Astronaut Training

THE ASTRONAUT RESOURCES

Astronaut TRaining

Astronaut-Candidate training

The Astronaut-Candidate training program is preliminary to formal space transportation systems training (Formal training). Astronaut Candidates are trained in Houston, Texas at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). Academic study includes classes in shuttle systems, in basic science and technology: mathematics, geology, meteorology, guidance & navigation, oceanography, orbital dynamics, astronomy, physics and materials processing.

Astronaut-candidates also receive training in scuba diving, space suits, parachute jumping as well as land and sea survival training. They learn how to deal with emergencies associated with high (hyperbaric) and low (hypobaric) atmospheric pressures, in the altitude chambers.

Candidates are given a taste of microgravity on board a modified KC-135 jet aircraft. Also known as the "vomit comet", the KC-135 produces periods of "weightlessness" for about 20-30 seconds each time it dives from an altitude of 35 000 to 24 000 feet. After a brief "fall" of about 20 seconds, the aircraft returns to its normal altitude and the sequence is repeated 40 times per day.

Pilot astronauts build up aircraft hours and practice Orbiter landings by flying 15 hours per month in NASA's fleet of 2-seat T-38 jets. Mission specialists fly a minimum of 4 hours per month.

Astronaut formal training
The first component of training is completed during the astronaut's year of Candidacy, reading manuals and taking computer-based classes on Orbiter systems ranging from propulsion to environmental. The next step in the training process is the Single Systems Trainer (SST). An instructor accompanies each Astronaut and helps in the learning process about the operations of each Orbiter subsystem using checklists similar to those found on missions. The purpose of the SST is to enable the Astronaut to operate each system, recognize malfunctions, and to perform corrective actions.
The next component of training is completed in the Shuttle Mission Simulators (SMSs). The SMSs provides training in all areas of Shuttle vehicle operations and in all system tasks associated with the major flight phases: prelaunch, ascent, orbit operations, entry, and landing. Orbit training includes payload operation, payload deployment and retrieval, maneuvers and rendezvous. 2 Simulators, a fixed base and a motion base, are used to train the astronauts.
Fixed base crew station: used for both specific mission/payload training and launch descent and landing training. The fixed base crew station is the only container with complete fore and aft console, as well as a Remote Manipulator System (RMS) console. Missions can be simulated literally from launch to landing with help of the digital image generation system which provides visual cues for out-the-window scenes of the entire mission (the Earth, stars, payloads, landing runway, etc.).
Motion base crew station: 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 enables the flight deck to be rotated 90 degrees to simulate loft-off and ascent.
Astronauts begin training in the SMS using generic training software, until they are assigned a particular mission about 10 months before the flight. Once they are assigned a flight, the astronauts train on a flight simulator until the actual flight-specific training software is received about 11 weeks before launch. During this last 11 weeks, astronauts train with the flight controllers in the Mission Control Center (MCC). Total hours spent in the SMS after flight assignment totals to about 300 hours.
In parallel wit the SMS training there are several other part-task trainers that are used to prepare the astronauts for Shuttle missions:
Weightless Environment Training Facility (WETF): used to train astronauts for EVAs. The WETF is a huge water tank containing a mock-up of the Orbiter payload bay and various other payloads. Astronauts wear extravehicular mobility suits, 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 useful simulation for working in the space environment.
Other full-scale mock-ups and trainers are also used to train astronauts:

1)fuselage trainer: full-size plywood Orbiter mock-up with nonfunctional mid-deck and flight-deck + full-scale payload bay. Used for: onboard systems orientation and habitability training.
2)crew compartment trainer: mock-up of the forward section of the Orbiter crew station, without a payload, and can be tilted vertically. Used for: training for on-orbit procedures and also and also emergency pad egress and bailout operations.
3)manipulator development facility: a full scale mock-up of the payload bay with full-scale hydraulically operated RMS. Used: by Mission specialists to practice deploying and reberthing of payloads in the Orbiter.
PILOT ASTRONAUT training:
Intensive approach and landing training in Shuttle Training Aircraft (STA). The STAs are 4
Gulfstream II business jets modified to perform similar to the shuttle. Assigned pilots receive about 100 hours of STA training prior to a flight, which is equivalent to 600 Shuttle approaches.
The months of training eventually pay off well, and the mission will have far fewer contingencies than were practiced for. Astronauts have often commented on the unbelievable accuracy of the simulation training, saying that only the noise and vibration of launch and the experience of weightlessness are missing from the practice sessions; everything else done in training accurately duplicates the experience.