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Astronaut Kent V. Rominger (seated), and LeRoy Cain are photographed at the Mission Operation Directorate (MOD) console in the shuttle flight control room (WFCR) in Houston's Mission Control Center (MCC). Several hundred miles away in Florida, the STS-109 crewmembers were awaiting countdown in the crew cabin of the Space Shuttle Columbia on the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). As soon as the vehicle cleared the tower in Florida, the Houston-based team of flight controllers took over the ground control of the mission. Rominger is the Deputy Director of the Flight Crew Operations Directorate (FCOD) and was the STS-109 FCOD management representative in the MCC. Cain was the Weather Flight Director for the mission’s ascent phase, coordinating weather issues for lead Ascent Flight Director John Shannon (out of frame).