engineering

Space Flight Operations Facility

Space Flight Operations Facility is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Space Flight Operations Facility rather than just read about it. In short: The Space Flight Operations Facility (SFOF) is a building containing a control room and related computing and communications equipment areas at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA's Deep Space Network is operated from this facility.

Key takeaways

Space Flight Operations Facility belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Space Flight Operations Facility to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Space Flight Operations Facility from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Space Flight Operations Facility (SFOF) is a building containing a control room and related computing and communications equipment areas at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. NASA's Deep Space Network is operated from this facility. The SFOF has monitored and controlled all interplanetary and deep space exploration for NASA and other international space agencies since 1964. The facility also acted as a backup communications facility for Apollo missions. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Public tours are available with advance planning.

History In the early years, the operations control center of the Deep Space Network did not have a permanent facility. It was a makeshift setup with numerous desks and phones installed in a large room near the computers used to calculate orbits. In July 1961, NASA started the construction of the permanent facility, Space Flight Operations Facility (SFOF). The facility was completed in October 1963 dedicated on May 14, 1964. In the initial setup of the SFOF, there were 31 consoles, 100 closed-circuit television cameras, and more than 200 television displays to support Ranger 6 to Ranger 9 and Mariner 4.

Current operations

As of 2012, there were 22 spacecraft monitored from this facility. Depending on the operations of the spacecraft, they are scheduled to be online for 1 to 10 hours at a time. Notable is that the facility also processes the signal from Voyager 1 that is sent from about 11 billion miles from Earth. With data feeding into the Space Flight Operations Facility from every NASA spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit, including rovers, orbiters, and deep-space probes, there is a plaque in the middle of the room designating the facility "The Center of the Universe."

See also A list of other Deep Space Network facilities:

Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex

References

External links Official Site Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms, a National Park Service Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary Man in Space, an NHL Theme study

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Space Flight Operations Facility

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Space Flight Operations Facility claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Space Flight Operations Facility before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Space Flight Operations Facility ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Space Flight Operations Facility

In research: Space Flight Operations Facility appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Space Flight Operations Facility in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Space Flight Operations Facility is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures in Pasadena, California, Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Pasadena, California, Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Space Flight Operations Facility outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Space Flight Operations Facility in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Space Flight Operations Facility means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Space Flight Operations Facility out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Space Flight Operations Facility in simple terms?

Why does Space Flight Operations Facility matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Space Flight Operations Facility?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Space Flight Operations Facility.