T-MINUS 60 SECONDS.
"Pressure systems now armed, lift off order will be released at
T-Minus 16 seconds."
The voice traffic became chaotic. Hundreds of voices give their consent that their particular areas of responsibility are ship- shape. The word nominal sounds to laymen watching the world over as a classic understatement. If things are great, then say 'Fuel is Great!' NASA prefers the word Nominal to indicate that sys- tems are performing as the design engineers predicted in their simulation models.
T-MINUS 50 SECONDS AND COUNTING.
The hoses that connect the Shuttle to the Launch Pad began to fall away. Whirls of steam and smoke appeared around portions of the boosters. The tension was high. 45 seconds to go.
"SRB flight instrumentation recorders now going to record."
Eyes riveted to computer screens. It takes hundreds of computers to make a successful launch. Only the mission generalists watch over the big picture; the screens across the front of the behe- moth 80 foot high room.
T-MINUS 40 SECONDS AND COUNTING
"External tank heaters now turned off in preparation for launch."
Screens danced while minds focused on their jobs. It wasn't until there were only 34 seconds left on the count down clock that anyone noticed. The main systems display monitor, the one that contained the sum of all other systems information displayed a message never seen before by anyone at NASA.