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Flight controller

A flight controller is a ground-based specialist in a space mission control center who monitors spacecraft systems, analyzes data, and coordinates operations to ensure the safety of astronauts and the success of spaceflights.^[1] Primarily associated with NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas, flight controllers work in teams within the Flight Operations Directorate (FOD) to support all phases of crewed missions, from launch to landing, including programs like Apollo, the Space Shuttle, and the International Space Station.^[1] These professionals, often engineers or scientists, specialize in specific subsystems such as guidance, propulsion, or life support, providing real-time decision-making and contingency planning.^[1] The role originated during the early U.S. space program and has evolved with advancements in technology and international collaboration, remaining essential for human space exploration as of 2025.

Overview and Historical Context

Definition and Primary Role

A flight controller is a human specialist in space mission control centers who monitors spacecraft systems, analyzes real-time telemetry data, and issues commands to ensure the safe and successful execution of spaceflights.^[2] These professionals, primarily engineers and technicians, originated within NASA's framework during the early human spaceflight programs and perform similar roles in other space agencies worldwide, such as the European Space Agency and Roscosmos. They act as the primary interface between ground operations and the spacecraft, maintaining continuous oversight to detect and mitigate potential issues before they escalate. The primary responsibilities of flight controllers include overseeing vehicle performance across critical systems like propulsion, power, and environmental controls; ensuring crew safety by monitoring health metrics and life support; and resolving anomalies through rapid analysis and coordination with engineering support teams.^[2] This involves processing vast amounts of data from telemetry streams to uphold situational awareness, issuing corrective commands when deviations occur, and collaborating to achieve mission objectives without compromising safety.^[3] The flight director serves as the lead authority, integrating inputs from all controllers to make final decisions. Flight controllers were first formalized during NASA's Project Mercury in 1960, where they functioned as the "eyes and ears" of the spacecraft by tracking its status and providing ground-based guidance for the earliest American manned missions.^[4] This role emerged from the need for real-time human oversight in unproven spaceflight environments, evolving from rudimentary tracking stations into structured control teams. A key visual aid in mission control rooms is the status indicator system on controller consoles, often referred to as "mood lights," which use green illumination for nominal operations, yellow or amber for cautionary conditions, and red for critical issues to quickly convey system health to the team and flight director.^[5] These lights enable at-a-glance assessment of multiple subsystems, facilitating coordinated responses during high-stakes phases of a mission.^[6]

Evolution from Early Space Programs

The flight controller role originated in NASA's Project Mercury (1958-1963), where teams focused on basic telemetry monitoring and real-time oversight for short suborbital and early orbital flights, operating from the Mercury Control Center at Cape Canaveral with a small cadre of engineers tracking spacecraft attitude, propulsion, and communications.^[7] This foundational setup emphasized rapid anomaly detection and astronaut support, as seen during Alan Shepard's Freedom 7 suborbital flight on May 5, 1961, where ground controllers coordinated with the astronaut for manual attitude adjustments to maintain trajectory stability amid limited automation.^[8] Project Gemini (1961-1966) marked a significant expansion of flight control responsibilities, introducing capabilities for orbital rendezvous and docking that necessitated specialized training and simulations to prepare teams for complex maneuvers.^[9] By 1965, the mission control team had grown to over 50 controllers per flight, incorporating dedicated roles for trajectory prediction and docking alignment, which were tested extensively in ground-based simulators to ensure precise crew-vehicle coordination during missions like Gemini 8, the first successful docking in space.^[10] The Apollo Program (1961-1972) represented the pinnacle of flight control complexity, with teams managing lunar orbit insertions, surface operations, and trans-Earth returns across a network of global tracking stations and the expanded Mission Operations Control Room in Houston. Responsibilities broadened to include integrated systems monitoring for the command, service, and lunar modules, culminating in the adaptive crisis management during Apollo 13 in April 1970, when controllers in Houston improvised a CO2 scrubber adapter using available materials like duct tape and plastic bags to fit command module canisters into the lunar module's environmental system, averting carbon dioxide buildup and enabling the crew's safe return.^[11] Following Apollo, flight control evolved with the shift to reusable spacecraft in the Space Shuttle program starting in 1981, where teams incorporated ongoing hardware durability assessments and refurbishment oversight into mission operations, leveraging advanced simulators and real-time data links to support multiple flights per vehicle.^[12] This transition emphasized sustainability and rapid turnaround, with controllers adapting procedures from Apollo's expendable architecture to monitor orbiter thermal protection and propulsion reuse across 135 missions.^[12]

