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ULA Tweetup - Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
SBIRS GEO-2 (Atlas V)
18 March 2013 - Page Four of Five
This particular room is currently used for training purposes.
According to the 1st Range Operations Squadron mission statement, they "Conduct real-time command and control of Range air-, sea-, and ground-based sensors and associated assets in support of DoD, NASA and commercial space and ballistic launches to include the scheduling, deconfliction, and support required for launch generation and post-launch activities."
At the range control officer's station the red holdfire toggle switch can halt a countdown should the need arise.

Above image, in the glass walled rooms to the right of Captain Jones range safety operates behind the closed shades. Range safety is tasked with the possibly grim task of destroying an errant rocket, including ones with people on board, if it poses a threat. To the right of that is where surveillance of the range is conducted to ensure no one gets in the way of the rocket's path.

At right, sign on a door in the operations center.

ABOVE: As we exited we were able to glimpse the other range operations room being prepared for the Atlas V launch the next day.

Our next stop was to visit the the 45th Weather Squadron.

A lot of mementos, including this patch flown on a Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, are on display in the Weather Squadron's operations area.

From the 45th Weather Squadron's mission statement: "Exploit the weather to assure safe access to air and space"

  • Provide "Go/No-Go" weather input for every manned and expendable rocket launch from CCAFS and KSC
  • Conduct 24/7 weather watch and forecast services for the Eastern Range, PAFB, $20 billion in assets and 25,000 personnel
  • Train, equip, and provide combat weather warriors supporting air expeditionary force operations
Continued from the 45th Weather Squadron's mission statement:
Core Competencies: Weather data collection, weather analysis & forecasting, product tailoring/warfighter apps, data dissemination & integration.
Work was already gearing up for tomorrow's launch.
A piece of a rocket on display as a reminder of how important the weather is.
Our visit to the Morrell Operations Center ended our first day. We were all looking forward to the launch the next day.
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