The Columbus Control Center updates its projection system with the E-Vision 8500

To solve the problems posed by the projectors of the Columbus Control Center, the old equipment has been replaced by four E-Vision Laser 8500 of Digital Projection.

When the Columbus Control Center Projectors (Columbus Control Center – Col-CC), responsible for the European module of the International Space Station (International Space Station – Iss), became increasingly problematic towards the end of their life cycle, German aeronautics Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), had to choose to replace existing equipment. After calling the tender, the E-Vision Laser projector 8500 of Digital Projection was the chosen option, installing four pieces of equipment of this model.

The E-Vision Laser projector 8500 Offers 8.500 lumens from a stable solid-state light source capable of providing 20.000 hours of operation. In addition, solid-state system prevents lamp replacement resulting in increased costs and downtime.

These functionalities that allow you a continuous runtime, combined with the 'Fit and Forget' directive’ developed for this single-chip projector, ensures that only minimal maintenance is required for the entire life of the equipment. The E-Vision Laser 8500 adapts to a wide range of professional locations, including environments such as mission-critical control centers.

The Columbus Control Center consists of three interchangeable control rooms and the Columbus flight team performs operations on 24 hours, the 7 days of the week, using a room for real-time operations, another as a reserve for the operation and the third for simulation and updating activities.

In the operational control room, the screens are divided into three independent segments, each of which displays unique, text-rich content. Projectors are controlled remotely through a larger management system, which also allows the supervision and control of other Col-CC subsystems.

Installing the projector, initially set up by Jeremy Pierce Mayer, video engineer at GMV-Insyen AG, under contract with DLR, and main project manager for projector replacement, was performed by the GSOC facilities team. The control center's high-paced operations environment predisposed participating installation teams to highly effective lines of communication that allowed any problem such as network configuration or any other obstacle at high speed to be resolved..

“Installation was simple. Projectors were installed while the control room was in operation. After initial installation and configuration, which lasted approximately four hours, configuration completed remotely, relying on our control room CCTV system", says Jeremy Pierce Mayer.

The Columbus Control Center works closely with the fish trap, RosCosmos and other private and public partners to support ISS activities. It is located inside the German Space Operations Center (GSOC). Responsible for all satellite missions, the DLR has multiple research institutes.

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