Core Positions in Mission Control

Flight Director

The flight director serves as the ultimate authority in NASA's Mission Control Center during human spaceflight missions, holding final responsibility for all operational decisions to ensure crew safety and mission success.^[13] This role involves approving all major decisions, establishing and enforcing mission rules, and coordinating among flight control teams, upper management, and external partners to integrate diverse data streams into coherent action.^[14] The flight director also sets the operational tone or "mood" of the control room, fostering disciplined teamwork under high-stakes conditions while leading a cadre of specialists from the central console, which acts as the primary hub for real-time data integration and command dissemination.^[15] Qualifications for the position emphasize deep technical expertise and leadership, with candidates typically being engineers possessing substantial progressively responsible experience in spaceflight operations or related fields.^[16] Aspiring flight directors must complete rigorous training, including high-fidelity simulations, culminating in a formal "flight" certification that qualifies them to lead live missions.^[17] This certification process verifies proficiency in managing complex scenarios, from prelaunch preparations to post-mission debriefs, ensuring the individual can exercise authority effectively across multidisciplinary teams.^[14] Decision-making protocols center on structured "go/no-go" polls conducted by the flight director before critical phases, such as launch or orbital maneuvers, where each console position provides a status assessment to confirm readiness or identify abort conditions.^[18] These polls enforce a consensus-driven yet authoritative process, with the flight director rendering the final call to proceed, thereby minimizing risks in dynamic environments.^[19] Historically, Christopher C. Kraft Jr. pioneered the role as NASA's first flight director during the Mercury program in the early 1960s, developing the foundational mission control procedures that enabled the agency's initial crewed orbital flights.^[20] Similarly, Eugene F. Kranz exemplified the position's demands as lead flight director for Apollo 11's 1969 lunar landing, where he orchestrated the control room's response to real-time challenges while instilling a rigorous ethos of resilience and precision, later encapsulated in his philosophy that "failure is not an option."^[21] In both cases, the flight director's leadership directly influenced mission outcomes by bridging technical execution with strategic oversight, including brief coordination with the spacecraft communicator for crew advisories.^[22]

Spacecraft Communicator (CAPCOM)

The Spacecraft Communicator, or CAPCOM, acts as the exclusive voice interface between mission control and the astronaut crew, relaying commands, procedural read-ups, and status updates while interpreting and clarifying crew inquiries to facilitate precise decision-making during missions. This position ensures that only vetted information reaches the spacecraft, minimizing confusion in dynamic environments, and has historically been staffed by astronauts to capitalize on their expertise in aerospace terminology and firsthand operational knowledge.^[23]^[24] CAPCOM communications adhere to strict protocols designed for brevity and clarity, employing concise phrasing, abbreviations, and coded terminology to optimize airtime on limited radio channels and reduce the risk of miscommunication. A notable instance occurred during the Apollo 13 mission on April 13, 1970, when crew member Jack Swigert informed CAPCOM Jack Lousma with the alert, "Houston, we've had a problem," signaling the service module's oxygen tank failure; Lousma then relayed mission control's guidance for emergency procedures. All such voice transmissions are meticulously recorded and preserved in NASA's archives for post-mission reviews, training, and historical documentation.^[25]^[26]^[27] The CAPCOM role emerged during NASA's Project Mercury in the early 1960s, with backup astronauts such as Deke Slayton serving as communicators for initial flights, like Alan Shepard's suborbital mission in 1961, to provide relatable and technically adept support.^[28] This practice of assigning astronauts to the position became a standard tradition starting with the Gemini program and persisted through Apollo, as seen with astronaut James Irwin acting as CAPCOM during Apollo 16's lunar surface activities in April 1972, where he coordinated real-time updates for commander John Young and lunar module pilot Charles Duke. Over time, the role evolved for sustained operations like those on the International Space Station, transitioning to include non-astronaut personnel for operational efficiency amid 24/7 coverage needs; NASA flight controller Ginger Kerrick became the first non-astronaut CAPCOM in 2001.^[29]

