Photograph by Darren Phillips
Flight directors Lt. Glen Funkhouser (right) and Lt. Kelly McJoynt prepare for a launch.
By NATASHA COLLINS
Tensions in the control room ran high, with the memory of last fall's rocket explosion still fresh in everybody's mind.
Five minutes, 35 seconds showed on the timer.
Air Force Maj. Rob Critchlow positioned himself in a small glass-enclosed room in the Blue Cube at Onizuka Air Station and watched the monitors. His team prepared to guide a $500 million rocket and satellite package into geosynchronous orbit.
Four minutes, 59 seconds left.
Then, what everyone had been dreading: a message over the intercom from Cape Canaveral.
"Sunnyvale, we have a problem."
In that brief moment, the launch of the $200 million Defense Support satellite was put on hold, possibly indefinitely.
The crew at Onizuka Air Station in Sunnyvale was not responsible for the Feb. 23 launch itself, but for directing the satellite into the correct orbit 22,000 miles above the earth. The satellite was to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Station in Florida.
Crews at Cape Canaveral scrambled around the air station trying to fix the mishaps that prevented the launch. Onizuka crew members were powerless and held their breath, hoping the words "all clear" would come across the telephone lines soon. "The tower holding the rocket will not lock down, and the winds are also causing problems," said Art Haubol, public affairs officer for Onizuka Air Station.
Several months ago, Delta rockets lifting off in a similar mission at Cape Canaveral exploded on the launchpad in a fiery ball, incinerating a NASA communication satellite. Another failure would push this mission back yet again.
Finally, technical problems at Cape Canaveral were overcome. The two Titan IV rockets were ignited, and the satellite they carried disappeared behind a trail of black smoke.
"Look at that baby burn!" exclaimed a crew member.
"Beautiful!" said another, as other comments about the accomplishment were belted out by crew members watching the rockets leave the pad.
"We're glad the mission finally received the all-clear," Critchlow said.
"Today is what [my crew] lives for. The adrenaline is really pumping, and if a mission gets slipped back too long, people start to get a little frayed."
The operators at Onizuka monitor and "fly" the satellite after it leaves the earth's atmosphere and the Inertial Upper Stage booster rockets take over. IUS rockets propel the satellite to its appropriate location in approximately seven hours. Two computers placed on the rockets control all aspects of the mission, but operators monitor the decisions the computers make.
"We watch to make sure it is going the right direction," Critchlow said. "We can send commands to tell which fuel tanks to use or override any decision the computer makes. If all goes well, we won't have to do anything."
The satellite will be used to monitor all missile launches throughout the world. Similar satellites were used in the Gulf War. "The satellite lets us know when a missile has been launched and allows us to warn people a missile is coming," Haubol said. "It gives people an extra five minutes to get out of the missile's way."
The crew assembled for the Feb. 23 mission trained more than 18 months for the seven-hour flight. "Every mission has its quirks," Critchlow said. "You need to know the different procedures based on payload."
Crew members showed up for work in their favorite shirts, with lucky ties and other good-luck charms to ensure a successful mission. "We are a very superstitious group," Critchlow said. "We haven't had a mission go wrong yet, knock on wood."
Besides being the only air station capable of directing IUS rockets and assisting in the placement of satellites in orbit, Onizuka also is involved in space shuttle missions. Information from the shuttle is downloaded into Onizuka's computers and sent to Cape Canaveral.
"We supply support to all the shuttle missions," Critchlow said. "In the future when there are space stations being assembled, we will be utilized even more."
Onizuka will monitor another satellite launch in the summer of 1998, and six more launches are scheduled into the year 2004.
"The Cold War is over, but what we do here will be vital into the next century," Haubol said.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, March 5, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.