Range Safety Officer
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In the field of rocketry, Range Safety Officer (NASA call sign: RSO) is a generic term referring to an individual who monitors the performance of rockets in flight, and who is responsible for their remote destruction if it should be judged that they pose a hazard.
For launches from the Eastern Range, which includes Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, range safety is controlled by the MFCO (Mission Flight Control Officer), who is a part of the Safety Office or the Range Squadron of the 45th Space Wing of the Air Force, and who is considered a direct representative of the Wing Commander. Range safety at the Western Range (Vandenberg Air Force Base in California) is controlled using a similar system.
[edit] Range safety in manned spaceflight
Even for U.S. manned space missions, the RSO has authority to order the remote destruction of the launch vehicle if it shows signs of being out of control during launch, and if it crosses pre-set abort limits designed to protect populated areas from harm. The U.S. space shuttle orbiter does not have remote destruct devices, but the solid rocket boosters (SRBs) and external fuel tank do. After the Space Shuttle Challenger broke up in flight, the RSO ordered the uncontrolled, free-flying SRBs destroyed before they could pose a threat.
Despite the fact that the RSO continues work after Kennedy Space Center hands over control to Mission Control at Johnson Space Center, he or she is not considered to be a flight controller. The RSO works at the Range Operations Control Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and the job of the RSO ends when the missile or vehicle moves out of range and is no longer a threat to any sea or land area (after completing First Stage Ascent) [1].
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- 45th Space Wing/Patrick Air Force Base Launch Site Safety Assessment (PDF) (June 8, 2002).
- Military & Civilian Roles in Range Operations
- This article includes an explanation of the Space Shuttle Range Safety System
