 |
                 
|
|
Tues. October 5, 1999
After the photo shoot, our first stop on the tour was the flight simulator
building. I thought that was the most interesting and most fun part of the
tour. The astronauts have a lot of training to go through before they go
on their flight(s). There are stand alone simulations, integrated simulators,
joint integrated simulation, and more! There are three simulators at the
Johnson Space Center. Two are stationary simulators, and the other is a
motion simulator. We first went in the control rooms for the simulators.
The computer programs they use for the simulation are exactly like the ones
they use in mission control. Lisa Reed, who is pictured here with us, is
a crew trainer and works with the astronauts on simulations for all aspects
of their mission. She tries to make the simulation as real as possible that
way the astronauts don't have any surprises thrown at them while they're
in space. During a simulation, the astronauts in the simulators and crew
trainers in the training room wear headphones and communicate as if the
astronauts are talking to Mission Control from space. To prepare the astronauts
for disasters, they program the simulators to demonstrate every horrible
situation they can think of including lift-off, in-flight, abort scenarios,
and landing. The astronauts have to figure out what the problem is and what
they have to do to fix it. Luckily, many of the terrible situations never
occur in space, but it's pertinent that all crews are completely prepared.
|
|
Sim Control room with crew trainers simulating mission scenarios
while astronauts are in motion simulator; Motion simulator with Laurie,
Kimberly, Sarah and myself in an actual simulation. |
|
|
Lisa Reed in the Sim Control room while we perform our training;
the motion simulator
|
|
Astronaut training seemed really difficult. You have to be very determined.
There are tons of astronaut manuals. They tell you everything you need
to know about controlling the shuttle. There are over twenty of them.
It seems like a lot, but there are tons of buttons you have to know how
to use in the shuttle. We could barely move in the stationary simulator
because there were so many buttons we couldn't touch and it was such a
small space. Training takes about nine months or more. By the time that
training is over, you have to make sure that you understand everything
and won't panic in any situation. You have to be a very strong person,
not only in flight, but to survive training.
We met Gail Barnett during lunch. She
is in charge of crew training and told us a lot about her job. To learn
more about Gail Barnett, read her profile I wrote about her.
You can find out more about the SimLab at NASA Ames Research Center
by reading Julie Mikula's profile. All
astronaut pilots must train here two times per year to simulate mission
flights.
We had such a great tour so far, but there was still more to come!
[HOME]
[PROFILES]
[WOMEN
OF THE WORLD][SPANISH]
[CHATS]
[TEACH]
[RESOURCES]
|
|