Supporting Technical Positions

Guidance Officer

The Guidance Officer (GUIDO), a key position in NASA's Mission Control Center during the Apollo era and subsequent programs, is responsible for monitoring the spacecraft's inertial guidance systems, predicting orbital trajectories, and recommending propulsion burns to correct deviations from planned paths. This role involves real-time analysis of navigation data to ensure the vehicle's alignment with mission objectives, including the use of specialized software for updating state vectors—precise estimates of the spacecraft's position, velocity, and orientation—that are uplinked to the onboard computers when necessary.^[30]^[31] As a critical backup to the spacecraft's autonomous Guidance and Navigation Control (GNC) system, the Guidance Officer employs ground-based simulations that replicate the onboard computing environment, allowing for independent verification of navigation parameters and rapid troubleshooting of anomalies. These tools enable the officer to model potential trajectory adjustments and predict outcomes of burns, serving as a redundant layer of safety during all flight phases from launch to reentry.^[32]^[33] In historical contexts, such as the 1968 Apollo 8 mission, the Guidance Officer monitored the translunar injection burn and recommended two midcourse corrections using the reaction control system, as the initial trajectory was accurate enough to omit two of the four planned adjustments. During Space Shuttle missions, Guidance Officers managed reentry targeting by integrating ground tracking data to refine the deorbit burn and atmospheric entry corridor.^[34] A core aspect of the role involves employing ephemeris data—precise astronomical tables detailing the positions of celestial bodies—to support celestial navigation techniques, ensuring the spacecraft remains aligned with predefined mission waypoints even in the event of primary system failures. The Guidance Officer provides essential input to the Flight Director for go/no-go decisions on trajectory-related maneuvers.^[35]^[36] In modern programs like Artemis as of 2022, Guidance Officers continue to monitor navigation for Orion spacecraft, incorporating advanced simulations for deep-space trajectories and fault detection.^[32]

Flight Dynamics Officer

The flight dynamics officer (FDO), also known as the flight trajectory officer, is a critical position in NASA's Mission Control Center responsible for overseeing the spacecraft's trajectory throughout all mission phases, from launch to reentry. This role involves predictive modeling to ensure safe and efficient orbital paths, with a primary focus on propulsion management for maneuvers that adjust velocity and position. FDOs use ground-based simulations to forecast potential deviations and recommend corrective actions, integrating data from multiple tracking sources to maintain mission objectives.^[32] Key responsibilities include simulating flight paths using orbital mechanics models, such as two-body problem approximations for rapid iterations during real-time operations, which simplify gravitational interactions between the spacecraft and primary celestial bodies like Earth. FDOs calculate delta-V requirements—the change in velocity needed—for propulsion burns to execute orbital maneuvers, ensuring precise adjustments for rendezvous or deorbiting while optimizing fuel efficiency. They also monitor atmospheric effects on reentry, accounting for drag and heating influences that alter descent trajectories to prevent off-nominal landings. Additionally, FDOs perform real-time updates to orbital predictions, incorporating conjunction risk assessments to avoid collisions in increasingly crowded low-Earth orbits by planning evasive maneuvers when necessary.^[14]^[37]^[38] Historical examples highlight the FDO's impact on mission success. During the STS-1 Space Shuttle launch in 1981, FDOs optimized the ascent trajectory through prelaunch simulations and real-time monitoring of powered flight, verifying the path to achieve the targeted 250-kilometer orbit while assessing abort options. For the International Space Station's Expedition 1 in 2000, FDOs managed rendezvous adjustments by calculating and executing phasing maneuvers for the Soyuz TM-31 spacecraft, aligning its orbit with the station after launch delays to enable docking within the planned timeline. These efforts underscore the role's evolution in handling complex, multi-vehicle orbital environments.^[39]^[40] A specific aspect of FDO operations involves integrating radar tracking data from the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), which provides continuous position and velocity updates from geosynchronous relays to verify onboard navigation and refine trajectory models. This data fusion supports accurate state vector propagation, allowing FDOs to cross-check simulations against actual flight conditions. In coordination with the guidance officer, FDOs validate these updates against onboard systems for seamless trajectory control.^[41] In contemporary missions as of 2025, FDOs support Artemis programs by monitoring Orion's trajectories in distant retrograde orbits and lunar vicinities, adapting to cislunar dynamics and multi-element architectures.^[32]

