I understand that space launch is a delicate and complex matter even though it has been done hundreds of times. The space craft needs to take off within a very narrow time frame, the launch window, in order to be able to get to the space station or wherever it is intended to go. Then the craft needs to be fueled, and that takes some time but the craft can't stay fueled more than a couple of hours - or it needs to be unfueled. And the astronauts need to be dressed and in the space craft in time. And a gazillion other things needs to be prepped in order to launch.
This is a little bit like getting all seven of us on a field trip somewhere. Now in the summertime we try to go somewhere almost every other day, but the launching sequence is rather complex and we never seem to get away in time, or with the right stuff, or...
Our launch window is defined by the time someone needs to eat. If we feed EOF their lunch at 11.30 and the rest of us didn't have our lunch ready at the same time, we then know that we need to eat, pack, get off and arrive within three hours, otherwise we'll have three not so happy kids, at least one screaming for food. Packing the car is like the refueling part. First it is complex to do in a ever changing environment where someone always is calling for help. Things you were trying to pack never stay in one place but is moved whenever you turn your back to them. If we get the stuff together we start getting the kids in the car, all in the right clothes and shoes, all strait from the bathroom or with a new diaper. If we aren't quick enough, we'll soon need to redo it all when kids need to go to the bathroom or have diapers changed again...
But we do manage to take off quite often - and leave some trace of our activities on Facebook or here on the blog.
So if NASA needs some space launch coordinators, or a training environment, they now know where to look!
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