Chunnel Channel Tunnel; underground/underwater commuter tunnel connecting Great Britain and France
Comm Communication
Cosmology Study of the universe as a whole
Coudé Variety of spectrograph; see Spectrograph
CV Curriculum vitae; résumé
DAP Digital Autopilot
D/L Downlink; refers to any electronic transmission from orbit to ground. Opposite of uplink
DMZ Demilitarized Zone; buffer between North & South Vietnam
Doppler effect A change in the frequency with which waves (such as sound or light) from a given source reach an observer, when the source and/or the observer are in motion relative to each other. The frequency increases or decreases according to the speed at which the distance between the source and observer is increasing or decreasing. If the objects are moving apart, it is referred to as redshift (see glossary entry); if they are moving together, it is said to be blueshifted.
Double-E Electrical Engineering
Dreamland Commonly used euphemistic designator for Area 51
Dreamtime Aboriginal concept of the beginning of All Things, a time before creation itself; the time before time
DSS Defense Security Service
DTO Detailed Technical Objective; an experiment designed to test various capabilities of the Shuttle
DSTO Australian Defence Science and Technology
Echelle Variety of spectrograph; see Spectrograph
Empennage Tail assembly of an airplane or spacecraft
ET External Tank; also Extra-Terrestrial
Exo Exo-atmospheric
FAO Flight Activities Officer; position in flight control
Flight Flight Director; leader of flight controllers
FOUO For Official Use Only; government document classification ranking somewhere between Unclassified and Secret
FTP File Transfer Protocol; method of transferring files between computers
GIB Guy In Back; second man in a two-man fighter, responsible for weaponry and sensors. The corresponding "guy in front" is the pilot
G IV A particular stellar spectral class: a G subdwarf
GNC Guidance, Navigation, and Control; position in flight control
GPC General Purpose Computer
Grey out Pilot term for the effects of high g maneuvers on the vision. As the blood is drained from the head, vision deteriorates, and a pilot loses peripheral vision and color perception, resulting in a grey, tunnel vision field of view
Groom Lake Lake bed within the Nevada Test Range, commonly used as a euphemistic designator for Area 51
GS Government Service
Hawking Radiation A type of thermal radiation produced by quantum effects around a singularity, i.e. black hole or wormhole
High bay Large, tall room for working on large space modules, Shuttles, Space Station components, satellites, et al., often equipped with cranes, etc.
HOSC Huntsville Operations Support Center; see MSFC
HSI Horizontal Situation Indicator
Humvee High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle; sometimes (usually commercially) known as a Hummer, it is the replacement for the Jeep.
IAU International Astronomical Union
II Independent Investigator
Inma Australian Aboriginal sacred ceremony
Intel Intelligence
JSC Johnson Space Center; Houston, TX
KSC Kennedy Space Center, FL; "The Cape," Cape Canaveral
Kurpany Evil black dog-like monster of Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime
LEO Low Earth Orbit
LGM Little Green Men; original term used for a pulsar (see glossary entry) shortly after their discovery, when the repetitive, regular signal was thought to represent intelligence
LOS Loss Of Signal
Lungkata Australian Aboriginal name for one of the Lizard-men of Dreamtime; given name
LY Light year
M&P Lab Materials and Processes Laboratory; lab division at Marshall Space Flight Center
Mach The ratio of the speed of an object to the local speed of sound. Also Mach speed, Mach number
MAN Manual
MCC Mission Control Center; see JSC
Messier Object Any astronomical object on the list of over 100 naked-eye nebulae in an eponymous catalogue compiled by French astronomer Charles Messier in the late 18th and early 19th centuries
Mita Lizard-man of the Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime; given name
MLS Microwave scanning beam Landing System
MRE Meals Ready to Eat; the modern replacement of the old C-ration
MS-1, -2, -3 Mission Specialist 1, 2, or 3; Shuttle crew members
MSFC Marshall Space Flight Center
NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA Meatball The circular blue NASA logo with the red chevron and white orbiting dot; affectionately known to all NASA employees and contractors as the "meatball." The logo consisting of the word "NASA" in curved Star Wars-style font is likewise known as the "worm."
NASDA National Space Development Agency of Japan
Nav Navigation
NAV An HSI mode – navigation
n. mi. Nautical Mile
NTS Next-generation Tethered Satellite, a fictional follow-on to the real life Tethered Satellite project
OBE Overcome By Events; rendered obsolete or useless due to more recent activity
Occultation When one space object passes in front of another, unrelated object, and blocks the light from the more distant object. If the two objects orbit each other, it is referred to as an eclipse.
