A launch status check, also known as a "go/no go poll" and several other terms occurs at the beginning of an American spaceflight mission in which

flight controller Flight controllers are personnel who aid space flight by working in such Mission Control Centers as NASA's Mission Control Center or ESA's European Space Operations Centre. Flight controllers work at computer consoles and use telemetry to ...

s monitoring various systems are queried for operation and readiness status before a launch can proceed. For Space Shuttle missions, in the firing room at the Launch Control Center, the NASA Test Director (NTD) performed this check via a voice communications link with other NASA personnel. The NTD was the leader of the shuttle test team responsible for directing and integrating all flight crew, orbiter, external tank/solid rocket booster and ground support testing in the shuttle launch countdown. The NTD was also responsible for the safety of all personnel inside the pad after external tank loading, including the flight crew, about 10 go/no go reports. He reported to the Launch Director, who has another about 5 go/no go reports. The Launch director declares if a mission is go for launch.

Checklist of firing room positions

Space Shuttle

*OTC – Orbiter Test Conductor PrimeFiring Room Row AB
/ref> *TBC – Tank/Booster Test Conductor and Tank/Booster Test Conductor Prime
/ref> *PTC – Payload Test Conductor *LPS – Launch Processing System Test Conductors *Houston Flight – Flight Director at the

Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center NASA's Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center (MCC-H, initially called Integrated Mission Control Center, or IMCC), also known by its radio callsign, Houston, is the facility at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, t ...

in Houston, TX *MILA �
Merritt Island Spaceflight Tracking & Data Network Stations
*STM – Support Test Manager *Safety Console – Safety Console Coordinator *SPE – Shuttle Project Engineer *LRD – Landing and Recovery Director *SRO – Superintendent of Range Operations *CDR – Mission Commander (Crew)

Apollo Program

In the Apollo program, the MCC launch status check was initiated by the Flight Director, or FLIGHT. The following "preflight check" order was used before the launch of Apollo 13: * BOOSTER – Booster Systems Engineer (monitored the

Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with multistage rocket, three stages, and powered with liquid-propellant r ...

in pre-launch and ascent) * RETRO – Retrofire Officer (responsible for abort procedures and Trans-Earth Injection, or TEI, retrofire burns) * FIDO – Flight Dynamics Officer (responsible for the flight path of the space vehicle) *

GUIDANCE Guidance may refer to: Arts and media * Guidance (album), ''Guidance'' (album), by American instrumental rock band Russian Circles * Guidance (film), ''Guidance'' (film), a Canadian comedy film released in 2014 * Guidance (web series), ''Guidance ...

– Guidance Officer (monitored onboard navigational systems and onboard guidance computer software) *

SURGEON In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

– Flight Surgeon (directs all operational medical activities) * EECOM – Electrical, Environmental, and Consumables Management (monitored cryogenic levels, and cabin cooling/pressure systems; electrical distribution systems) * GNC –

Guidance, Navigation, and Control Guidance, navigation and control (abbreviated GNC, GN&C, or G&C and within the context of NASA operations, often pronounced 'Gintsee' or (IPA) ʤɪnsiː) is a branch of engineering dealing with the design of systems to control the movement ...

Systems Engineer (responsible for the reaction control system, and CSM main engine) * TELMU – Telemetry, Electrical, and EVA Mobility Unit (lunar spacesuit) Officer *

CONTROL Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controlli ...

– Flight Controller * PROCEDURES – Procedures, or Organization and Procedures Officer (enforced mission policy and rules) * INCO – Integrated Communications Officer * FAO – Flight Activities Officer (checklists, procedures, etc.) *

NETWORK Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematic ...

– Network (supervised ground station communications) * RECOVERY – Recovery Supervisor (coordinated capsule recovery) *

CAPCOM is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', ''Mega Man'', ''De ...

– Capsule Communicator (communicated with the astronauts)

Other/Uncrewed spaceflight

Varies depending on the type of mission and model of craft, here is one example:Go For Launch Part 1 of 2
/ref> * LCDR - Launch Conductor * Talker - Person responsible for directing countdown steps as delegated by the Launch Conductor * Timer- Countdown Clock Operator and person who calls out the T- time * QAM - Quality Assurance Monitor * SSC - Second Stage Console * SSP - Second Stage Propulsion * FSC - First Stage Console * Prop 1 - Propulsion 1st Stage #1 * Prop 2 - Propulsion 1st Stage #2 * TSC - Third Stage Console * MCE - Missile Chief Engineer * PTO - Propulsion Telemetry Observer * TM-1 - Telemetry Monitor 1st Stage * TM-2 - Telemetry Monitor 2nd Stage * LWO - Launch Weather Officer * AFLC - Air Force Launch Conductor * LD - Launch Director

References

External links

Video recordings

Endeavour Go For Launch
(

STS-123 STS-123 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was flown by Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. STS-123 was the 1J/A ISS assembly mission. The original launch target date was 14 February 2008 but after the delay of ...

)
STS-122 Go/No Go Poll
( STS-122)
STS-115 Atlantis long countdown to launch
(launch status check at 3:03) ( STS-115)
Space Shuttle STS-114 Launch Final Poll
(

STS-114 STS-114 was the first "Return to Flight" Space Shuttle mission following the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster. ''Discovery'' launched at 10:39 EDT (14:39 UTC), July 26, 2005. The launch, 907 days (approx. 29 months) after the loss of ''Co ...

)
Go For Launch Part 1 of 2
(2 examples launch director's poll)
Go For Launch Part 2 of 2
(example final readiness poll)
Delta II - ICESat-2
(example Final Readiness Poll)

Text transcripts

(NASA Transcript from 1995) {{DEFAULTSORT:Launch Status Check Spaceflight concepts Spaceflight Rocketry