As part of the Astronaut Candidate training program, Astronaut Candidates are required to complete military water survival prior to beginning their flying syllabus, and become SCUBA qualified to prepare them for the extravehicular activity training. Consequently, all Astronaut Candidates will be required to pass a swimming test during their first month of training. They must swim 3 lengths of a 25M pool in a flight suit and tennis shoes. The strokes allowed are freestyle, breast, and sidestroke. There is no time limit. They must also tread water continuously for 10 minutes.

Candidates are also exposed to the problems associated with high (hyperbaric) and low (hypobaric) atmospheric pressures in the altitude chambers and learn to deal with emergencies associated with these conditions.

Pilot astronaut trainee, Eileen M. Collins, joined 22 other candidates in early July 1990 to begin a year's training and evaluation at the Johnson Space Center(JSC).

Collins attempts to make radio contact with a potential rescue unit during a wilderness survival training school hosted by Fairchild Air Force Base in the state of Washington.	Collins prepares to set off a flare during a wilderness survival training school hosted by Fairchild Air Force Base in the state of Washington.	Collins simulates an ejection from an aircraft during a special survival course at Vance Air Force Base near Enid, Oklahoma. The purpose of this three-day course was to familiarize the trainees with proper measures to take in the event of ejection from an aircraft over land.	Collins retreats from the water during a water survival training school hosted by the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.	Collins shown here in front of her aircraft. Pilot astronauts maintain proficiency by flying 15 hours per month in NASA's fleet of 2-seat T-38 jets.

In addition, astronaut candidates are given exposure to the microgravity of space flight. A modified KC-135 jet aircraft produces periods of weightlessness for 20 seconds each time it dives from an altitude of 35,000 to 24,000 feet. During this brief period, astronauts experience the feeling of microgravity. The aircraft then returns to the original altitude and the sequence is repeated up to 40 times a day. Pilot astronauts maintain flying proficiency by flying 15 hours per month in NASA's fleet of 2-seat T-38 jets. They build up jet aircraft hours and also practice Orbiter landings in these jets. Mission Specialist astronauts fly a minimum of 4 hours per month.

Formal Training for Astronauts The astronauts begin their formal space transportation system training program during their year of candidacy by reading manuals and by taking computer-based training lessons on the various Orbiter systems ranging from propulsion to environmental.

The next step in the training process is the single systems trainer (SST). Each astronaut is accompanied by an instructor who helps in the learning process about the operations of each Orbiter subsystem using checklists similar to those found on a mission. The checklists contain information on normal system operations and corrective actions for malfunctions. The astronauts are trained in the SSTs to operate each system, to recognize malfunctions, and to perform corrective actions.

Following the SST portion of the training program, the astronauts begin training in the complex Shuttle Mission Simulators (SMSs). The SMS provides training in all areas of Shuttle vehicle operations and in all systems tasks associated with the major flight phases: prelaunch, ascent, orbit operations, entry, and landing. The orbit training includes payload operation, payload deployment and retrieval, maneuvers, and rendezvous. Two simulators, a fixed base and a motion base, are used to train the astronauts.

The fixed base crew station is used for both specific mission/payload training and launch descent and landing training. It is the only trainer with complete fore and aft consoles, including an RMS console. A digital image generation system provides visual cues for the out-the-window scenes of the entire mission, e.g., the Earth, stars, payloads, the landing runway. Missions can be simulated literally from launch to landing.

The motion base crew station is used to train pilots and commanders in the mission phases of launch, descent, and landing. Motion cues are provided by the 6-degrees-of-freedom motion system which also allows the flight deck to be rotated 90 degrees to simulate lift-off and ascent.

Astronauts begin their training in the SMS using generic training software until they are assigned to a particular mission, approximately 10 months before flight. Once they are assigned to a flight, astronauts train on a flight simulator until the actual flight-specific training software is delivered 11 weeks beofre the mission.