OD Officer of the Day; duty officer in charge of a facility for that shift/day
OMS pod Orbital Maneuvering System engine pod
Ops Operations
Oz Australian; corruption of the first syllable of "Australia"
PAO Public Affairs Officer/Office
Parallax The apparent displacement in position of an object as seen from two different positions not in a straight line with the object; the angular difference in direction of a celestial object when measured from two different points in the Earth's orbit
Parsec A celestial unit of measure equal to a parallax of one arc second, or 3.26 light years
Petrol Australian term for gasoline
Photometry/ Photometric Literally, measuring light; an astronomical technique for measuring the brightness of an object, and how that brightness may vary over time
P/L Payload
P/L B Payload Bay
PLT Pilot; Shuttle crew member
POCC Payload Operations Control Center; see MSFC
POW Prisoner Of War
PS-1, -2 Payload Specialist 1 or 2; Shuttle crew members
Pulsar Astronomical object that produces regular radio pulses; generally considered to be a spinning neutron star, the core of an extinguished star. See LGM
RAF Royal Air Force
Raw data Unanalyzed, sometimes uncalibrated data, straight from the instrumentation
Rattlesnake Fighter jet audio alert of incoming missile, so named due to its buzzing sound
RCS Reaction Control System; Shuttle maneuvering jets
Redshift The displacement of the spectrum of a celestial object toward longer (red) wavelengths, as a consequence of the Doppler effect, or due to the intense gravitational field of the source object
RHAW Radar Homing and Warn Receiver
RHC Rotational Hand Controller; control or joystick
Roll reversal "Swinging" maneuver used to shed velocity during Shuttle re-entry
RTLS Return To Launch Site; usually used (in Shuttle program) as a type of emergency abort of ascent
SAM-II Surface to Air Missile 2
Servo Australian slang for service station
SETI Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence
&nbs
p; Shit handle The handle installed above the passenger side door of some vehicles, intended to help stabilize the passenger in rough or emergency situations; so called because it is most often used as the passenger exclaims, "Oh, shit!" Sometimes also referred to as the God handle, for identical reasons
Smash Pilot slang for airspeed
SOPG Science Operations Planning Group
Spectral Class A way of categorizing stars by their spectra; the categorizations include a rough temperature designator (O, B, A, F, G, K, M, with O being hottest and M coolest) and size designator (I, II, III, IV, V, with I being largest [supergiant] and V being smallest [dwarf])
Spectrograph An instrument which disperses electromagnetic radiation into a spectrum for photographic or mapping purposes; based on the concept of a prism. Varieties include echelle and coudé
Square corner Sharp, high angle turn maneuver; can cause missile to lose target lock
SRB Solid Rocket Booster
SSL Space Sciences Laboratory; lab division at Marshall Space Flight Center
STS Space Transportation System; i.e. Space Shuttle
SUV Sport Utility Vehicle
T-38 Variety of fighter jet, usually flown by astronauts
TACAN TACtical Air Navigation; an HSI mode
Tally/Tally-ho Visual sighting
TIg or TIG Time of Ignition
Tjukurpa Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime
Traj Trajectory
Truckie Australian slang for truck driver
Tumbleweed Pilot slang for no backup aircraft
Uluru Australian Aboriginal proper name for Ayers Rock; a huge red sandstone natural monolith, deep in the Australian Outback desert, very nearly at the center of the continent. The monolith, as well as several nearby formations, is sacred to certain tribes of Aborigines
UN United Nations
Uplink Reference to any electronic transmission from ground to orbit. Opposite of downlink
U.S.S.R. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; old communist Russia
Vernier thrusters Steering jets
VFR Visual Flight Rules; set of rules used by pilots whose aircraft does not possess instrumentation or whose instrumented craft are flying below an altitude of eighteen thousand feet. High altitude, instrumented aircraft normally operate by Instrument Flight Rules, or IFR
Vid Video
VLA Very Large Array; radio telescope "farm" in New Mexico
VTOL Vertical Take Off and Landing
Wilco Short for Will Comply
Wizzo Short for WSO
WSO Weapons Systems Officer; see GIB
Afterward
First and foremost, let me say this: I know nothing personally about "Area 51," nor is any part of this book based on any actual occurrences, other than a few references to well known historical events; e.g. the Challenger disaster, Tethered Satellite flights, the Roswell crash, etc.
I say this because I do not wish it said that I am a conspiracy theorist, or that I know something to which the general public is not privy, merely because I have worked in the space program. I am not a conspiracy theorist, and I know none of these things. What little I know of "Area 51" comes from two sources: television documentaries on UFOs, and internet web searches. This book in your hands is a work of fiction. Nothing more, and nothing less. Granted, it is a work that I've enjoyed writing, but still--the contents sprang totally from my imagination.
I'm also sure many people will try to say this book is about what happened to the shuttle Columbia. Rest assured, this book, and that chapter in particular, was begun many, many years before the Columbia disaster. In fact, I was finished with the entire original manuscript draft when the disaster happened. And because Columbia was the bird with which I had worked the most, and because I had a friend aboard her when she went down, I had to put this manuscript away for awhile. I had to allow myself the time to grieve.
