Facilities
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| | Don
Smith of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit Training Lab
checks the latches on a helmet. The suit lab is located
in the Logistics and Mockup Facility. |
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The Sonny Carter
Training Facility opened in January 1997. It comprises three buildings.
Neutral
Buoyancy Laboratory
Many Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory, or NBL, visitors are surprised
by the immense size of the famous pool as they stand on the observation
deck. In the world's largest indoor pool, spacewalks are the focus.
"We have
the ability to train astronauts in a simulated space environment
here on Earth," said Robert Durkin, facility and operations
manager at the NBL. More than 200 employees, including 60 core divers,
work there.
Logistics
and Mockup Facility
Housed at the Logistics and Mockup Facility, or LMF, are the suit
and tool labs. "All of the processing of the suits, buildup,
maintenance, modifications for each crewmember and all the functional
testing is done here," said Don Smith of the Extravehicular
Mobility Unit Training Lab.
Software
Development and Integration Laboratory
About 150 people work in the Software Development and Integration
Laboratory, or SDIL. Many facilities are housed in the SDIL, including:
International Space Station Power Laboratory, Integrated Test Rig,
Hardware/Software Integration Lab, Software Verification Facility,
Prime Software Development Facility and Mission Build Facility.
Test and verification of all International Space Station flight
software is done at the SDIL.
"In a
nutshell, SDIL is the integration and verification facility for
the avionics software of the ISS," said Allen Brewer, SDIL
facility manager.
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