Page 42 - Life beyond the Karman

Pilot Astronauts
Pilot Astronauts
Pilot Astronauts serve as space shuttle and international space station pilots and commanders. They are responsible for the crew, the mission, its success and the safety of the flight.
Astronomers and astronauts are related job profiles. An astronomer knows a great deal about the universe but has never left Earth. Astronauts also know a lot about the universe and how Earth benefits from space, but they leave Earth to venture into the universe.
Trainee Astronauts
Trainee astronauts work in mission control and research mission experiments. They learn about life support and their spacecraft and spend many hours keeping up to date. The really hard work begins when they are finally selected for a mission. Trainee astronauts must be able to be fully operational during a space mission and to be able to work with other team members.
Trainee astronauts take different technical courses in life support systems, orbital mechanics, payload deployment, Earth observations, space physiology and medicine.
An astronaut must have completed modules in international space station systems, extravehicular activity skills, robotics skills training, languages training and aircraft flight readiness.
Virtual reality (VR) Training
Repairing a telescope or putting together pieces of the International Space Station takes a lot of practice. Astronauts only have one chance to do the job for real, so many train using virtual reality (VR) (a computer-simulated environment). During a VR simulation, several astronauts can interact with one another.
Doing simulated work ahead of time gives astronauts insight into what they can expect once deployed. VR is also being used to help engineers design spacecraft instruments and test repair processes before they start to build or repair anything. Working out problems virtually before moving to the real spacecraft makes for more efficient and cost-effective design, build, and repair time.
Spacewalks Training
Zero gravity training
In zero gravity training, astronauts learn how to navigate an environment that has no gravity whilst remaining safe. The training is held at a Zero Gravity Research Facility and consists of parabolic flights and free-falling simulation exercises. This helps astronauts to become accustomed to the feeling of weightlessness that comes with zero gravity when they are in space. They also train for extra-vehicular activities at a Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory where they are submerged underwater, which means that they float around with limited control of their movements.
Spacewalks Training
This training teaches astronauts to complete extravehicular activities that are performed outside the space station whilst wearing a spacesuit.
Wearing a spacesuit, they go underwater in what is called the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory (NBL), which is basically a very big swimming pool that is 12 metres deep. By floating in the water, they can practice extravehicular activities on full-sized space vehicle models. Although there is gravity in water, it still provides a floating sensation that can help astronauts get used to it whilst performing extravehicular activities.
Precision Air-Bearing Floor (PABF)
The lack of friction in space can make it difficult to move and stop objects. There is a risk of astronauts being injured, injuring other astronauts, or damaging equipment. The PABF prepares astronaut candidates for this. A compressed air system greatly reduces the friction of air on objects, and they can practice moving different-sized objects.
Air hockey-like facilities are therefore used in astronaut training to simulate a low-friction environment, similar to what astronauts would experience in space. This helps them prepare for handling objects and moving in conditions where there is little resistance, akin to microgravity environments.
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LIFE BEYOND THE KÁRMÁN LINE - OUTER SPACE