It took some little time before I was able to pick it up again, and resume where I had left off, sadder but wiser. Frighteningly, I had next to nothing to change in the manuscript, as a result of what I'd learned from the loss of Columbia. I suppose it says something positive about the quality of my knowledge and research that I had been able to so closely predict the actual course of events with respect to the disintegration of the bird. But it does not feel positive, and it is still something about which I cannot talk readily.
In point of fact, however, when I began this book so many long years ago, my frame of reference was the Challenger disaster (and in order to differentiate my plot from that event, I deliberately chose an incident occurring in the re-entry, rather than the ascent, phase). That particular "off-nominal situation" occurred mere weeks after I had moved to Huntsville, Alabama to begin my career in the space program. I went from being a young college professor to being an astrophysicist on the research and development phase of a project that, in Phase 2, intended to fly a prototype on the Shuttle. I was a payload specialist candidate for the prototype testing.
The day of the Challenger accident was eerie, surreal, leaving a powerful impression on my psyche, one that I suppose I will never forget--nor would I want to. The normally-bustling corridors of my office complex were deathly, almost unearthly, silent, punctuated here and there with the quiet, dispassionate, modulated tones of an announcer reporting the event on someone's portable TV; contrasted occasionally with the counterpoint soft sound of someone in tears. You could tell whose offices had the televisions--they were the ones where scientists and engineers spilled out the doors into the hallways. Little was said.
But within a few months, the fleet was grounded. Seven astronauts were dead, and along with them, Phase 2 of my program.
Thus ended my dream of going into space myself. I suppose I should have applied to the astronaut corps; I considered it on many occasions. I can't really tell you why I didn't. It wasn't because I was afraid. If die I must, and one day I shall, I can think of no better, no more fitting, way to do so than in the pursuit of one's lifelong passion. Rather, I suspect it had something to do with the silent way my mother's eyes welled up with tears when I mentioned it, or my husband's pale face and set jaw as I enthused over the concept of space flight.
So I did the next best thing. I became a payload flight controller. Working with the astronauts and scientists enabled me to be present and to assist during ground-breaking discoveries, while minimizing potential traumas in my family, as well as avoiding the dreaded plague of Space Adaptation Syndrome (space-sickness).
I was a good flight controller. I say that with little egotism, but rather a sense of quiet confidence, because I lived my job. Sometimes that living was a bit too intense for others, but I make no apologies. Space mission operations is an intense field, and sloppy work leads to eventual catastrophe.
I adopted what I laughingly referred to as the "Hawkeye Pierce Method of Stress Management," to handle the high levels of tension a mission could produce. That is to say, when I was in the control center and all hell was breaking loose, I operated at 125%. When an anomaly occurred, I usually worked hard to have at least one contingency plan in place, coordinated and ready to be presented and implemented, before mission management had even finished reviewing the situation. I fondly recall one mission when the Payload Operations Director (or POD, as the position was known) on my shift entered into an amiable competition with me, and we strove to see who could analyze change requests first.
Mind, anomalies were seldom actually dangerous. I want to stress this. We ran a safe program, at least as safe as space exploration can be. Usually it was a case of resetting a power supply to an experiment, or cleaning up after an overexcited frog, or perhaps maneuvering the orbiter into position to take advantage of an unexpected earth observation, such as a volcanic eruption. Sometimes a lot of things decided to go haywire at once, and the entire schedule had to be reshuffled, like a deck of cards at a table in Vegas.
But when the event had resolved, when the orbiter was on the ground once more, like my method's name
sake, my reaction was usually offbeat, often irreverent, and not infrequently, side-splitting. In this fashion, I became an "old-timer" in the world of space, outlasting many of my colleagues in the field.
So why am I no longer working missions? Why did I finally get out?
No one ever said the space program was easy, just like no one ever promised it would be safe. It's incredibly intense, and it's amazingly stressful. It takes long, hard hours of focused concentration, often on odd shifts. I could, and did, go for weeks at a time, living in the same house with my husband, yet never seeing him. In the end, no matter how good one's coping mechanism, sooner or later, everyone succumbs to one affliction, the one for which this book is named.
Burnout.
-Stephanie Osborn
Huntsville, Alabama
April, 2006
Thanks
There are so many people to thank for the book you hold in your hands, I scarcely know where to start. So I'll start at the beginning, and work my way out.
God has to be Number One on the list, I think. Without the Divine Watchmaker of the Universe, there wouldn't be anything of the sort to write about, let alone the ability to write it.
I absolutely have to thank my husband Darrell. Without his love and support, his comfort and encouragement, his near-infinite patience, the nights when he helped me brainstorm ideas and overcome writer's block, I'd never have finished even the first draft.