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NASA recently unveiled a newly upgraded Payload Operations Integration Center at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Operators at the center monitor and coordinate all experimental activities on the International Space Station.

The state-of-the-art technologies incorporated into the new facilities are designed to enhance collaborative research and provide around-the-clock ground support for the space station crew. Teams of controllers manage experiments from the ground, monitor science activities, and connect astronauts aboard the space station with researchers from around the world.

The renovated center features a video wall comprised of a 2 x 12 array of monitors that uses RGB Spectrum's new OmniWall 32 Display Processor to route and display up to 32 input signals. The processor expands the ability of operators to share information in real-time, such as live video feeds, diagrams, photographs, results of experiments, and information on power usage.

Each operator uses a computer to monitor applications related to their areas of expertise, and signals from each computer are routed to the processor. Other inputs to the wall display include H.264 feeds from onboard video cameras, news broadcasts, weather information, and the NASA channel, as well as SCADA systems for machinery control. The OmniWall processor outputs these signals to local control stations, auxiliary displays, and to the main video wall.

The OmniWall processor provides 24/7 reliability and extremely fast source switching. In conjunction with the video wall, it enables the collaborative management of huge amounts of information and supports real-time decision making. With more than 200 experiments being conducted in the space station at any given time, the ability to share information rapidly among team members and the crew in space is essential to the success of these projects.

According to Aladin Bashir, a senior engineer with Colsa Corporation, the integration company that designed and installed NASA's upgraded system, the OmniWall processor's versatile features enable and enhance the video wall display. "RGB Spectrum has been very attentive to our needs and local support in the quest of providing NASA with better tools to accomplish its mission cannot be emphasized enough" said Bashir. "We look forward to implementing the new features of the OmniWall 32 as they become available in the future."

Indeed, NASA's Payload Operations Integration Center showcases how the most advanced audio-visual technologies can be used to further cutting-edge scientific research. In addition to the video wall, the team made several other changes that will help the ground team and the crew in space maximize scientific return.

"Over the course of the last 12 years, our team has learned much about how they can collaborate to maximize science return," said Jay Onken, manager of the Mission Operations Laboratory at Marshall. "They used this knowledge to redesign the control room to have the most modern technical equipment to support the most amazing international engineering and scientific endeavor of the century."

RGB Spectrum is proud that the OmniWall display processor is part of this innovative NASA facility, which provides critical support to science operations on the International Space Station.