Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center (Chinese: 北京航天指挥控制中心; BACCC or more frequently BACC as shown in its logos) is a command center for the Chinese space program which includes the Shenzhou missions, and is located in a suburb northwest of Beijing. The space center is supervised and managed by the government of the People's Republic of China.
BACCC's primary functions include supervision, telemetry, tracking and command of spacecraft. The building is inside a complex nicknamed Aerospace City. It was initially created for China's manned space missions, a.k.a. "Project 921", hence also the name "921" among some insiders. It has evolved to be responsible for the Chang'e 1 mission and the upcoming Sino-Russian Interplanetary Space Mission. It has dedicated subsidiaries for Sinosat and Inmarsat. It was renamed to 北京航天飞行控制中心 (literally: Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center) in 2006. As of March, 2009, no official announcement has been made to revise its formal name in English in accordance with its new Chinese name.
Famous quotes containing the words command, control and/or center:
“‘Tis not in mortals to command success,
But we’ll do more, Sempronius, we’ll deserve it.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“Playing at make-believe, the young child becomes the all-powerful person he cannot be in reality. In pretending, the child takes control of his otherwise powerless position.”
—Joanne E. Oppenheim (20th century)
“I am the center of the world, but the control panel seems to be somewhere else.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)