Organizational Structure and Operations

Flight Operations Directorate (FOD)

The Flight Operations Directorate (FOD) at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) functions as the administrative backbone for flight control teams, managing the planning, resource allocation, and integration of human spaceflight operations across all NASA programs. Established in 2014 through the merger of the Flight Crew Operations Directorate and the Mission Operations Directorate, FOD ensures the seamless coordination of crew training, mission execution, and ground support infrastructure.^[42]^[43] It is led by the Director of Flight Operations, who reports directly to the JSC Center Director and oversees a workforce responsible for enabling safe and successful missions from low-Earth orbit to deep space exploration.^[44]^[45] FOD's organizational structure encompasses oversight of all mission control console positions, simulation facilities, and certification processes for flight controllers and astronauts, ensuring operational readiness through rigorous standards and continuous evaluation. This includes managing the certification of personnel for specific roles and maintaining simulation environments that replicate mission scenarios for training and testing.^[46] FOD also handles budgeting and resource allocation for facility enhancements, such as the modernization of the White Flight Control Room completed in 2014, which incorporated advanced digital displays to improve real-time data visualization and team collaboration.^[47] These efforts support the directorate's role in sustaining cutting-edge ground infrastructure for evolving mission demands. Key responsibilities of FOD include developing mission rules and operational constraints to safeguard crew safety and vehicle performance, conducting integrated rehearsals that simulate full mission timelines to validate procedures and inter-team dynamics, and managing shift rotations to maintain 24/7 operational coverage, typically structured around three rotating teams on nine-hour shifts with handover periods.^[48]^[49]^[50] Additionally, FOD coordinates with payload and experiment teams—such as those at the Payload Operations Integration Center—to integrate scientific and commercial activities into non-vehicle aspects of mission planning, ensuring alignment with overall flight objectives without compromising core spacecraft operations.^[51] During active missions, FOD provides high-level oversight to the flight director to align real-time decisions with pre-established directives.^[42]

