Ep387_MCC_Eye_of_the_Storm
JSC · 2025-05-30
Ep387_MCC Eye of the Storm Leah Cheshier Houston, we have a podcast. Welcome to the official podcast of the NASA Johnson Space Center, episode 387, Mission Control, Eye of the Storm. I'm Leah Cheshire, and I'll be your host today. On this podcast, we bring in the experts, scientists, engineers and astronauts, all to let you know what's going on in the world of human space flight and more. We are continuing to dive into our Mission Control Houston series, highlighting the home base of NASA's human space flight operations, which monitors and controls the International Space Station all day every day, for over 25 years. This is the last episode in the series we've dedicated to exploring the roles within Mission Control and the International Space Station Flight Control Room. Today, we're breaking down two console positions that you've probably heard of, Flight Director, Garrett Hehn and Capcom, or capsule communicator, Amy Dill. These positions are two of the most recognizable in Mission Control. The flight director is responsible for leading teams of flight controllers, research and engineering experts and support personnel around the world, and making the real time decisions critical to keeping NASA astronauts safe in space. Capcom is the sole voice communicating with the crew, taking inputs from all aforementioned consoles, back rooms and other experts, and relaying updates, instructions and information to the astronauts we're tackling. How these roles work, the expertise needed to join the ranks and the importance of teamwork and gathering all inputs. Flight, I'm taking over your job just this once. Recorders to flight speed! Capcom? Amy Dill Go. Leah Cheshier Flight? Garrett Hehn Go. Leah Cheshier We are go for Houston We Have a Podcast! <Intro Music> Leah Cheshier All right. Amy Dill, Garrett Hehn, thank you both so much for joining me today. We are really excited to have you on Houston. We have a podcast. We're going to break down a little bit about both of your roles in Mission Control Houston, specifically the International Space Station flight control room. So Garrett, we'll start with you. What's your role inside MCC How long have you been with NASA? Garrett Hehn Thanks for having me, Leah. I'm super excited to be here. I've been with NASA almost 11 years. The past two and a half I've been at the flight console. I started in the topo group, which is the trajectory experts, and the first time I got to work in the room, I recognized that that was the most fun part of the job, being part of the team. It's such a dynamic place to be, and I kind of set my sights on being the leader of the team, and having that opportunity over the past two and a half years has been incredible. Leah Cheshier Fantastic. Amy, how about you tell us about your role in the International Space Station Flight Control Room, how long you've been with NASA and what brought you to be a flight controller. Amy Dill Sure, also happy to be here. Leah, I am a Capcom that stands for capsule communicator, and my job in Mission Control is to be the single voice of the team to the crew for anything we need them to do, to support them in their day, and then also to be the advocate in mission control for the crew, bringing forth crew perspective and spreading that among the flight control team members. I've been with NASA for 16 years, and to talk about where it led me to become a flight control we have to go way back to the 90s. Go back when I was 12 years old. I saw the movie Apollo 13, and I saw, you know, the mission control. And I said, That's what I want to do. I want to work for NASA and Mission Control. And here I am. It's absolutely incredible. It's been a really wonderful adventure. Leah Cheshier Oh my goodness. I That's so amazing to, number one, be inspired by the movie and enough so that it sets your career path and then to actually pursue and achieve it. That's amazing. Yeah, it's pretty cool. So, Garrett, what about you? What's your background like? How did you how did you end up at the flight console before you were even a topo, Garrett Hehn right, right? I joined NASA straight from college, which is actually a pretty typical route, right? We've got a lot of nights and weekends to work, and young people are great for those. But seriously, it's also we've got a really good training program. And so I had in college, I was a member of the swim team, and I think that sort of team experience and the communication skills required for that. I was an athlete for the first two years, and then I was a coach for the second two and that kind of allowed me to looking back. Was a great testing ground to figure out what my leadership looks like, and developing that authentic leadership. Once I was with the topos, I had opportunities for several leads, and that's really how I distinguished myself and showed the qualities required to be a flight director. Leah Cheshier So we talked a little bit about the Capcom role and what Amy does on console