Flight Director MC / Shuttle Commander SMS - The Flight Director is in charge of communicating to all Mission Control personnel and the Shuttle (mostly via the Shuttle Commander). The Shuttle Commander is in charge of the Shuttle crew. The FD and CDR both have scripts for most of their mission, but they must also make decisions based on weather and other input from their crew members. During the Maverick's orbit, the Shuttle Commander will constantly observe several gauges on an instrument panel. These gauges show certain gas levels within the cabin.
(Pre-requisite skills: good vocal skills; familiarity with scripts, terms, and control-panel layout; needs to understand the cabin environmental-control system )

Pilot / Navigation - Both the pilot and the Navigatior, at Mission Control, will monitor the Shuttle's position throughout the mission using simulation software designed by an employee of the Johnson Space Center. The Pilot and Navigatior will take turns observing one another's computer console while each operates sophisticated software. The Pilot will utilize MacMECO to guide the Shuttle from the launch to MECO (Main Engine Cut-Off). Once orbit has been achieved, the Navigatior operates MacSPOC (which can be used to actually monitor authentic shuttle missions and orbiting satellites)
(Pre-requisite skills: Familiarity with screen layout and operation of MacSPOC and MacMECO)

Payload MC / Payload SMS - The payload specialist onboard the Shuttle, with the guidance of his counterpart at Mission Control, will be in charge of deploying an LDEF (Long Duration Exposure Facility Satellite), docking with a TDRS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite), and replacing and repairing a solar panel. All of these maneuvers are simulated via movie clips; some feature 3-D, controllable virtual reality images.
(Pre-requisite skills: Netscape navigation, reading, and following directions)

Meteorology MC / Meteorology SMS - The meteorologists will observe satellite images of various weather conditions and will provide to the Commander and Flight Director critical information prior to both launch and landing. They will also monitor images of the Sun to record potentially dangerous levels of ultra-violet rays caused by sunspot activity.
(Pre-requisites: Utilize NIH Image Processing Software, ability to read map data; i.e. copying, saving, and retrieving images. )

Mars Observation MC / Mars Observation SMS - The Mars Observation role solves a problem by pulling images of Mars to the Shuttle from a Mars-orbiting surveyor craft, and then downloads these images to Mission Control. The two specialists then observe and analyze Martian terrain with NIH imaging software in order to determine possible sites for future landing and colonization.
(Pre-requisites: Utilize NIH Image Processing Software; ability to analyze landforms using topographical maps; copying, saving, and retrieving images)

Earth Observation MC / Earth Observation SMS - The role of Earth Observation is for the Shuttle Specialist to acquire orbital images of strategic landmarks on Earth. The key to this role is observing the position of the Shuttle as it orbits the Earth. The images gathered by the Shuttle are then compared, at Mission Control, with historical images of the same landmarks. NIH imaging software is used to detect and analyze differences that need to be recorded.
(Pre-requisites: Utilize NIH Image Processing Software, ability to copy and retrieve images)

Nebraska Historical MC / Nebraska Historical SMS - Nebraska Historical will focus on specific satellite images of Nebraska. These specialists will observe increasingly higher resolution images as they observe and identify local landmarks. It is then possible to "zero in" on virtual reality movies of such sites as the Lied Jungle at Henry Doorly Zoo and Omaha's Central High School.
(Pre-requisites: Use of X-axis and Y-axis coordinates to locate historical sites in Nebraska)

Medical MC / Medical SMS - The medical specialists on board will be responsible for using authentic NASA wrist-watch heart monitors to record Shuttle crew members' heart rates both before and after exercise. They will also use an ear temperature probes. This medical data will be entered through an interactive web form into a database at Mission Control.
(Pre-requisites: Ability to record health information from heart-rate watches and ear temperature probes and enter this information into a data base form on the Web)

Public Affairs Officer / PAO - The Public Affairs Officers take pictures of the mission participants, making careful notation of who is in which picture. PAO's also write down mission specialists' responses to interview questions which they, the PAO's, must develop.
(Pre-requisites: Ability to use the digital camera, formuate good interview questions, and take good notes)