

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create the  International Space

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Station orbiting more than 200

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miles above the planet. Since

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the completion of the stationıs

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assembly in 2011, it has become

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an operational research

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laboratory. As astronauts conduct

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experiments ­ called payloads for

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researchers around the globe, they

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are assisted by the folks here in

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the Payload Operations Integration

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Center at NASA's Marshall Space

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Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.

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Teams in this science command

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post work around the clock, 365

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days a year and can even perform

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some research remotely while the

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crew sleeps. Space station

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operations are managed in 6 month

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periods called expeditions. The

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arrival of each new space station

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crew signifies the start of a new

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expedition. Each expedition has

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more than 200 experiments, and

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the team here in the Payload

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Operations Integration Center is

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the focal point for U.S. science

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activities. Coordinating research

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requires communication links with

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the crew and with scientists around

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the world. But most importantly, it

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requires the expertise of a trained

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ground crew led by the Payload

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Operations Director. Im kind of like

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conductor of an orchestra. I make

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sure all the individual musicians

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are playing their parts, and that

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were all playing  the same song.

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As leader of the team, I guide

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payload activities aboard the space

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station. And to do this, I work very

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closely with the flight director at

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Mission Control in Houston, our

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international partners and scientists

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all over the globe to integrate the

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other activities with the science

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research. While the POD is working

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on the big picture, the Operations

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Controller makes sure the

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day-to-day activities needed for

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space station research are

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unfolding as planned. If youve

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ever been on a trip with a tight

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schedule you probably understand

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how difficult it is to stick to that

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schedule. Almost everyday is a tight

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schedule for the crew members on

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board the space station. We as

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operations controllers are

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responsible for ensuring that the

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crew safely perform those

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activities as they are scheduled.

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As with any complicated

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operations, you probably know

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issues can come up. We also help

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the crew work through those

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issues safely and to get back to

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the scheduled activities. Those

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issues can range from the

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hardware that they are using,

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software that may be running, or

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even the procedures they are

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using. We even have a mockup

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nearby of the Destiny Laboratory.

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It allows us to run through those

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fix actions to make sure they're

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good or even run through normal

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procedures to make sure theyre

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more efficient. The voice of the

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operations center is the Payload

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Communications Manager, also

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known as the PAYCOM. Im the one

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guy in this room that gets to talk

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to the astronauts on a daily basis.

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We discuss the science experiments

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that they run, answer any questions

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that they may have, and relay any

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information that needs to go up to

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the crew. So its very neat to

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get to build a relationship with

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them before and during their

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six-month stay on board station.

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We like to say we have

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friends in high places.

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With all those experiments, you

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can just imagine how much data has

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to be collected, and the DMC or

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Data Management Coordinator makes

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sure all that gets back to Earth.

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I route the data and video from the

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International Space Station to

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ground systems so that people

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across the world can see it. While

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on station, astronauts do a lot of

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experiments and I route some of

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that video so we have insight as

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to what they're doing. They also

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do a lot of television interviews and

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I route that video so that you may

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see it in your home. Most

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experiments on the space

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station are installed in different

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sections called racks. The Payload

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Rack Officer, or PRO helps with

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operations in those rack facilities.

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Many of the racks and experiments,

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including the Destiny laboratory

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were built and tested here at

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Marshall. We can do certain

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command  functions from the

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ground to assist the crew and

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we also have hardware on the

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ground that we can use to mirror

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crew functions so that we can help

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them if they have any questions or

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issues during experiment

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operations. We monitor commands

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as they go up to station and we

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view rack data as it comes down

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from station so that we can make

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sure all experiments remain safe

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and operational. The Lead

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Increment Scientist Representative

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liaisons between the ISS lead

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scientist for the expedition, the

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payload operations center, and

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the scientists with experiments in

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space. I live in Houston and work

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in Huntsville for 3 week rotations.

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Whenever issues  arise, we have

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to make a decision quickly, so we

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have to be very  familiar with

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space station research priorities.

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The goal of our team is to

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maximize a science return on

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space station and to verify that

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scientists from all over the world

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are satisfied with their results.

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The real-time planning function is

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carried out by the Timeline Change

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Officer. As you know, even the best

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plans sometimes change. When this

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happens on  the space station, I am

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the one who has to come up with

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a new plan, but I don't do this

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alone. I work with my team here

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to review plans before they are

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performed on board. When changes have

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to be made, I coordinate with NASA

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control centers and scientists across

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the globe to devise the best plan for

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all of the experiments. And of

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course, since the space station is the

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size of a five-bedroom house,

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someone has to keep track of

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everything needed for

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experiments. For U.S. payloads thats

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a job for the Stowage Engineer. Have

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you ever lost anything inside your

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house? Come on, we all have. Now

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imagine trying to keep up with all

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of your household items from over

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200 miles away!  As a stowage

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engineer, that's what we do

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everyday. We provide the crew

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with locations for all their tools,

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parts, and materials required to do

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their job. Now what happens when

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something gets  lost you say?

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That's when we have to go back

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through our database to try to find

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the last time and location that the

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tool was used, so hopefully we

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can track it down. Each year,

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hundreds of science experiments

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are conducted on the International

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Space Station, which already has

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broken records for the hours of

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science conducted by humans in

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a space laboratory. The people

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working in the Payload Operations