During this last 11 weeks, the astronauts also train with the flight controllers in the Mission Control Center (MCC). The SMS and MCC are linked by computer in the same way the Orbiter and MCC are linked during an actual mission. The astronauts and flight controllers learn to work as a team solving problems and working nominal and contingency mission timelines. Total hours in the SMS for the astronauts, after flight assignment, is about 300 hours.

In parallel with the SMS training there are several other part-task trainers that are used to prepare astronauts for Shuttle missions. These trainers are in varying degrees of fidelity and each serve a particular purpose.

The Sonny Carter Training Facility, or Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL), provides controlled neutral buoyancy operations in the facility water tank to simulate the zero-g or weightless condition which is experienced by the spacecraft and crew during space flight. It is an essential tool for the design, testing and development of the space station and future NASA programs. For the astronaut, the facility provides important pre-flight training in becoming familiar with planned crew activities and with the dynamics of body motion under weightless conditions.

The Weightless Environment Training Facility (WETF) is used to train astronauts for extravehicular activities (EVAs). The WETF is a large water tank which contains a mockup of the Orbiter payload bay and various payloads. Astronauts wear extravehicular mobility units, or spacesuits, in the water and are made neutrally buoyant to neither rise nor fall in the tank. This reduces the sensation of gravity and provides a very useful simulation for learning firsthand about working in the space environment.

Several full-scale mockups and trainers are also used to train astronauts. The full fuselage trainer is a full-sized plywood orbiter mockup with nonfunctional mid-deck and flight deck, and full-scale payload bay. It is used for onboard systems orientation and habitability training. Astronauts practice meal preparation, equipment stowage, trash management, use of cameras, and experiment familiarization. This trainer is also used for emergency egress training after Shuttle landings.

The crew compartment trainer is a mockup of the forward section of the orbiter crew station, without a payload bay, that can be tilted vertically. It is used to train for on-orbit habitability procedures and also emergency pad egress and bailout operations. The crew stations of both trainers are similar.

The manipulator development facility is a full-scale mockup of the payload bay with full-scale hydraulically operated RMS, the mechanical arm on the orbiter which is used to move payloads in and out of the payload bay. Mission specialists use this trainer to practice deploying and reberthing of payloads into the orbiter.

Pilots training for a specific mission receive more intensive instruction in orbiter approach and landing in Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA), which are four Gulfstream II business jets modified to perform like the orbiter during landing. Because the Orbiter approaches landings at such a steep angle (17-20 degrees) and high speed (over 300 miles per hour), the STA approaches with its engines in reverse thrust and main landing gear down to increase drag and duplicate the unique glide characteristics of the orbiter. Assigned pilots receive about 100 hours of STA training prior to a flight, which is equivalent to 600 Shuttle approaches. In between training sessions, the crewmembers continue to keep themselves up-to-date on the status of the space craft and payloads for their assigned mission. In addition, the astronauts study flight rules and flight data file procedures, and participate in mission-related technical meetings. They also participate in test and checkout activities at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the launch site for the Space Shuttle.

The months of preparation pays off and the mission is a success; the actual mission will have far fewer contingencies than were practiced for. The accuracy of the simulations and training is remarkable. Astronauts often comment that only the noise and vibration of launch and the experience of weightlessness are missing from the practice sessions; everything else in training accurately duplicates the space experience.

Astronauts who participate in the Russian Space Station Mir program receive Russian language training before transferring to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center for approximately 13 months. Four weeks prior to the shuttle launch that will deliver them to Mir, the astronaut returns to JSC to train and integrate as part of the shuttle crew during the final phase. Russian language courses continue at the Gagarin Training Center until the astronaut reaches the level required to begin technical training.

The Russian technical training includes theoretical training on the Russian vehicles design and systems, EVA training, scientific investigations and experiments, and biomedical training.

The astronauts' mission continues even after the Orbiter has returned. The crew will spend several days in medical testing and debriefing, recounting their experiences for the benefit of future crews to assist in future training and to add to the space flight knowledge base.

Members of the media also receive a detailed post-flight briefing by the crew. Then, the studies and training that may eventually lead to another space flight are resumed.

|Top |