Large screen display for the Mission Control Center

The Mission Control Center (MCC), located at the Johnson Space Center near Houston, Texas, is the primary point of control and monitoring for National Space Transportation System (NSTS) flight activities. NSTS flight managers monitor and command spacecraft from one of two Flight Control Rooms (FCR). Each FCR is equipped with five large screen displays for group dissemination of spacecraft system status and vehicle position relative to Earth geography. The primary or center screen display is ten feet in height and twenty feet in width. The secondary or side screens are seven and one-hald feet high and ten feet wide. The center screen projection system is exhibiting high maintenance costs and is considered to be in wear-out phase. The replacement of the large center screen displays at the MCC is complicated by the unique requirements of the Flight Controller user. These requirements demand a very high performance, multiple color projection system capable of the display of high resolution text, graphics and images produced in near real time. The current system to be replaced, the replacement system requirements, the efforts necessary to procure the major element of this system (the projector) for the government, and how the new capabilities are to be integrated into the existing MCC operational configuration are discussed.