Integration with Multi-Agency Teams

Flight controllers integrate with multi-agency teams through established multilateral frameworks that define shared responsibilities for joint space missions. The International Space Station (ISS) Intergovernmental Agreement, signed on January 29, 1998, by representatives from the United States, Russia, Canada, Japan, and eleven European nations via the European Space Agency (ESA), provides the legal basis for this cooperation, specifying contributions to station elements, operations, and utilization.^[52] Under this framework, NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston coordinates with partner facilities worldwide, including Roscosmos's Mission Control Center in Moscow, ESA's Columbus Control Centre in Oberpfaffenhofen, JAXA's Tsukuba Space Center, and the Canadian Space Agency's Mission Control Center in Longueuil, Quebec, often with liaison representatives embedded for real-time collaboration during critical phases.^[53]^[54] Adaptations in flight control procedures enable seamless handovers between agency segments, particularly for the ISS's U.S. Orbital Segment (USOS) managed from Houston and the Russian Segment (RS) controlled from Moscow. Unified protocols govern dynamic events, such as vehicle undockings, where USOS attitude control—maintained by Control Moment Gyroscopes—is transferred to the RS for thruster-based maneuvers, minimizing propellant use and operational risks through pre-planned parameter exchanges via the Dynamic Events Working Group.^[55] A key example is the June 17, 2010, docking of Soyuz TMA-19 to the Zvezda service module's aft port, where Houston and Moscow teams jointly monitored the two-day rendezvous, executed the automated capture at 22:21 UTC, and verified systems integration, ensuring crew safety and station stability across borders.^[56] Multi-agency collaboration faces challenges like language barriers and cultural differences in decision-making styles, which can affect communication and response times. Language issues are resolved using standardized terminology in English and Russian for all procedural calls, telemetry interpretations, and emergency protocols, with English serving as the primary operational language while Russian is mandatory for Soyuz-related activities.^[57] Cultural disparities, including varying hierarchies and risk tolerances noted by U.S. controllers working with international counterparts, are addressed through joint training sessions at shared facilities like the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and NASA's Johnson Space Center, where teams simulate missions to align practices and foster adaptive leadership.^[58]^[59] This model of integration continues in modern programs, such as NASA's Artemis initiative in the 2020s, where flight controllers coordinate with ESA, JAXA, CSA, and commercial partners like SpaceX to manage Lunar Gateway operations—an orbiting habitat for lunar surface missions—leveraging ISS-honed procedures for multinational assembly and sustained presence.^[60]

Training, Qualifications, and Modern Adaptations

Selection and Training Processes

The selection process for NASA flight controllers is highly competitive and begins with candidates applying through the agency's civil service hiring system on USAJobs.gov, where positions are posted for civil servant roles within the Flight Operations Directorate at Johnson Space Center (JSC).^[61] A minimum requirement is a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in engineering, physical science, mathematics, biological science, computer science, or a closely related technical field, often with a preference for ABET-accredited engineering programs to ensure strong foundational knowledge in areas like aerospace systems and physics.^[62] Applicants must also be U.S. citizens and undergo a multi-stage evaluation, including technical interviews, skills assessments, and background checks to gauge aptitude for high-stakes, real-time decision-making, teamwork, and technical proficiency.^[63] Once selected, new hires enter an intensive training program lasting approximately 18-24 months, designed to build expertise in spacecraft operations through a structured progression of phases.^[3] Initial classroom instruction covers theoretical aspects of vehicle systems, mission procedures, and operational protocols, often segmented by subsystem (e.g., electrical power or guidance) to allow spiral learning where foundational concepts are reinforced iteratively.^[3] Hands-on training follows in simulators, including fixed-base setups for detailed console interactions and motion-base facilities to replicate dynamic flight conditions like ascent or entry; these sessions emphasize "train like you fly" principles to mirror real mission environments.^[14] Trainees typically start in "backroom" support roles within the Multi-Purpose Support Room (MPSR), providing auxiliary analysis and data support to front-room teams, which serves as an entry point to gain practical experience before advancing to certified positions in the Flight Control Room (FCR).^[3] Evaluation occurs throughout training via proficiency tests embedded in integrated simulations, where candidates must diagnose and resolve anomaly scenarios—such as subsystem failures or unexpected trajectory deviations—to demonstrate command of procedures and quick thinking under pressure.^[14] Certification requires passing these assessments, judged by senior controllers, culminating in operator qualification for specific consoles after numerous simulation runs, often 30-50 integrated sessions depending on the position.^[14] Following the Challenger accident in 1986, NASA reformed its training curriculum to incorporate dedicated safety-focused modules, emphasizing risk assessment, error prevention, and enhanced communication protocols to address systemic issues identified in post-accident reviews.^[64] Ongoing professional development is mandatory, with flight controllers required to maintain certification through periodic recertification processes that include refresher simulations, proficiency checks, and updates on emerging technologies.^[65] For instance, teams supporting new vehicles like Orion undergo tailored retraining on unique systems such as the spacecraft's propulsion and abort mechanisms, typically every 1-2 years or as missions evolve, ensuring sustained readiness for complex operations like Artemis lunar missions.^[65]

