SpaceX Launch Team is “Go!”
Mike Leinbach, the final Launch Director of the Space Shuttle Program, and the last man to give the "go for launch" for a crewed US mission from Kennedy Space Center, returned to his old stamping grounds on May 25. He was invited by SpaceX management to meet with the SpaceX launch team and answer any questions they might have about what it's like to launch humans into orbit.
The testing and launch countdowns for the final decade of Space Shuttle launches were run from Firing Room 4 in the Launch Control Center (LCC). Back in the Shuttle era, four stair-stepped tiers of consoles were staffed by test conductors, security officers, public affairs officers, and other managers. On the main floor, eight semi-circular arcs of consoles, staffed by engineers specializing in the systems of the Space Shuttle and the ground support equipment, faced toward the manager rows and the large windows. Off to either side of the management rows were triangular, glassed-in...