Human Space Flight Support
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AKA: DDMS/Det 3 45 OG
The DoD HSFS office is charged to plan, coordinate and train specialized DoD assets for NASA in support of human space flight
Address
1201 Edward H. White II Street
Patrick Air Force Base, FL
32925
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Detachment 3 activates the Support Operations Center (SOC) at Patrick AFB starting prior to a manned space flight event. The SOC maintains 24-hour contact with NASA and the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) at Vandenberg AFB. The center played a key role in providing support to NASA in response to the Space Shuttle Challenger accident in 1986 and the Columbia disaster in 2003. On landing day, the SOC monitors the DOD fire/crash/rescue support including medevac helicopters at Kennedy Space Center, Edwards Air Force Base CA, and Holloman Air Force Base NM.
Det 3 also supported space shuttle ferry flights. The shuttle is ferried on a modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Det 3 coordinates a USAF KC-135 / C-17 "Pathfinder" aircraft to transport NASA personnel and equipment supporting ferry flight operations. Office personnel fly with the NASA team on these ferry flights, providing specialized support en route at DOD installation stops. Due to the unique weather sensitivities of ferry flights, a dedicated weather support team is also assembled to monitor en route weather. This includes a DOD meteorologist to monitor weather conditions from the Cape Canaveral Forecast Facility in Florida, as well as a team of DOD meteorologists that travel with the ferry flight team, providing direct en route weather support.
The ISS uses Russian Soyuz spacecraft as the lifeboat on the ISS and as a vehicle to transport astronauts to and from the station. When US astronauts return to Earth via a Soyuz capsule, NASA has requested a standby aeromedical evacuation capability to be postured at Ramstein AB, GE. Det 3 personnel deploy to Ramstein for each landing to function as liaison officers with NASA, EUCOM, CENTCOM, the Kazakhstan Defense Attaché Office and as the command and control element for deployed forces should an aeromedical evacuation be required.
Det 3 is also fully engaged in supporting NASA's future human spaceflight programs with the DOD interface to rescue / recovery operations.
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