Role of Automation and Future Trends

Automation has significantly transformed the roles of flight controllers by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) for telemetry anomaly detection, allowing for proactive identification of potential spacecraft issues. NASA's LSTM-based Anomaly Detection System employs machine learning to analyze spacecraft telemetry data in real-time, flagging deviations that could indicate failures without human intervention during routine monitoring.^[66] Similarly, the Rapid Anomaly Investigation and Root-cause Analysis (RAISR) tool uses AI to accelerate diagnosis of faults in spacecraft systems.^[67] These advancements have enabled a reduction in mission control staffing for International Space Station (ISS) operations; for instance, automation of real-time planning tasks has eliminated multiple 24/7 console positions, contributing to an overall decrease of multiple equivalent positions (EP) in the operations and planning team by eliminating one to two console positions.^[68] Looking toward future trends, autonomous systems are being developed to support deep-space missions, particularly those involving significant communication delays, such as future Mars explorations. NASA's Earth-Independent Operations (EIO) portfolio emphasizes delay-tolerant commanding, where onboard AI handles routine decisions and fault management with minimal Earth input, accommodating round-trip light delays of up to 40 minutes to Mars. This shift promotes human-AI hybrid loops, in which flight controllers validate AI-generated recommendations rather than issuing direct commands, enhancing efficiency for extended missions.^[69] For example, simulations incorporating virtual reality (VR) for remote control testing, as seen in NASA's 2024 Artemis VR spaceflight simulator developed with agency insights, allow controllers to practice oversight in simulated deep-space environments.^[70] As of November 2025, NASA is facing significant budget cuts and a staff exodus, reducing the workforce by up to 20% in some areas, which increases reliance on automation while challenging training and operations sustainability.^[71]^[72] Despite these advances, challenges persist in maintaining human oversight for ethical decision-making in AI-assisted operations. NASA's Framework for the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence outlines principles requiring human accountability in critical scenarios, ensuring AI systems remain transparent and aligned with mission safety.^[73] Ethical concerns include bias in AI models and the need for robust governance to prevent unintended consequences during high-stakes events.^[74] The integration of commercial partners is expanding flight controller responsibilities to encompass private launches and stations. NASA's collaboration with Blue Origin on the Orbital Reef commercial space station includes human-in-the-loop testing for operations, where controllers from both entities coordinate AI-supported activities in low-Earth orbit.^[75] This partnership broadens roles to include oversight of hybrid public-private missions, fostering scalable automation across diverse launch providers.^[76]

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Ex-NASA Flight Director on How Shifts Worked During Space Missions
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[PDF] ISS: The Payload Operations Integration Center - NASA
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During early stages of the Program, to undock any Visiting Vehicle from ISS, the United States Orbital Segment would hand control over to the Russian Segment, ...
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Do We Need a Single International Language in Space?
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Cultural Challenges Faced by American Mission Control Personnel ...
The goals of this study were to identify and evaluate the major cultural challenges faced by ISS mission control personnel and to highlight the approaches that ...Missing: joint adaptation
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NASA flight controllers - Meeting cultural and leadership challenges ...
We surveyed 14 senior ISS flight controllers and a contrasting sample of 12 more junior controllers about the management and cultural challenges they face and ...Missing: joint adaptation
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Gateway - NASA
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Careers: How to Apply & Working With NASA
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LSTM-based Anomaly Detection System for Spacecraft Telemetry
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[PDF] ISS Operations Cost Reductions through Automation of Real-Time ...
OCA Overview. As mentioned previously, a significant amount of operational updates are generated for the crew and flight control teams during a space mission.
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[PDF] Challenges, Research, and Opportunities for Human–Machine ...
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Become part of a space mission in Artemis VR, a virtual reality ...
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[PDF] NASA Framework for the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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NASA Sees Progress on Blue Origin's Orbital Reef Design ...
Apr 16, 2025 · A NASA-supported commercial space station, Blue Origin's Orbital Reef, recently completed a human-in-the-loop testing milestone.
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